University of Tasmania, Australia

This research investigates the construct of design in Information Systems. The research is conceptual and philosophical.

This project examines and reconceptualises the concept or construct of design in information systems .The revised conceptualisation does not reject the current perspectives of design enshrined in the IS DS literature, but extends them to embrace broader conceptualisations of design which are evident in many other disciplines outside of IS in which design is likewise viewed as a critical component of both research and practice. In building a new picture of DS in IS we are working to identify and explore various viewpoints or perspectives on design in a number of disciplines including management, engineering, architecture, product development and so on. In addition to the fairly common conceptualizations of design as product and design as process or action, these perspectives include design as intention, design as planning including modeling, and representation, design as communication, design as user experience, design as a value, design as professional practice and design as service. This broad and diverse set of perspectives is contrasted with what is identified and characterised as a more limited construction perspective of design adopted by the current extant papers in the mainstream IS journals.

The revised conceptualisation does not reject the current perspectives of design enshrined in the IS DS literature, but extends them to embrace broader conceptualizations of design which are evident in many other disciplines outside of IS in which design is likewise viewed as a critical component of both research and practice. In building a new picture of DS in IS we identify and explore various viewpoints or perspectives on design in a number of disciplines including management, engineering, architecture, product development and so on. In addition to the fairly common conceptualisations of design as product and design as process or action, these perspectives include design as intention, design as planning including modeling, and representation, design as communication, design as user experience, design as a value, design as professional practice and design as service. This broad and diverse set of perspectives is contrasted with what is identified and characterized by the authors as a more limited construction perspective of design adopted by the current extant papers in the mainstream IS journals .

The various perspectives on design and design science that have emerged from this study, along with the implications for future research and practice have been discussed and analysed in the following publication:

McKay, J., Marshall, P., Hirschheim, R. (2012)The Design Construct in Information Systems Design Science, Journal of Information Technology (forthcoming)

Project Leaders (External)

Professor Peter Marshall Professor in the School of Computing & Information Systems, University of Tasmania. Peter.Marshall@utas.edu.au

Judy McKay, Professor of Information Systems, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

Rudy Hirschheim, Ourso Family Distinguished Professor of Information Systems, Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department, E.J. Ourso College of Business, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA .