Jonas Sjöström

Halmstad University · ITE- School of Information Technology

Information systems (IS) education is concerned with design and management of information systems. To be prepared to work as an IS practitioner, there is a need for training in design issues during education. This paper investigates what a design science approach would imply for IS education. Such an IS education approach is elaborated and synthesi...

There exist different types or genres of design science research (DSR) in information systems, like laboratory-oriented and practice-oriented DSR. This paper investigates arguments for a practice-oriented approach to DSR. It uses the research approach of practice research as a starting point to elaborate on a practice-oriented DSR approach we label...

The information systems (IS) field contains a rich body of knowledge on approaches, methods, and frameworks that supports researchers in conducting design science research (DSR). It also contains some consensus about the key elements of DSR projects—such as problem identification, design, implementation, evaluation, and abstraction of design knowle...

The design of sensitive online healthcare systems must balance the requirements of privacy and accountability for the good of individuals, organizations, and society. Via a design science research approach, we build and evaluate a sophisticated software system for the online provision of psychosocial healthcare to distributed and vulnerable populat...

In this short paper, we report from a case study addressing complexities of IS curriculum design. In a design science research process, we build on literature as well as workshops with IS practitioners in the design of two IS bachelor programs. Drawing from experiences from the process, we abstract the educational interaction model (EIM). Based on...

This paper introduces a framework for Respondent Behavior Logging (RBL), consisting of static and dynamic models that conceptualize respondent behavior when filling in online questionnaires, and visualization techniques and measurement constructs for RBL data. Web survey design may benefit from paradata logging as a technique for evaluation, since...

Researchers in psychosocial care paid an increasing interest in providing treatment online, e.g., self-help and cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with different conditions. Consequently, they need to design both complex interventions and conduct research online. There is little research on how to design appropriate support for complex onlin...

Information systems research is often conducted as engaged scholarship—collaborative work with practitioners to somehow improve the world and articulate new knowledge through gained experiences and reflection. In information systems, engaged scholarship often manifests as design science research. In this chapter, we argue that the design science di...

Background: Web-based interventions are effective for several psychological problems. However, recruitment, adherence, and missing data are challenges when evaluating these interventions. Objective: This study aimed to describe the use patterns during the commencement phase, possible retention patterns (continuation of data provision), and respons...

This paper reports on the design, adoption, and continued use of the SISA News software. The software draws ideas from news syndication, the community of practice concept, ‘leaky knowledge in organizations, and microservice architectures. It provides a news flow for the Swedish information systems community through RSS, Facebook, and the web. The n...

In this paper, we present the design of Tutorbot – a chatbot software to support learning and teaching in higher education. We account for the implementation of the design as a proof-of-concept and share reflections from experiences in the design and implementation process expressed as design considerations for the design of chatbots in a higher ed...

BACKGROUND Web-based interventions are effective for several psychological problems. However, recruitment, adherence, and missing data are challenges when evaluating these interventions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe the use patterns during the commencement phase, possible retention patterns (continuation of data provision), and responses...

Background: The internet-based stepped-care intervention iCAN-DO, used in the multicenter randomized controlled trialAdultCan, was developed for adult patients undergoing treatment for cancer and concurrently experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. iCAN-DO aimed to decrease symptoms of anxiety or depression. Step 1 comprises access to a librar...

Digitalization has the potential to improve life in many ways, and also a tendency to waken worries and raise questions about harmful consequences and ethical implications. Such concerns are reasonable, since artificial intelligence, interconnected systems, large-scale repositories of personal data, and the use of technologies indeed relate to valu...

Background: The internet-based stepped-care intervention iCAN-DO, used in the multicenter randomized controlled trial AdultCan, was developed for adult patients undergoing treatment for cancer and concurrently experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. iCAN-DO aimed to decrease symptoms of anxiety or depression. Step 1 comprises access to a libr...

BACKGROUND The internet-based stepped-care intervention iCAN-DO, used in the multicenter randomized controlled trial AdultCan , was developed for adult patients undergoing treatment for cancer and concurrently experiencing anxiety or depressive symptoms. iCAN-DO aimed to decrease symptoms of anxiety or depression. Step 1 comprises access to a libra...

In this research–in–progress paper, we employ design science research to articulate design knowledge for chatbots in higher education practice. We conducted a literature review to factor previous research into the design process. In adition, we performed a content analysis of student e-mails and forum posts from four instances of a basic Java progr...

Even though the practice of integrating evaluative features into software has long been applied in commercially available software, it is still underrepresented in the Information Systems (IS) community. This paper presents a framework for embedded evaluation support. We are aware of the challenges of evaluation of socio-technical systems and take...

Critical thinking ability is a key goal of higher education. This pilot study investigates the suitability of using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) to evaluate an IS curriculum design in terms of measuring the students' development of critical thinking skills as they progress through the study program. All currently active stud...

The authors' scrutiny-management technique supports managers and IT developers to systematically address privacy and accountability issues when designing software for the online delivery of health services--specifically, psychosocial care. Their technique is based on scrutinizing two core information flows in the organization: privacy expectations...

In exploratory design science research, research questions emerge as the design process progresses. Researchers are faced with the complex task of reconstructing design rationale, i.e. retrospectively scrutinizing certain aspects of the design process. While such a task may be challenging due to social and technical complexities, we present a softw...

Background U-CARE is a multidisciplinary eHealth research program that involves the disciplines of caring science, clinical psychology, health economics, information systems, and medical science. It was set up from scratch in a university setting in 2010, funded by a governmental initiative. While establishing the research program, many challenges...

Even though the practice of integrating evaluative features into software has long been applied in commercially available software, it is still underrepresented in IS community. This paper presents a framework for built-in evaluation support. We seek to incorporate the idea of 'the self-evaluating artifact' into the design science research (DSR). W...

Most information systems (IS) programs have a strong design component, including aspects of software engineering and organizational development. This work explores how Design Science Research (DSR) (Hevner et al. 2004) can be used to drive IS curriculum development. Specifically, we report on the use of DSR to inform the design of a Computer Inform...

There exist different types or genres of design science research (DSR) in information systems, like laboratory-oriented and practice-oriented DSR. This paper investigates different arguments for practice-oriented approach to DSR. It uses the research approach of practice research as a starting point and elaborates then a possible approach to practi...

Background: The prevalence of information technology (IT) in society is a foundation for new modes of interaction between patients and health specialists. IT plays an important role in the renewal of care. Several countries have incorporated eHealth plans into their national health strategies. Part of the eHealth evolution concerns Internet psycho...

Information systems design must balance requirements of privacy and accountability for the good of individuals and society. Drawing from an evolving theory of scrutiny, we propose a multi-layer protocol to support the rigorous application of privacy rules and accountability rules in sensitive online applications. We ground our study in the context...

Evaluation is an essential part of design science research - a means to demonstrate qualities of artefacts and knowledge abstractions. The utility fitness model suggests that evaluation needs to move from ‘usefulness’ measures to utility functions that incorporate the long-term evolution and survival of an artefact in its design landscape. In this...

Information systems design must balance requirements of privacy and accountability for the good of individuals and society. We ground our study in the context of the design and development of a eHealth system for psychosocial care. Multi-level privacy protections are balanced with the need to provide for accountable interventions in well-defined cr...

This work-in-progress paper introduces the concept of Respondent Behavior Logging (RBL), consisting of static and dynamic models that conceptualize respondent behavior when filling in online questionnaires. It is argued that web-based survey design may benefit from logging as a technique for evaluation, since such data may prove useful during re-de...

The purpose of this paper is to explore issues pertaining to the development of third-party applications aimed to be hosted at software platforms. While prior research has addressed design challenges in platform design, and suggested a boundary resources model to understand such design, we argue that the application developers’ perspective has not...

Information systems design is increasingly oriented towards systems for social interaction. There is still a lack of design-oriented knowledge to support such design. In this paper, we present an action framework that adds a pragmatic layer to software. Through the framework, web applications are equipped with sophisticated logging and authorizatio...

Information technology (IT) allows for large-scale data collection and data analysis, e.g. through logs of user behavior and online surveys. While the issue of structured access to data is extremely important, previous research has not sufficiently emphasized design of data export for research purposes. If researchers are to make their data accessi...

Computers have been considered and appropriated for natural language translation since the late 1940's. Since the commercialization of the Internet in the early 1990's, the role of computers to support translation work has expanded. The idea of 'crowd sourcing', i.e. engaging website visitors or community members, has been appropriated to enable 'c...

The concept of product semantics and its focus on meaning is used to interpret design research as design. It is argued that we may conceive of design research as design in two realms: The practical and the academic. In doing design research, there is a reciprocal shaping of artifacts: Better artifacts (contributions to practice) through appropriati...

In the last decade, eSupport (Internet-reliant therapy) has gained substantial attention, both in research and practice. Several studies in psychology show that structured eSupport (e.g. Computerized Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), is promising both with regard to therapeutic efficacy and cost-effectiveness. However, the transition from face-to-fac...

Artefact mutability has been proposed as an important component of design theory in information systems. Although initial work on establishing a solid foundation for discussing mutability has been reported, conceptual as well as practical uncertainty still prevails. This paper draws on empirical work in a design science research project in the heal...

This paper reports on a design-oriented action research project in the Swedish municipal sector. A model for stakeholder collaboration in projects is presented, based on three iterations of design and evaluation. The model has been informed by empirical evaluations, as well as theoretical arguments from the fields of knowledge management, (multiple...

This paper provides an interpretation of interaction design patterns from the perspective of design-oriented research in information systems. It is concluded that interaction design patterns do not meet certain ideals for contemporary information systems design theory: Rigor, practical utility, novelty/innovation, acknowledgement of the social sett...

Information technology (IT) plays an increasingly important role for individuals, organizations, markets, and society as a whole. IT systems are artefacts (human made objects) designed for various purposes. Given the multiple-purpose characteristics of computers, such artefacts may, for example, support workflows, perform advanced calculations, sup...

Over the last few decades, the field of information systems has shown a steadily increasing interest in design-oriented research. This is manifested through the emergence of different ontological and epistemological positions among IS researchers. Some challenges arise from this development, such as (a) a need to understand design-oriented IS resea...

This chapter introduces the theoretical framework of Socio-Instrumental Pragmatism (SIP) and illustrates how it has been used as an analytic instrument in the process of diagnosing a work practice and co-designing business processes and IT artefacts. A practical inquiry process has been conducted in a project group consisting of a group of Swedish...

Web 2.0 and the commercial interest in open-source software both reflect a current trend towards increased user involvement in product and service development. To stay competitive in this era of open innovation, companies must learn to trust users as co-developers and to make use of the Web as an instrument for identity cultivation.

This paper analyses the concept of the information technology artefact in a pragmatic web context with a special focus on its user interface. Assuming a communicative socio-pragmatic view of the use of Web artefacts, a distinction is made between explicit performance of essential communication actions and "give offs"; our sometimes unintentional tr...

Within the IS research field, there are many views on how to understand the use of IT systems. Within the community of organisational semiotics, Stamper’s semiotic framework has been used as a tool to understand information systems at different abstraction levels. Another theory related to organisational semiotics, Information Systems Actability Th...

The concept of usability has evolved in different research communities and the focus of re- search has varied. During the last couple of years, research has been oriented towards ac- knowledging more appropriately the social context of IT system use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the usefulness of a communicative perspective o...

The concept of usability has evolved in different research communities and the focus of research has varied. During the last couple of years, research has been oriented towards acknowledging more appropriately the social context of IT system use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the usefulness of a communicative perspective on us...

Information Systems Actability Theory is a theory based on language action theories (e.g. Searle and Habermas) and other social action theories (e.g. Weber and Schutz). In ISAT, different actors' work with (computerised) information systems is considered to be action directed towards humans. Phenomena related to human action and communication betwe...

The paper presents an approach to the evaluation of information systems based on the concept of information systems actability, which is suggested as an important alternative way to understand the role and pragmatic use of ITsystems within organizations. The results, empirically informed by two case studies, show that the suggested approach can eff...

The paper presents an approach to the evaluation of information systems based on the concept of information systems actability, which is suggested as an important alternative way to understand the role and pragmatic use of IT-systems within organizations. The results, empirically informed by two case studies, show that the suggested approach can ef...

The concept of IS actability refers to a perspective that considers different actors' work with (computerised) information systems as performance of actions towards other actors in some social context. The actions performed using the IS are considered as social actions, since they are directed to human beings-explicitly or implicitly. The theoretic...

The issue at stake is how to conceive user interfaces of IT artefacts in an or-ganisational and semiotic perspective. Different communicative functions of user inter-faces are investigated and the sequencing of user-system interaction. Two earlier mod-els in the information systems actability approach are investigated and integrated: The Elementary...

The concept of usability contains different analytic tools, which support de-velopers to focus on important aspects of IT-system design and evaluation. Usability research has focused both cognitive aspects of IT-systems (such as how to design the user interface), as well as an understanding of the work tasks the user performs using the IT-system. T...

This paper builds on a case study in the Swedish public sector to illustrate a pragmatic view of design, characterized by a focus on stakeholders and social action. This view of design proposes a synthesis of a workpractice diagnosis to gain thorough understanding of business needs and prepare for organizational change, prototyping to design IT sys...