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Comparing Two Software Design Process Theories
Abstract
This paper explores an ongoing conflict concerning the nature of software design. This conflict manifests itself as antagonism
between managers and developers, debates about agile vs. plan-driven methodologies and aspiring developers’ dissatisfaction
with their courses. One side views design as a plan-driven information processing task involving rational decision-making
(the Reason-Centric Perspective), while the other views design as an improvised, creative task involving naturalized decision-making
(Action-Centric Perspective). Each perspective includes an epistemology, theory of human action and a software design process
theory (an explanation of how software is created in practice). This paper reports the results of an exploratory questionnaire
study that comparatively and empirically evaluated the two process theories. Results clearly favor the Action-Centric process
theory: the Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Framework.
... The pipeline architectural pattern, data abstraction architectural pattern, communicating processes of architectural pattern, implicit invocation architectural pattern, repository architectural pattern, interpreter architectural pattern, main program, and subroutines architectural pattern, and layered architectural pattern (Gomes et al., 2002) were all topics of discussion. The solution presented by the authors (Ralph, 2010) includes the Re-Builder framework to suggest suitable patterns, taking into consideration user experience. Re-Builder employed a case-based approach to reasoning, utilizing situations where a pattern has previously been utilized in a software design. ...
... Re-Builder employed a case-based approach to reasoning, utilizing situations where a pattern has previously been utilized in a software design. In this context, class diagrams were employed to represent cases (Ralph, 2010). However, a notable drawback of this approach was the absence of the sequential process-based diagrams in certain cases, which consequently leads to a lack of success measures. ...
... The Creational Design Patterns will focus on the method by how things are produced. It eliminates complications and 3. A notable drawback of this approach was the absence of the sequential process-based diagram in certain cases, which consequently leads to a lack of success measures (Ralph, 2010). 4. Fitness functions describe how close an architecture is to achieving an architectural aim. ...
A reproducible solution to a frequently occurring problem in software design was described as a software pattern, also known as a design pattern. It was a tested method for resolving kinds of software design issues that had been classified and identified by several years of experience and best practices. The key to making safe and accessible software was good software design. There were different types of design problems. Solving those problems was very important to produce good and efficient software. There were some tools, techniques, and patterns to solve these problems. Software design knowledge could be effectively captured and communicated using design patterns. Within a particular context of software design, a software design pattern was a standardized, repeatable solution to a frequently occurring problem. The patterns were effective for software design on several levels. In this paper, we identified the major design problems. Then we have analyzed those problems and present design patterns to develop an effective software design.
... The rational paradigm understands design as informed by research and knowledge in a predictable and controlled manner. The action-centric paradigm apprehends design also as informed by research and knowledge but considers the design process as improvised, where the sequences of analysis, design and implementation are undistinguishably connected [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Within action-centric design designers conceptualise a problem (framing) by defining goals and objectives and then construct tentatively the object to be designed (move). ...
... Within action-centric design designers conceptualise a problem (framing) by defining goals and objectives and then construct tentatively the object to be designed (move). The design process here asks the designer to simultaneously refine the mental image of the design object based on the actual perception of the context in and for which it needs to be designed (sensemaking-coevolution-implementation framework [11]). The expression of the idea through suitable design tools facilitates the critical rethinking of the perceived idea, which results in a new design cycle. ...
... Narrative mode is concerned with human wants, needs, goals, and intentions, and facilitates the audience to observe characters in their actions and to realize which obstacles were encountered and which intentions were realized or unfulfilled [78]. This aspect of observation and realisation over time, or as Jakobson described it as the application of combination and selection in the operation of a sign system resulting in a system of meaning based on alternations and alignments [79], makes the digital narrative a special design case 11 , as it highlights the relevance of expectation as a crucial element of experience. Traditional linear narrative products, though tremendously successful and influential, can address narration in a restricted way because the creator can only estimate the expectations on the whole product as well as expectation levels during the perception process the audience undergoes while linearly accessing the narrative 12 . ...
In this text, we consider the authoring of interactive digital narratives (IDNs) as a system of interwoven creative processes and look at it as a design process. The aim is to better understand the structural, aesthetic and interactive concepts authoring has to address, how authors think about those and what that means regarding the tools required to support authoring for IDNs. The paper concludes with a detailed vision of an authoring environment that is considered an open-source sandbox system, which provides the technical means to build a functional IDN but adapts the availability of technology based on the narrative engineer's aims, goals and skills. The environment establishes a collaboration between itself and the narrative engineer, who's interaction on one side focusses on the collection of material and its classification and on the other side covers the design of the engine that facilitates the aimed for audience to establish the stories for their information need out of the provided proto-narrative content space.
... In the FBS framework the purpose of the design is perceived as the successful transformation of certain functions into a design description to facilitate the described artifact as able to produce the addressed functionalities [10,23]. The rationale behind selecting the FBS framework is that it reflects a reason-centric perspective of the system design. ...
... The rationale behind selecting the FBS framework is that it reflects a reason-centric perspective of the system design. In reason-centric perspective the cognitivist view of human action is described as a sequence of different sets of action with some preconceived end [23,32] and a design could then be viewed as a plan-driven problem solved by triggering any replanning due to unanticipated conditions [23]. In the IIF the end design should reflect the addressed functionalities in the framework and each function could furthermore be viewed as a different set of actions with a desired end goal. ...
... The rationale behind selecting the FBS framework is that it reflects a reason-centric perspective of the system design. In reason-centric perspective the cognitivist view of human action is described as a sequence of different sets of action with some preconceived end [23,32] and a design could then be viewed as a plan-driven problem solved by triggering any replanning due to unanticipated conditions [23]. In the IIF the end design should reflect the addressed functionalities in the framework and each function could furthermore be viewed as a different set of actions with a desired end goal. ...
When frameworks and design principles for open innovation and open sustainability innovation (OSI) were established in earlier research, their foundations were originated from the expanded concepts of universal design (UD) from human-computer interaction (HCI) in a prescriptive form. This also was the basis of an inclusive innovation framework (IIF) aiming for a sustainable information system design. In this paper the IIF originating from the concept of combining UD and open innovation (OI) in promoting information technology enabling sustainability goals was analyzed together with OI and OSI frameworks. The role of OI in formulating the IIF was thereby strengthened, which in parallel helped recognizing the extended conceptions of sustainable HCI (SHCI) and its future research path through the use of IIF.
... Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory (SCI) is a teleological theory that explains how a cohesive development team builds complex software systems (Fig. IV). It posits that development teams engage in three basic activities: 1) making sense of an ambiguous, problematic context (Sensemaking); 2) rapidly oscillating between ideas about the context and ideas about the space of possible design artifacts (Coevolution) and building the system (Implementation) [19], [24]. These activities may occur serially (in any order) or in parallel. ...
... The relevant question is not whether we can view some design activities as sensemaking, but whether sensemaking has more explanatory power than an alternative concept, e.g., analyzing. SCI was therefore tested against a rival theory, the FunctionBehavior-Structure Framework [24], [60]. ...
... and reflecting a distribution does not obviously violate statistical norms (cf. [24] for a detailed example of this approach). ...
A process theory is an explanation of how an entity changes and develops. While software engineering is fundamentally concerned with how software artifacts change and develop, little research explicitly builds and empirically evaluates software engineering process theories. This lack of theory obstructs scientific consensus by focusing the academic community on methods. Methods inevitably oversimplify and over-rationalize reality, obfuscating crucial phenomena including uncertainty, problem framing and illusory requirements. Better process theories are therefore needed to ground software engineering in empirical reality. However, poor understanding of process theory issues impedes research and publication. This paper therefore attempts to clarify the nature and types of process theories, explore their development and provide specific guidance for their empirically evaluation.
... Design activity involves problem solving. As such, it has often been conceived in terms of the so-called Rational Model that assumes a stage-bound procedure of applying systematically a variety of known strategies for attaining a clearly defined set of objectives (Brooks, 2010;Dorst & Dijkhuis, 1995, p. 261;Newell & Simon, 1972;Pahl, Beitz, Feldhusen, & Grote, 2007;Ralph, 2010). This model has been criticized on many grounds, especially because it is not supported by empirical observations about how design is actually performed and mainly because it leaves little space for creativity (Brooks, 2010;Cross, Dorst, & Roozenburg, 1992;McCracken & Jackson, 1982;Ralph, 2010;Schön, 1983). ...
... As such, it has often been conceived in terms of the so-called Rational Model that assumes a stage-bound procedure of applying systematically a variety of known strategies for attaining a clearly defined set of objectives (Brooks, 2010;Dorst & Dijkhuis, 1995, p. 261;Newell & Simon, 1972;Pahl, Beitz, Feldhusen, & Grote, 2007;Ralph, 2010). This model has been criticized on many grounds, especially because it is not supported by empirical observations about how design is actually performed and mainly because it leaves little space for creativity (Brooks, 2010;Cross, Dorst, & Roozenburg, 1992;McCracken & Jackson, 1982;Ralph, 2010;Schön, 1983). In recent years there has been increased recognition of the role of creativity in design. ...
... Following insights of this kind an alternate approach to design production has been developed. It is often called "The Action-Centric Model" and is based on assuming that emotion, intuition, innovation and other processes that constitute creativity play a major role in design production (Cross et al., 1992;Ralph, 2010;Schön, 1983;Truex, Baskerville, & Travis, 2000). Observations of this kind have made it clear that creativity is involved at least to some degree in every act of design production. ...
The objective of the study was to explore the cognitive profile of creativity in design by applying a new approach to the assessment of creativity based on the theory of meaning (Kreitler & Kreitler). The assessment of meaning enables to identify cognitive processes that characterize an individual as well as those necessary for good performance of some cognitive act, such as creativity. It was hypothesized that creativity in design will include partly cognitive components identified in previous studies of creativity and partly new ones. The participants were 52 students in a school of design, who were administered a designing task and the Meaning Test, assessing a broad range of cognitive processes. The design products were assessed for creativity by three experienced architects. The cognitive processes, differentiating significantly between the students who produced highly creative designs and those who produced less creative ones, were interpreted as constituting the cognitive profile of creativity in design. The obtained profile supported the hypothesis and provided information about the cognitive processes of creativity in design, which may also be used for promoting creativity in design students.
... The paradigms may reflect differing views of how designing should be done and how it is done, and they both have a variety of names. The problem-solving view has been called the rational model [8], technical rationality [9] and the reason-centric perspective [10]. The alternative view has been called reflection-in-action [9], coevolution [10] and the action-centric perspective [11]. ...
... The problem-solving view has been called the rational model [8], technical rationality [9] and the reason-centric perspective [10]. The alternative view has been called reflection-in-action [9], coevolution [10] and the action-centric perspective [11]. ...
In the Design study programme in the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Slovak University of
Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia, several approaches are being implemented to support creative thinking and doing of
students. In this article, the authors compare two different, but mutually non-confrontational approaches to designing:
individual spontaneity and improvisation, and a multidisciplinary learning by doing approach. In the early years of their
study, two different groups of students of the same technical-artistic field of Design were observed, during a specific
design assignment that had been specifically chosen to test the two particular approaches. One group followed
the methodology of design thinking based on a rather systematic and rational approach, whereas the other group tested
the action-centric method supported by intuition and emotion. The specific evaluation criteria - the visual aesthetics,
the rationale of the form, the typology of the element and the utility, and user experience - were established, and the
results observed and evaluated.
... Task execution is regularly made when the partners and personal indicate their aggregate satisfaction as indicated by the degree of their interest (Ofori, 2013).At the continental level, in Africa, Ralph (2010) expressed that Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) have performance full methodology for planning, affirming, checking, and investigating procedures for the evaluation of their presentation with respect to their projects/administrations. The fact was that such evaluations required gathering applicable data, having measures for making a decision about Stratford Peer Reviewed Journals and Book Publishing Journal of Economics Volume 6||Issue 1||Page 11-35|June||2022| Email: info@stratfordjournals.org ISSN: 2617-5800 this data, and having a lot of qualities, which gave the structure to the data that must be accumulated about the accomplishments of the projects/administrations. ...
... The larger the project is the larger the number of major risks that can be encountered. Ralph (2010) reiterates a clear definition of the term of risk management and the way in which they may be implemented. In accordance with the researcher, risk management could not be obtained in future. ...
This study examined the role of project design on child welfare and safety in Rwanda with reference to Keeping Children Safety Project in Gasabo. Specifically, the study investigated the effect of scope design, the effect of budget and the effect of risk design on child welfare and safety. The study used descriptive design with quantitative and qualitative approaches. The theory of change, system theory and the execution theory were used. A sample of 279 participants was selected among 904 beneficiaries of Keeping Children Safety Project implemented by Plan International in Gasabo District. The sampled population was chosen using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires and interview guide were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to give frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation while inferential statistics were used to establish the correlation and regression effect between variables. The results show that defining course of activities is significantly correlated with children welfare and safety (b=0.129, p-value=0.033). Sequencing activities was insignificantly correlated with children welfare and safety (b=0.026, p-value=0.660). Estimation time of activities was significantly correlated with children welfare and safety (b=0.134, p-value=0.026). Results also showed that a unit of change in cost estimation leads to reduction of malnutrition in grade obtained limited by a factor of 0.23. Results to the third objective revealed that a unit of change in risk identification reduces children malnutrition limited by a factor of 0.97. The study concluded that scope design, budget design and risk design positively and significantly contributes to children welfare and to Keeping Children Safety Project in Gasabo District. The study recommends that cost estimation ought to be based on project scope and be associated with project plan. Project managers should encourage collaboration between variation in capabilities and in keeping children safe. Project team members and beneficiaries should understand that effective project design is capable of facilitating project performance. Keywords: Project design, child welfare, keeping children safe, time schedules, sequencing of actions and pertinent risks.
... The presentation of SCI given in this paper is limited in several important ways. First, the purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive account of SCI-empirical evaluation is handled elsewhere [112,117]. Such an account is necessary as SCI integrates diverse research from numerous disciplines, which may be unfamiliar to many software engineering researchers. ...
... Conceptual evaluation suggests that SCI is reasonably simple and communicable, highly novel, potentially useful and definitely testable. Initial empirical evaluation suggests that SCI is more consistent with empirical observations of designers than FBS or Waterfall phases [112,117]. In conclusion, this paper presents and conceptually evaluates a novel software design process theory, theoretically justifies its elements and discusses its relationship to existing process theories and themes in the development literature. ...
Understanding software design practice is critical to understanding modern information systems development. New developments in empirical software engineering, information systems design science and the interdisciplinary design literature combined with recent advances in process theory and testability have created a situation ripe for innovation. Consequently, this paper utilizes these breakthroughs to formulate a process theory of software design practice: Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory explains how complex software systems are created by collocated software development teams in organizations. It posits that an independent agent (design team) creates a software system by alternating between three activities: organizing their perceptions about the context, mutually refining their understandings of the context and design space, and manifesting their understanding of the design space in a technological artifact. This theory development paper defines and illustrates Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory, grounds its concepts and relationships in existing literature, conceptually evaluates the theory and situates it in the broader context of information systems development.
... Allison and Merali [13] developed a theory that explains how software processes are improved through a dialectic interplay with software development. Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory explains how developers create software artifacts by alternating between making sense of an ambiguous context, oscillating between a context schema and a design space schema, and translating the latter into artifacts [14], [15]. Process theories allow for generalizations and predictions in situations with very complex causal relationships. ...
... Software developers choose actions to achieve goals, as in teleological theories. Design is intrinsically teleological [21], [22] and software teams have previously been theorized as teleological agents [14], [15]. However, dialectal theories better capture conflict between different agents. ...
While agile approaches have been widely adopted, our theoretical understanding of their foundations and impacts remains limited. This is due to conflating two radically different meanings of " agile. " We therefore unpack these two meanings and present our tentative understanding as a process theory. The theory posits that agility emerges from teams' reactions to needs for change. Rather than directly affecting success, agility moderates the negative effects of need for change on success. Viewing agility this way helps address the research practice gap by highlighting the need for skepticism of methods and practices, and by suggesting practically relevant research questions.
... Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory (SCI) is a teleological theory that explains how a cohesive development team builds complex software systems (Fig. 4). It posits that development teams engage in three basic activities: 1) making sense of an ambiguous, problematic context (Sensemaking ); 2) rapidly oscillating between ideas about the context and ideas about the space of possible design artifacts (Coevolution ) andbuilding the system (Implementation) [19], [24]. These activities may occur serially (in any order) or in paral- lel. ...
... To investigate these questions, we can apply at least three theory development strategies, as follows. Fig. 4. Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory (adapted from [24]) Fig. 5. An Emergent View of Software Process Improvement (from [25]) Fig. 6. ...
A process theory is an explanation of how and why an entity changes and develops. While software engineering is fundamentally concerned with how and why software artifacts change and develop, little research explicitly develops and empirically evaluates software engineering process theories. This lack of theory obstructs scientific consensus by focusing the academic community on methods. Methods inevitably oversimplify and over-rationalize reality, obfuscating crucial phenomenon including uncertainty, problem framing and illusory requirements. Better process theories are therefore needed to ground software engineering in empirical reality. However, poor understanding of process theory issues impedes research and publication. This paper therefore attempts to clarify the nature of process theories, address some common misconceptions and elucidate the unique issues of process theory evaluation.
... The study of emergency planning lead us to depict emergency planning as a reason-centric activity (Ralph, 2010), in which knowledge comes from the reflective conversation between the planners and the emergency plan to define. Such reflection mainly relies on the exploration and discussion on the space of alternatives integrating environmental and contextual information with their knowledge into a justification for decisionmaking. ...
... Effective emergency planning must be conducted to explore and make novel connections between knowledge and experiences from emergency planners that lead to creative solutions. According to this approach, emergency planning can be depicted as a forecasting action-centric process (Ralph, 2010), based on the reflective conversation between planners and the critical situation to advance. ...
Emergency planning is an ongoing activity in which a multidisciplinary group of experts intermittently collaborate to define the most appropriate response to risks. One of the most important tasks of emergency planning is risk reduction. Such a task compiles the analysis of capabilities to face an emergency, the prioritizing of activities, and the definition of procedures and strategies. It is therefore a reflection process based on exchanging information between planners and exploring alternatives.
Despite the exploration of alternatives is an especially relevant activity to design better plans, recent research on computer-mediated collaborative tools for planning do not usually offer support for this activity. Thus, with the purpose of supporting reflection during the development of risk reduction tasks, this paper presents an exploratory design tool that allow planners to assess the space of alternatives and the underlying information related those alternatives. This planning tool will help planners to examine and contextualize information, allowing them to define more suitable response strategies.
... These elements that we were able to observe above, can give us a better picture of what is design and gives a better understanding of its basic dynamics. This then leads us to two different classic paradigms of design (Dorst, 1997;Dorst & Dijkhuis, 1995;Ralph, 2010) that differ on these fundamental elements of design and how we study the field. ...
... The different processes are interconnected and embedded in an overall cyclic and iterative production methodology, where the sequences of analysis, design and implementation are indistinguishable connected. Creators simultaneously refine the mental image of the design object based on the actual perception of the context in and for which it needs to be designed (sensemaking coevolution implementation framework (Ralph, 2010)), which facilitates the critical rethinking of the perceived idea and results in a new design cycle. The aim is to facilitate the creator of an IDN for complex issues to address the interactor's information needs, based on his or her knowledge and skills, so that he or she can actively explore various perspectives, details, and causal relations through the narrative. ...
The nature of interaction within Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) is inherently complex. This is due, in part, to the wide range of potential interaction modes through which IDNs can be conceptualised, produced and deployed and the complex dynamics this might entail. The purpose of this whitepaper is to provide IDN practitioners with the essential knowledge on the nature of interaction in IDNs and allow them to make informed design decisions that lead to the incorporation of complexity thinking throughout the design pipeline, the implementation of the work, and the ways its audience perceives it. This white paper is concerned with the complexities of authoring, delivering and processing dynamic interactive contents from the perspectives of both creators and audiences. This white paper is part of a series of publications by the INDCOR COST Action 18230 (Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representations), which all clarify how IDNs representing complexity can be understood and applied (INDCOR WP 0 - 5, 2023).
... These elements that we were able to observe above, can give us a better picture of what is design and gives a better understanding of its basic dynamics. This then leads us to two different classic paradigms of design (Dorst, 1997;Dorst & Dijkhuis, 1995;Ralph, 2010) that differ on these fundamental elements of design and how we study the field. ...
It is common for a design team to be handed a problem to solve for others. The handing over is normally referred to as a ‘briefing’ process, and the documentation of the starting point and what is to be done is known as a ‘brief’. It is known that the way we frame and understand a problem influences what paths we see to potential solutions. The aim of this thesis is to understand what makes a good design brief and to do so in order to create an empirically informed, and theoretically underpinned, typology of design briefs and the kind of search processes they are disposed to induce.
Different bodies of literature have tried to grasp how design solves problems in order to understand designer’s behavior and ultimately facilitate or improve it. Distinctions can, and have been made, between different kinds of problem formulations, as well as different problem-solving approaches. This thesis aims to integrate two previously distinct literatures, search process from the organizational perspective developed by James G. March, Herbert A. Simon, Richard Cyert and others and Design and the Design Process from the perspectives of authors such as Donald Schön, Kees Dorst and Nigel Cross among others, to propose a typology of design briefs in order to ultimately facilitate problem formulation and subsequently facilitate the design process.
The simple and immediate answer to the question of what makes a good design brief is: ‘that depends’. It depends on the design process to be followed (if there is one), it depends on the kind of goals that should be achieved, the time available, and it also depends on how much and what is known about the problem and potential solutions. Based on this, four ideal types of design briefs are articulated, including the expected associated search behavior and challenges of design teams.
... All these subtasks aim to structure the mental model of software engineers, by refining their perception of the problem environment, organizing it, and refining their mental picture of the design based on their mental picture of the context, as described by Ralph [144]. Then, as stated by Budgen [34], software engineers can start producing a design, which is a set of rules that describes how the solution should be built. ...
Domain knowledge is a prerequisite to produce software design and implemen- tation tailored to stakeholders’ requirements. One common way to formalize that knowledge is achieved through conceptual models, which are commonly used to describe or simulate a system. Acquiring such expertise requires to discuss with knowledgeable stakeholders and/or to get an access to useful doc- uments, which both might not always be easily accessible. In the same time, more model samples can be gathered from multiple sources, what represents an increasing number of already formalized and accessible knowledge pieces. For example, some companies keep archives of internal model repositories. There also exist numerous open source projects that contain models while some mod- eling tools even offer the possibility to create public projects that are free to browse. Such data sources could be exploited to create domain knowledge that could be provided to software engineers while modeling. To be useful, this knowledge must be of high quality, but must also be well integrated into the software modeling process. The focus of this thesis is to provide a framework to exploit knowledge to assist users of computer-based modeling tools with software modeling assistants. This thesis first introduces our research questions based on a systematic mapping study about software assistants for software engineering, and then focuses on software assistants for modeling. It reports on the design of modeling assistants based on a user-centered approach. We present the conclusions of interviews conducted with experts in modeling, a stage in which requirements are collected. Then, we develop the creation of a prototype modeling knowledge base allowing (i) to create general and specific artificial modeling knowledge, and (ii) to make them available to any software client via recommendations. After introducing the results of an experiment regarding the accuracy of the system, we discuss these preliminary results. Finally, this thesis presents a software modeling assistant implementation integrated to the Papyrus tool, which aims to cognify the UML modeling environment by integrating the previously created knowledge. Our work helps to clarify the need for assistance during software modeling work, presents an initial approach to the design of software assistants for software modeling, and identify research challenges in modeling assistance.
... For a clearly articulated explanation of what constitutes an action-centric design process model see(Ralph, 2010) ...
As the U.S. Department of Defense attempts to transform its modus operandi for conducting global operations in an increasingly complex, dynamic environment, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have released a Joint Concept for Integrated Campaigning (JCIC). The concept introduces a framework that broadly describes how the military and its partners can effectively campaign in support of national security interests. This paper will explore the idea that the JCIC framework represents a design process by comparing the JCIC framework to a generalized design process. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
... Creativity with its various processes such as emotion, intuition and innovation, is involved in all design actions (Cross 2001, Ralph 2010, Truex et al. 2000. Creativity in design may be different from creativity in other domains and disciplines (Christiaans 2002). ...
... This section summarizes the concept of software design and design thinking according to the empirical paradigm's model of design (Ralph, 2010a). Here, software design refers to the process where an agent or a group of agents create a software artefact, intended to accomplish goals in a specific context by using a set of primitive components and implementing a set of requirements, subject to a set of constraints (Ralph & Wand, 2009). ...
There is a broad consensus in the software engineering (SE) research community that understanding system desiderata and design creativity is critical for the success of software projects. This has motivated a plethora of research in SE to improve requirements engineering (RE) processes. However, little research has investigated the relationship between the way desiderata are presented (i.e., framed) and creative design performance. This dissertation, therefore, examines the effects of more formal presentations of desiderata on design creativity.
The research was conducted in three phases. The first consisted of summarizing the available literature on cognitive biases in SE to build a comprehensive body of knowledge, understand the current state of research, and identify the relevant literature to position and delineate subsequent investigations involving the framing effect and fixation. This research phase also investigated how creativity is conceptualized (i.e., understood, assessed and improved) in SE by exploring the perceptual differences and similarities between SE researchers and practitioners. In the second phase, two controlled experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of framing desiderata first as requirements (in general) and then as prioritized requirements on design creativity (i.e., the originality and practicality of a design). The third phase involved a protocol study to explore the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may explain why framing desiderata as formal requirements affects creativity. The empirical evidence from the second and third phases was interpreted together to propose a theoretical framework that explains the effect of specification formality on design creativity.
While the results of the experiments show that specification formality is negatively related to design creativity (i.e., desiderata framed as requirements or prioritized requirements result in designs that are less creative), the findings from the protocol study indicate that the negative relationship between specification formality and design creativity is mediated by fixation (i.e., more formal presentation of desiderata induces fixation and hinders critical thinking). Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that more formal and structured presentations of desiderata cause requirements fixation—the tendency to attribute undue confidence and importance to desiderata presented as formal requirements statements—that affects design creativity, and thus undermines software engineering success.
... Ralph [16], who "distinguished the variance theory (which predicts a dependent variable concerning independent variables) and the theory of processes (which explain how the phenomenon occurs)". ...
Useful inheritances from scientific experience open perspective ways for increasing the degree of success in designing of systems with software. One such way is a search and build applied theory that takes into account the nature of design and the specificity of software engineering. This paper presents a substantially evolutionary approach to creating the project theories, the application of which leads to positive effects that are traditionally expected from theorizing. Any implementation of the approach is based on a reflection by designers of an operational space of designing onto a semantic memory of a question-answer type. One of the results of such reflection is a system of question-answer nets, the nodes of which register facts of interactions of designers with accessible experience. A set of such facts is used by designers for creating and using the theory that belongs to the new subclass of Grounded Theories. This sub-class is oriented on organizationally behavioral features of a project’s work based on design thinking, automated mental imagination, and thought experimenting that facilitate increasing the degree of controlled intellectualization in the design process and, correspondingly, increasing the degree of success in the development of software-intensive systems.
... Despite coevolution being fundamental to thinking in the design discipline [18], [43], [44] it is barely mentioned in the SE methods literature or model curricula [6]. Consequently, Royce's Ontology inhibits understanding and application of alternative theories of software development, including Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory [13], [36], [45], [46], which attempts to organize SE activities into more cohesive, less overlapping categories. ...
To legitimize itself as a scientific discipline, the software engineering academic community must let go of its non-empirical dogmas. A dogma is belief held regardless of evidence. This paper analyzes the nature and detrimental effects of four software engineering dogmas - 1) the belief that software has "requirements"; 2) the division of software engineering tasks into analysis, design, coding and testing; 3) the belief that software engineering is predominantly concerned with designing "software" systems; 4) the belief that software engineering follows methods effectively. Deconstructing these dogmas reveals that they each oversimplify and over-rationalize aspects of software engineering practice, which obscures underlying phenomena and misleads researchers and practitioners. Evidenced-based practice is analyzed as a means to expose and repudiate non-empirical dogmas. This analysis results in several novel recommendations for overcoming the practical challenges of evidence-based practice.
... The main group of related works concerns the subject area of the mental imagery. The essence of mental imagery is presented in detail in publications [4] and [5] where this phenomenon is presented via two basic views (picture-like and descriptive) that found their expressions in depictive theory and descriptive theory. As it is underlined in many works, for instance in [6], both these views are mutually complementary, because, in reality, the human receives information from both signal systems. ...
... The literature on design provides us with food for thought. While some believe there are clear steps towards designing a platform, others think that the process is too dynamic to be planned or foreseen (Ralph, 2010). ...
While much has been written on the theory of agricultural innovation systems (Hall et al.,
2006; Hirvonen, 2009; Leeuwis, 1999; Leeuwis and van der Ban, 2004) and the need for
stakeholder collaboration (Critchley et al., 2006; Engel and Salomon, 1997; Röling and
Wagemakers, 1998), less is known about how innovation platforms operate in practice
and what they (can or cannot) achieve. Little is known as well about the conditions under
which innovation platforms trigger change. Few have written about this topic in understandable
language and even less of the literature aims at practitioners who are actually
engaged with innovation platforms and faced with the day-to-day problems1. Learning
how to build links and to encourage interaction between farmers, public research, advisory
services, development organisations and the private sector is still a key challenge for operationalising
the innovation systems concept (Sanginga et al., 2009).This book is meant for
development professionals and practitioners. Practitioners, in this case, are those involved
in brokering, most often researchers. This publication is written from the perspective of
practitioners for practitioners. It provides new information on the performance of innovation
platforms in developing countries, offers options to policy makers, and gives inspiration to
all actors involved in one way or another in stimulating innovation in the agricultural sector.
This publication intends to fill this knowledge gap by drawing lessons from a number of
practical experiences with innovation platforms in different sub-Saharan African countries.
The authors and contributors of this book do not pretend, in anyway, to present a model
or template of the perfect platform. On the contrary, the authors do not believe that such
a thing exists. Similarly, the objective of case documentation is not to judge or evaluate
the actions and performance of those involved in their implementation. The objective is
to learn and to make these lessons available to others.
... The literature on design provides us with food for thought. While some believe there are clear steps towards designing a platform, others think that the process is too dynamic to be planned or foreseen (Ralph, 2010). ...
In spite of the many efforts made by the government, different
projects and several NGOs, adoption of maize agricultural
technologies by smallholder farmers in Rwanda had not been
very successful. It was hypothesised that inadequate co-operation between the key players in the agricultural sector
limits the uptake of new knowledge and technologies by the
farmers. The Research Into Use (RIU) programme addressed
this gap through the establishment of Innovation Platform (IP)
to create and facilitate the essential collaborative relationships
between stakeholders including farmers, cooperatives, seeds
multipliers, inputs suppliers, processors, traders, credits
services, local leaders, research and extension, etc. This case
study focuses on the experiences of the maize innovation
platform, in Nyagatare District, to foster diffusion of maize
technologies in Rwanda. Data collection used various
instruments such as focus group discussions, participant
observations and individual interviews with plaftorm members.
Farmers‘ challenges and solutions to priority issues alongside
the maize value-chain were identified and translated into action
plan through facilitation and research. Linkages with research
institutions, NGOs, markets, micro-finance and banks were
established for value addition and capacity building; while
warrantee, credit and market links were done primarily to sustain
production and income. Farmers were involved in crop
management techniques, value addition and marketing of their
products. The findings will be used by DFID, RIU managers,
the Ministry of Agriculture and rural development agencies for
scaling up and out the approach into Rwanda and/or other
African countries.
Key words: Action plan, agricultural innovation platform,
innovation, implementation, maize platform
... Creativity with its various processes such as emotion, intuition and inno-vation, is involved in all design actions (Crosss 200;ralph, 2010;truex, Baskerville , and travis, 2000). Creativity in design may be different from creativity in other domains and disciplines (Christiaans, 2002). ...
Creativity is viewed as vital for all design actions; however, creativity in general with its related cognition processes has no general theory. Creativity used in architectural design is different than creativity in other domains. This research pro-poses certain activities of the initial phases of architectural design, in which the role of creativity is distinguished. The research proceeds to present a case study of two architectural design studios in which a VR environment is employed in order to investigate the effect of VR use on the creativity in those design phases. A methodology of qualitative and quantitative analysis has applied. Various architectural design factors are neutralized to overcome the influence generated from human factors variation and design thinking prejudice in architectural design and the associated activities.
... This distinction will be particularly important when studying and understanding properties of design in the natural world away from human hands and minds. In the context of general academic discourse on design through the newly emerging field of design science, the descriptions offered here should be considered action-centric (Ralph, 2010). ...
To explore the origin of design, one must understand that design is not an exact term but rather is a family of terms that cannot reduce to a generalized term due to the internal paradoxes of this family of terms. Some of the design terms are shown in natural systems. An artificial life simulation will be used to describe the many design processes that exist in the simulated world and also hold true in the natural world. An applied proof of the curious absence of “intelligent design” in nature and in human endeavors is offered concluding with an exploration of the origins of these forms of design.
... SCI explains how software is developed better than software lifecycles, methods or theories that divide development into analysis, design, coding, testing and similar categories [53,55]. SCI suggests that many common SE practices are counterproductive. ...
Many challenges in software projects are sociological, psychological or managerial in nature. Without knowledge of social science, developers, managers and researchers may misunderstand the social aspects of their projects, leading to ineffective decisions and actions. Yet, social science theories are rarely applied to Software Engineering (SE). Furthermore, understanding a single software project frequently necessitates combining multiple theories---often from several disciplines. This paper therefore aims to illustrate how certain social theories work together in a complementary manner to understand various dynamics of a software development project. To illustrate this, seven theories to understand key dynamics --- Actor Network Theory, Theory of Boundary Objects, Complexity Theory, Theory of Cognitive Biases, Effectuation Theory, Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory and Transactive Memory Theory --- are used to explain a longitudinal study of a software development project. This study illustrates the need for integrating more social science into SE research and curriculum.
... Amethodical development is part of a wider conflict between software development methods and theories (cf. Ralph 2010;2013a;2013b;2013c;Ralph et al. 2013). ...
The extensive prescriptive literature on software and information systems development methods routinely recommends more methodical, plan-driven approaches for more complex projects and more agile, adaptive approaches for less complex projects. This paper presents a revelatory case study in which a team with no imposed method successfully used a more methodical, plan-driven approach for a simple project and a more adaptive, amethodical approach for a more complex project. Furthermore, the team explicitly and intentionally transitioned a less methodical, more adaptive process to cope with the increasing complexity of the second project. This pattern directly contradicts the dominant narrative advocated in methods literature. The paper adopts the theory of complex adaptive systems to analyze and understand the observed pattern and deconstruct the dominant narrative.
... Second, gameful design of IS combines aspects of game design, software design, and IS development. The academic discourse includes starkly different descriptions of these processes; e.g., game design is dominated by iterative play-testing (Stacey and Nandhakumar 2008) and software design is dominated by the coevolution of problem frames and solution concepts (Ralph 2010) while IS development is often conceptualized using lifecycle models (Ralph 2011). ...
... Scrum is a framework for managing software development projects. It can be applied in situations characterized by sparse requirements, improvisation and where problem framing and problem solving are entangled (Ralph 2010(Ralph , 2011(Ralph , 2012(Ralph , 2013a(Ralph , 2013b. Scrum consists of prescribed roles, rules, artifacts, meetings, and assumptions. ...
The last decade has witnessed substantial growth in the adoption of both Agile and distributed software development. However, combining Agile practices, which emphasize regular informal communication, with geographically and temporally distributed sites, which hinder regular informal communication, presents numerous challenges. Proponents of Agile, especially the Scrum project management framework, have published several case studies of successful Scrum implementations in distributed environments. However, few empirical studies examine failed or abandoned Scrum implementations. Consequently, this paper presents a revelatory case study of a geographically and temporally distributed software development team that abandoned its attempted transition to Scrum. Two factors associated with the team's decision to abandon Scrum are identified-degradation of Scrum practices due to distribution and the undermining of the Scrum Master's credibility. Based on this analysis the paper proposes that task/team familiarity, group cohesion and transactive memory may be combined to understand the relationship between geotemporal distribution, process and performance.
... " Indeed, the denotation and connotations of design vary substantially across fields [41]. For example, while software engineers often contrast design with analysis, others maintain that analysis and design are the same cognitive process [16, 37, 40]. In some fields (e.g. ...
Software engineering research and practice are hampered by the lack of a well-understood, top-level dependent variable. Recent initiatives on General Theory of Software Engineering suggest a multifaceted variable – Software Engineering Success. However, its exact dimensions are unknown. This paper investigates the dimensions (not causes) of software engineering success. An interdisciplinary sample of 191 design professionals (68 in the software industry) were interviewed concerning their perceptions of success. Non-software designers (e.g. architects) were included to increase the breadth of ideas and facilitate comparative analysis. Transcripts were subjected to supervised, semi-automated semantic content analysis, including a software developer vs. other professionals comparison. Findings suggest that participants view their work as time-constrained projects with explicit clients and other stakeholders. Success depends on stakeholder impacts – financial, social, physical and emotional – and is understood through feedback. Concern with meeting explicit requirements is peculiar to software engineering and design is not equated with aesthetics in many other fields. Software engineering success is a complex multifaceted variable, which cannot sufficiently be explained by traditional dimensions including user satisfaction, profitability or meeting requirements, budgets and schedules. A proto-theory of success is proposed, which models success as the net impact on a particular stakeholder at a particular time. Stakeholder impacts are driven by project efficiency, artifact quality and market performance. Success is not additive, e.g., ‘low’ success for clients does not average with ‘high’ success for developers to make ‘moderate’ success overall; rather, a project may be simultaneously successful and unsuccessful from different perspectives.
... Specifically, empirical studies of expert designers reveal that designers rapidly oscillate between their understanding of the context and ideas for design candidates, simultaneously revising both – a process sometimes called coevolution [30] [50]. Some research has also explored coevolution in software engineering [74] [77] [79]. ...
There is a broad consensus that understanding system desiderata (requirements) and design creativity are both important for software engineering success. However, little research has addressed the relationship between design creativity and the way requirements are framed or presented. This paper therefore aims to investigate the possibility that the way desiderata are framed or presented can affect design creativity. Forty two participants took part in a randomized control trial where one group received desiderata framed as "requirements" while the other received desiderata framed as "ideas". Participants produced design concepts which were judged for originality. Participants who received requirements framing produced significantly less original designs than participants who received ideas framing (Mann-Whitney U=116.5, p=0.004). We conclude that framing desiderata as "requirements" may cause requirements fixation where designers' preoccupation with satisfying explicit requirements inhibits their creativity.
... Variance theories focus on explaining variables and relationships among them whereas process theories explain how a sequence of events or activities result in a certain outcome. Ralph [56,57], for instance, discusses process theories in the context of software design. ...
There has been a growing interest in the role of theory within Software Engineering (SE) research. For several decades, researchers within the SE research community have argued that, to become a ‘real’ engineering science, SE needs to develop stronger theoretical foundations. However, so far, the role of theory is neither fully appreciated nor well understood in SE research. Without a good common understanding of what theory is, what it constitutes in SE research, and the various roles it can play in SE research, it is difficult to appreciate how theory building can help to strengthen SE research. In this paper we discuss the importance of theory and conceptualization, and review the key components that comprise a theory. We then present the Research Path Schema (RPS), which is an adaptation of an analytical framework from the social sciences. The RPS defines a research study as consisting of three components: some phenomenon, system or substance that a researcher is interested in; some technique or method to study that substance; and some form of conceptualization or theory that provides an explanation for, or abstraction of the observations made in a study. Different research studies have a different archetypical ‘architecture,’ depending on the selection of these three components. Consequently, the role of the conceptualization or theory will be different for each archetypical study design, or selected research path. We conclude this paper by outlining a number of implications for future SE research, and argue for a Theory-Oriented Software Engineering research perspective, which can complement the recent
focus on Evidence Based Software Engineering.
... He describes designing as a reflective conversation with the design situation, in which the design goals are refined and mental representations of the design situation are constructed. A similar view is presented by Ralph [35], who conceptualizes the design process in terms of sense-making, which includes both framing and evaluating moves, implementation (i.e. constructing the design object) and co-evolution (i.e. ...
This paper focuses on the creative process of designing products with aesthetic qualities. Within this creative process, the paper focuses on the kinds of argumentation that designers use to justify aesthetic qualities of design objects. A distinctive feature of such arguments is the highly subjective nature of aesthetic preferences. Therefore, instead of actual observable phenomena, the focus is always on someone's subjective opinion. To address this issue, a basis is taken in established argumentation models, which are transformed into the described context. The proposed classification's fit with the reality of industrial designers was investigated through a series of interviews with industrial designers. The studies illustrated that all the eight developed argument types are, in fact, applied in practice.
... SCI is consistent with the assumption that system requirements are often an illusion {Ralph:2012wb} and the empirical model of design [12]. A survey of over 1300 developers supported SCI's core propositions [13]. SCI has many important implications for SE research and practice. ...
Following recent calls for greater attention to theory in software engineering, this paper reviews five theories that provide insight into software engineering behavior - Complexity Theory, Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory, the Theory of Boundary Objects, Transactive Memory Theory and the Theory of Cognitive Biases. Rather than providing contradictory explanations, these theories apply at different units of analysis and may therefore be used simultaneously to understand the same software engineering phenomena.
As society's reliance on software systems escalates over time, so too does the cost of failure of these systems. Meanwhile, the complexity of software systems, as well as of their designs, is also ever‐increasing, influenced by the proliferation of new tools and technologies to address intended societal needs. The traditional response to this complexity in software engineering and software architecture has been to apply rationalistic approaches to software design through methods and tools for capturing design rationale and evaluating various design options against a set of criteria. However, research from other fields demonstrates that intuition may also hold benefits for making complex design decisions. All humans, including software designers, use intuition and rationality in varying combinations. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of what is known and unknown from existing research regarding the use and performance consequences of using intuition and rationality in software design decision‐making. To this end, a systematic literature review has been conducted, with an initial sample of 3909 unique publications and a final sample of 26 primary studies. We present an overview of existing research, based on the literature concerning intuition and rationality use in software design decision‐making and propose a research agenda with 14 questions that should encourage researchers to fill identified research gaps. This research agenda emphasizes what should be investigated to be able to develop support for the application of the two cognitive processes in software design decision‐making.
Mobile technology is developing and becomes more and more popular in recent years. Soon mobile technologies will be the biggest part of the education so that the curriculums will be designed for this and mobile learning technologies will be more useful to develop different learning environments. In this study, the role of mobile learning, mobile-based education is discussed. This study also tries to indicate some possible views that contribute to M-learning and also the advantages of mobile learning for the teachers in the classroom. The study tries to show prospective teachers perceptions towards mobile learning and its benefits. Firstly study was conducted at Yuzuncu Yıl University involving 468 candidates teachers from different departments and all participants are third graders from the education faculty. Next, some demographic questions and m-learning scales were used and the results showed that the use of mobile devices has both positive
effects on learning and teaching. Finally, some problems and limitations about mobile device usage were exposed the use mobile devices were exposed. Prospective teachers’ view towards m-learning devices in all subscales differs significantly according to departments.
Wydaje się, że we współczesnym świecie najważniejszym celem w procesie komunikacji marketingowej jest przyciągnięcie i utrzymanie uwagi odbiorcy-konsumenta. Opracowanie wyjaśnia, czym jest kreacja w marketingu. Autorka pokazuje, w jaki sposób podchodzić w dzisiejszych czasach do kreacji komunikatów internetowych. Opracowanie jest efektem studiów literaturowych.
Software engineering is increasingly concerned with theory because the foundational knowledge comprising theories provides a crucial counterpoint to the practical knowledge expressed through methods and techniques. Fortunately, much guidance is available for generating and evaluating theories for explaining why things happen (variance theories). Unfortunately, little guidance is available concerning theories for explaining how things happen (process theories), or theories for analyzing and understanding situations (taxonomies). This paper therefore attempts to clarify the nature and functions of process theories and taxonomies in software engineering research, and to synthesize methodological guidelines for their generation and evaluation. It further advances the key insight that most process theories are taxonomies with additional propositions, which helps inform their evaluation. The proposed methodological guidance has many benefits: it provides a concise summary of existing guidance from reference disciplines, it adapts techniques from reference disciplines to the software engineering context, and it promotes approaches that better facilitate scientific consensus.
The most profound conflict in software engineering is not between positivist and interpretivist research approaches or Agile and Heavyweight software development methods, but between the Rational and Empirical Design Paradigms. The Rational and Empirical Paradigms are disparate constellations of beliefs about how software is and should be created. The Rational Paradigm remains dominant in software engineering research, standards and curricula despite be contradicted by decades of empirical research. The Rational Paradigm views analysis, design and programming as separate activities despite empirical research showing that they are simultaneous and inextricably interconnected. The Rational Paradigm views developers as executing plans despite empirical research showing that plans are a weak resource for informing situated action. The Rational Paradigm views success in terms of the Project Triangle (scope, time, cost and quality) despite empirical researching showing that the project triangle omits critical dimensions of success. The Rational Paradigm assumes the analysts elicit requirements despite empirical research showing that analysts and stakeholder co-construct preferences. The Rational Paradigm views professionals as using software development methods despite empirical research showing that methods are rarely used, very rarely used as intended, and typically weak resources for informing situated action. This article therefore elucidates the Empirical Design Paradigm, an alternative view of software development more consistent with empirical evidence. Embracing the Empirical Paradigm is crucial for retaining scientific legitimacy, solving numerous practical problems and improving software engineering education.
Traditional design methodology was proofed to be reliable during about centaury of constant elaboration and polishing, however new trends such as sustainability and concerns about humans, determined establishments of new user-centered methods in fashion design methodology. Despite the widespread of techniques in western countries, such cultures as Ukraine still trouble to adopt system due to low flexibility of proposed methods. Research is designed to analyze current empathic methods and propose correlations to adopt those for Ukrainian consumers.
Engineering design problems can, in general, be discussed under the framework of decision making, namely engineering design decisions. Inherently, accounting for uncertainty factors is an indispensable part in these decision processes. In a sense, the goal of design decisions is to control or reduce the variational effect in decision consequences induced by many uncertainty factors, by optimizing an expected utility objective or other preference functions. In this paper, the value of data in facilitating making engineering design decisions is highlighted, and a data-driven design paradigm for practical engineering problems is proposed. The definition of data in this paradigm is elaborated first. Then the data involvement in a whole stage-based design process is investigated. An overall decision strategy for design problems under the data-driven paradigm is proposed. By a concrete satellite design example, the key ideas of the proposed data-driven design paradigm are demonstrated. Future work is also advised.
This paper analyses the current problems with the representation of complex engineering systems in a concurrent engineering environment. It proposes an integrated process for conceptual design of complex systems based on the idea that any system can be decomposed into three entities, objects, processes and states that capture all the requirements that need to be fulfilled. Design properties can emerge after a proper decomposition structure into these three entities and judicious decisions. All the features of the process and its implementation contribute to make as evident as possible the parameter transactions and choices made throughout the conceptual phase, making the design choices transparent and increasing the overall performance and cost of the design process and the system being designed. The implementation of the proposed design process resulted in the development of a software tool designated as INtegrated Concurrent Real-time EnvironMENT (INCREMENT). The potential of this tool is illustrated with an example of a telecommunications satellite, highlighting the impact of this approach on a better architecture definition and management of collaborative interaction in a concurrent engineering environment. Copyright ©2010 by the International Astronautical Federation. All rights reserved.
Human beings are conditioned and designed by society to relate high degree of uncertainty to future. Several behavioral studies have demonstrated that the phenomenon of attaching hazard rate to future events is consistent across habits related to food, drugs, exercising, impulsive shopping and saving money. A person, when planning for long term would think about health and monetary benefits arising out of all of these. But when faced
This paper looks at the effect of Optimism Bias on Software Project Estimates and Design. The paper highlights how we can mitigate risks arising from such Biases by combining the usage of Debiasing, Reference Class Forecasting and Sensemaking-Coeveolution-Implementation Framework.
That some propositions are testable, while others are not, was a fundamental idea in the philosophical program known as logical empiricism. That program is now widely thought to be defunct. Quine’s (1953) “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” and Hempel’s (1950) “Problems and Changes in the Empiricist Criterion of Meaning” are among its most notable epitaphs. Yet, as we know from Mark Twain’s comment on an obituary that he once had the pleasure of reading about himself, the report of a death can be an exaggeration. The research program that began in Vienna and Berlin continues, even though many of the specific formulations that came out of those circles are flawed and need to be replaced. Philosophers of science now generally agree that confirmation theory is a central subject. No one really doubts the importance of understanding what it takes for a statement to be confirmed or disconfirmed by an observation. There also is wide consensus that the design of experiments is an important issue, not just for philosophers, but for scientists as well. If a scientist wants to test a proposition, it is important to make sure that the experiment that is carried out actually bears on the proposition in question. Sometimes it is obvious whether this is the case, but at other times, subtle issues need to be sorted out to see whether this is so. The idea that some
Many have sought a software design process that allows a program to be derived systematically from a precise statement of requirements. It is proposed that, although designing a real product in that way will not be successful, it is possible to produce documentation that makes it appear that the software was designed by such a process. The ideal process and the documentation that it requires are described. The authors explain why one should attempt to design according to the ideal process and why one should produce the documentation that would have been produced by that process. The contents of each of the required documents are outlined.
Despite over a decade of study, little is really known about information systems development and the use of systems development methodologies. There has been little evaluation of methodologies in use or examination of the selection, development, adaptation or use of methodologies in practice. This paper discusses this lack of knowledge and its ramifications for research and practice.
A methodology for conducting the case study of a management information system (MIS) is presented. Suitable for the study of a single case, the methodology also satisfies the standard of the natural science model of scientific research.This article provides an overview of the methodological problems involved in the study of a single case, describes scientific method, presents an elucidation of how a previously published MIS case study captures the major features of scientific method, responds to the problems involved in the study of a single case, and summarizes what a scientific methodology for MIS case studies does, and does not, involve.The article also has ramifications that go beyond matters of MIS case studies alone. For MIS researchers, the article might prove interesting for addressing such fundamental issues as whether MIS research must be mathematical, statistical, or quantitative in order to be called "scientific". For MIS practitioners, the article's view of scientific method might prove interesting for empowering them to identify, for themselves, the pint at which scientific rigor is achieved in an MIS research effort, and beyond which further rigor can be called into question, especially if pursued at the expense of professional relevance.
Software Engineers have been searching for the ideal software development process: a process in which programs are derived from specifications in the same way that lemmas and theorems are derived from axioms in published proofs. After explaining why we can never achieve it, this paper describes such a process. The process is described in terms of a sequence of documents that should be produced on the way to producing the software. We show that such documents can serve several purposes. They provide a basis for preliminary design review, serve as reference material during the coding, and guide the maintenance programmer in his work. We discuss how these documents can be constructed using the same principles that should guide the software design. The resulting documentation is worth much more than the "afterthought" documentation that is usually produced. If we take the care to keep all of the documents up-to-date, we can create the appearance of a fully rational design process.
This paper extends the function–behaviour–structure (FBS) framework, which proposed eight fundamental processes involved in designing. That framework did not explicitly account for the dynamic character of the context in which designing takes place, described by the notion of situatedness. This paper describes this concept as a recursive interrelationship between different environments, which, together with a model of constructive memory, provides the foundation of a situated FBS framework. The eight fundamental processes are then reconstructed within this new framework to represent designing in a dynamic world.
Case research has commanded respect in the information systems (IS) discipline for at least a decade. Notwithstanding the relevance and potential value of case studies, this methodological approach was once considered to be one of the least systematic. Toward the end of the 1980s, the issue of whether IS case research was rigorously conducted was first raised. Researchers from our field (e.g., Benbasat et al. 1987; Lee 1989) and from other disciplines (e.g., Eisenhardt 1989; Yin 1994) called for more rigor in case research and, through their recommendations, contributed to the advancement of the case study methodology. Considering these contributions, the present study seeks to determine the extent to which the field of IS has advanced in its operational use of case study method. Precisely, it investigates the level of methodological rigor in positivist IS case research conducted over the past decade. To fulfill this objective, we identified and coded 183 case articles from seven major IS journals. Evaluation attributes or criteria considered in the present review focus on three main areas, namely, design issues, data collection, and data analysis. While the level of methodological rigor has experienced modest progress with respect to some specific attributes, the overall assessed rigor is somewhat equivocal and there are still significant areas for improvement. One of the keys is to include better documentation particularly regarding issues related to the data collection and analysis processes.
This paper describes the findings of a field study that explores the process of information systems (IS) development in a large organization. The paper argues that traditional IS development methodologies are treated primarily as a necessary fiction to present an image of control or to provide a symbolic status, and are too mechanistic to be of much use in the detailed, day-to-day organization of systems developers’ activities. By drawing on the insights gained from this study, the paper outlines some implications for IS development methodologies. A secondary purpose of the paper is to illustrate the use of an “ecological” research approach to IS development as advocated by Shneiderman and Carroll.
The article focuses on software intensive systems on which modern society is dependant someway or the other. For the first time, electronic voting technology was used in the U.S. Presidential elections of November 1994. They are an example of the software-intensive systems that every industrialized society increasingly depends on for their basic operations. The systems can be availed in air travel, operating the electric power grid, and filing tax returns. The software-intensive systems are so complex that often it is difficult to understand and control them. Living in a world in which the number and diversity of devices, amount of software, and degree of connectivity in complex systems are all increasing by orders of magnitude, it is essential to have a science of design on which to base the efforts to create these systems. A scientific basis exists for many engineered artifacts, ranging from integrated circuits to airplanes. A more complete definition of a science of design may be found through close examination of the words "science" and "design."
Traditionally, the modeling of information systems has focused on analyzing data flows and transformations. This modeling accounted only for the organization's data and that portion of its processes that interacted with data. Newer uses of information technology extend computer use beyond transaction processing into communication and coordination. Successfully integrating these systems into the enterprise often requires modeling even the manual organizational processes into which these systems intervene. The following are three such applications:
Growth of web-based applications has drawn a great number of diverse stakeholders and specialists into the IS Development (ISD) practice. Marketing, strategy, and graphic design professionals have joined technical developers, business managers, and users in the development of web-based applications. Often, these specialists work for different organizations with distinct histories and cultures. A longitudinal, qualitative field study of a web-based application development project was undertaken so as to develop an in-depth understanding of the collaborative practices that unfold among diverse professionals in ISD projects. The paper proposes that multi-party collaborative practice can be understood as constituting a "collective reflection-in-action" cycle through which an Information Systems (IS) design emerges as a result of agents producing, sharing, and reflecting upon explicit objects. Depending on their control over the various economic and cultural (intellectual) resources brought to the project and developed on the project, agents from diverse backgrounds influence the design in distinctive ways. Their diverse sources of power shape whether collaborators "add to," "ignore," or "challenge" the work produced by others. Which of these modes of collective reflection-in-action are enacted on the project influences whose expertise will be reflected in the final design. Implications for the study of boundary objects, multi-party collaboration, and organizational learning in contemporary ISD are drawn.
This paper defines an information system design theory (ISDT) to be
a prescriptive theory which integrates normative and descriptive
theories into design paths intended to produce more effective information
systems. The nature of ISDTs is articulated using Dubin's concept
of theory building and Simon's idea of a science of the artificial.
An example of an ISDT is presented in the context of Executive Information
Systems (EIS). Despite the increasing awareness of the potential
of EIS for enhancing executive strategic decision-making effectiveness,
there exists little theoretical work which directly guides EIS design.
We contend that the underlying theoretical basis of EIS can be addressed
through a design theory of vigilant information systems. Vigilance
denotes the ability of an information system to help an executive
remain alertly watchful for weak signals and discontinuities in the
organizational environment relevant to emerging strategic threats
and opportunities. Research on managerial information scanning and
emerging issue tracking as well as theories of open loop control
are synthesized to generate vigilant information system design theory
propositions. Transformation of the propositions into testable empirical
hypotheses is discussed.
Two paradigms characterize much of the research in the Information
Systems discipline: behavioral science and design science. The behavioral-science
paradigm seeks to develop and verify theories that explain or predict
human or organizational behavior. The design-science paradigm seeks
to extend the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities
by creating new and innovative artifacts. Both paradigms are foundational
to the IS discipline, positioned as it is at the confluence of people,
organizations, and technology. Our objective is to describe the performance
of design-science research in Information Systems via a concise conceptual
framework and clear guidelines for understanding, executing, and
evaluating the research. In the design-science paradigm, knowledge
and understanding of a problem domain and its solution are achieved
in the building and application of the designed artifact. Three recent
exemplars in the research literature are used to demonstrate the
application of these guidelines. We conclude with an analysis of
the challenges of performing high-quality design-science research
in the context of the broader IS community.
- This paper describes the process of inducting theory using case studies from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Some features of the process, such as problem definition and construct validation, are similar to hypothesis-testing research. Others, such as within-case analysis and replication logic, are unique to the inductive, case-oriented process. Overall, the process described here is highly iterative and tightly linked to data. This research approach is especially appropriate in new topic areas. The resultant theory is often novel, testable, and empirically valid. Finally, framebreaking insights, the tests of good theory (e.g., parsimony, logical coherence), and convincing grounding in the evidence are the key criteria for evaluating this type of research.
Calls for new directions in MIS research bring with them a call for renewed methodological rigor. This article offers an operating paradigm for renewal along dimensions previously unstressed. The basic contention is that confirmatory empirical findings will be strengthened when instrument validation precedes both internal and statistical conclusion validity and that, in many situations, MIS researchers need to validate their research instruments. This contention is supported by a survey of instrumentation as reported in sample IS journals over the last several years. A demonstration exercise of instrument validation follows as an illustration of some of the basic principles of validation. The validated instrument was designed to gather data on the impact of computer security administration on the incidence of computer abuse in the U.S.A.
Many statistical procedures used in educational research are described as requiring that dependent variables follow a normal distribution, implying an interval scale of measurement. Despite the desirability of interval scales, many dependent variables possess an ordinal scale of measurement in which the differences among values composing the scale are unequal in terms of what is being measured, permitting only a rank ordering of scores. This means that data possessing an ordinal scale will not satisfy the assumption of normality needed in many statistical procedures and may produce biased statistical results that threaten the validity of inferences. This article shows how the measurement technique known as item response theory can be used to rescale ordinal data to an interval scale. The authors provide examples of rescaling using student performance data and argue that educational researchers should routinely consider rescaling ordinal data using item response theory.
This article defines and discusses one of these qualitative methods--the case research strat- egy. Suggestions are provided for researchers who wish to undertake research employing this approach. Criteria for the evaluation of case research are established and several characteristics useful for categorizing the studies are identified. A sample of papers drawn from information systems journals is reviewed. The paper concludes with examples of research areas that are particularly well- suited to investigation using the case research approach.
This article introduces four basic theories that may serve as building blocks for explaining processes of change in organizations: life cycle, teleology, dialectics, and evolution. These four theories represent different sequences of change events that are driven by different conceptual motors and operate at different organizational levels. This article identifies the circumstances when each theory applies and proposes how interplay among the theories produces a wide variety of more complex theories of change and development in organizational life.
Understanding software design practice is critical to understanding modern
information systems development. New developments in empirical software
engineering, information systems design science and the interdisciplinary
design literature combined with recent advances in process theory and
testability have created a situation ripe for innovation. Consequently, this
paper utilizes these breakthroughs to formulate a process theory of software
design practice: Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory explains how
complex software systems are created by collocated software development teams
in organizations. It posits that an independent agent (design team) creates a
software system by alternating between three activities: organizing their
perceptions about the context, mutually refining their understandings of the
context and design space, and manifesting their understanding of the design
space in a technological artifact. This theory development paper defines and
illustrates Sensemaking-Coevolution-Implementation Theory, grounds its concepts
and relationships in existing literature, conceptually evaluates the theory and
situates it in the broader context of information systems development.
Despite broad interest and a vast literature, understanding of innovative behaviour in organizations remains relatively undeveloped. to contribute to the development of a more cumulative knowledge base, the author presents a conceptual review of the innovation literature by summarizing and organizing prior research into three related, though often confounded, research streams and identifies major reasons for the inconsistent and inconclusive nature of the research. Strategies for conducting more generalizable innovation research are suggested.
A clear and unambiguous definition of the design concept would be useful for developing a cumulative tradition for research
on design. In this article we suggest a formal definition for the concept design and propose a conceptual model linking concepts related to design projects. The definition of design incorporates seven elements:
agent, object, environment, goals, primitives, requirements and constraints. The design project conceptual model is based
on the view that projects are temporal trajectories of work systems that include human agents who work to design systems for
stakeholders, and use resources and tools to accomplish this task. We demonstrate how these two suggestions can be useful
by showing that 1) the definition of design can be used to classify design knowledge and 2) the conceptual model can be used
to classify design approaches.
This paper describes the process of inducting theory using case studies-from specifying the research questions to reaching closure. Some features of the process, such as problem definition and construct validation, are similar to hypothesis-testing research. Others, such as within-case analysis and replication logic, are unique to the inductive, case-oriented process. Overall, the process described here is highly iterative and tightly linked to data. This research approach is especially appropriate in new topic areas. The resultant theory is often novel, testable, and empirically valid. Finally, framebreaking insights, the tests of good theory (e.g., parsimony, logical coherence), and convincing grounding in the evidence are the key criteria for evaluating this type of research.
This paper focuses on the structure and dynamic of theory in design research. Problems with existing theory are explored, and a new meta-theoretical method is suggested for assisting the critical analysis, comparison and formulation of design theories and concepts. This meta-theoretical method contributes to building a simplifying paradigm of design research by providing a means to clarify the existing state of design theory in the field, to assist with the establishment of coherence and compatibility between concepts in disparate theories, to validate theory and concepts, and to uncover `hidden' aspects of design theories.
This paper contributes a deeper understanding of the concept of methodical information systems development. The method concept is an assumption underlying much of the research into systems analysis, design and implementation. A postmodern deconstruction technique is used to discover a deferred concept: amethodical systems development. The methodical and amethodical views are developed in terms of their assumptions and their ideal characteristics. Our understanding of these two opposing views of systems development is important as a means to refocus our aims in research, practice and education in information systems development.
Research in IT must address the design tasks faced by practitioners. Real problems must be properly conceptualized and represented, appropriate techniques for their solution must be constructed, and solutions must be implemented and evaluated using appropriate criteria. If significant progress is to be made, IT research must also develop an understanding of how and why IT systems work or do not work. Such an understanding must tie together natural laws governing IT systems with natural laws governing the environments in which they operate. This paper presents a two dimensional framework for research in information technology. The first dimension is based on broad types of design and natural science research activities: build, evaluate, theorize, and justify. The second dimension is based on broad types of outputs produced by design research: representational constructs, models, methods, and instantiations. We argue that both design science and natural science activities are needed to insure that IT research is both relevant and effective.
One way of responding to a keynote speaker is to put the expressed views into context, pointing to highlights in the address, suggesting areas where alternative viewpoints might have been presented, exposing any chinks in the armour of the otherwise ...
Changes in organizational structures, competitive environments, technologies and economies are altering the types and complexity of computer-based information systems. For methodologies, tools and techniques to evolve to meet these changing needs, research to assess current system development practices would be expected. However, there is little evidence that the evaluation of methodologies and improvement of the systems development process are keeping pace with technological and organizational changes. This paper analyses existing research on system development methodologies and discusses the research needed to provide the information scholars and practitioners will need for the evaluation, selection and development of methodologies in a changing environment.