Abstract
From a design science perspective, information systems and their components are viewed as artefacts. However, not much has been written yet on the ontological status of artefacts or their structure. After March & Smith’s (1995) initial classification of artefacts in terms of models, constructs, procedures and instantiations, there have been only a few attempts to come up with a more systematic approach. After reviewing previous work, this conceptual paper introduces an ontology of IS artefacts. It starts with an ontological characterization of artefacts and technical objects in general and proceeds to introduce a systematic classification of IS artefacts and compare it with existing work. We end with some practical implications for design research.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
“capability”, “potential” may be better terms but the literature uses the word “capacity”.
References
van Aken, J.: Management research as design science: articulating the research products of mode 2 knowledge production in management. Brit. J. Manage. 16, 19–36 (2005)
Alter, S.: The concept of ‘IT artifact’ has outlived its usefulness and should be retired now. Inf. Syst. J. 25(1), 47–60 (2015)
Baker, L.R.: The ontology of artefacts. Philos. Explor. 7(2), 99–111 (2004)
Boon, M., Knuuttila, T.: Models as epistemic tools in engineering sciences. In: Meijers, A. (ed.) Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences, pp. 693–726 (2009)
Borgo, S., Vieu, L.: Artefacts in formal ontology. In: Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences, pp. 273–307 (2009)
Carvalho, Victorio A., Almeida, João Paulo A., Fonseca, Claudenir M., Guizzardi, G.: Extending the foundations of ontology-based conceptual modeling with a multi-level theory. In: Johannesson, P., Lee, M.L., Liddle, Stephen W., Opdahl, Andreas L., López, Ó.P. (eds.) ER 2015. LNCS, vol. 9381, pp. 119–133. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25264-3_9
Ceusters, W.: An information artifact ontology perspective on data collections and associated representational artifacts. Stud. Health Technol. Inf. 180, 68–72 (2012)
Ceusters, W., Smith, B.: Aboutness: towards foundations for the information artifact ontology. In: Proceedings 6th International Conference on Biomedical Ontology, CEUR, vol. 1515, pp. 1–5 (2015)
Drechsler, A., Hevner, Alan R.: Utilizing, producing, and contributing design knowledge in DSR projects. In: Chatterjee, S., Dutta, K., Sundarraj, Rangaraja P. (eds.) DESRIST 2018. LNCS, vol. 10844, pp. 82–97. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91800-6_6
France, B., Compton, V.J., Gilbert, J.K.: Understanding modelling in technology and science: the potential of stories from the field. Int. J. Technol. Des. Educ. 21(3), 381–394 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-010-9126-4
Goldkuhl, G., Lind, M.: A multi-grounded design research process. In: Winter, R., Zhao, J.Leon, Aier, S. (eds.) DESRIST 2010. LNCS, vol. 6105, pp. 45–60. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13335-0_4
Grabowski, F., Strzalka, D.: Simple, complicated and complex systems—the brief introduction. In: 2008 Conference on Human System Interactions, pp. 570–573 (2008)
Jones, D., Gregor, S.: The anatomy of a design theory. J. AIS 8, 19 (2007)
Gregor, S., Hevner, A.: Positioning and presenting design science research for maximum impact. MIS Q. 37(2), 337–356 (2013)
Guizzardi, G., de Almeida Falbo, R., Guizzardi, R.S.: Grounding software domain ontologies in the unified foundational ontology (UFO): the case of the ODE software process ontology. In: Proceedings of CIbSE, pp. 127–140 (2008)
Hevner, A., March, S., Park, J., Ram, S.: Design science in information systems research’. MIS Q. 28(1), 75–105 (2004)
Iivari, J.: A paradigmatic analysis of information systems as a design science. Scand. J. Inf. Syst. 19, 39–64 (2007)
Johannesson, P., Perjons, E.: An Introduction to Design Science. Springer, Heidelberg (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10632-8
Kimbell, L.: Rethinking design thinking: part I. Des. Cult. 3(3), 285–306 (2011)
Kroes, P., Meijers, A.: The dual nature of technical artifacts. Stud. Hist. Philos. Sci. 37(1), 1–4 (2006)
Lawson, C.: An ontology of technology: artefacts. Relat. Functions Technol. 12(1), 48–64 (2008)
Lee, A., Thomas, M., Baskerville, R.: Going back to the basics in design science: from the information technology artefact to the information system artefact. Inf. Syst. 25, 5–21 (2014)
March, S., Smith, G.: Design and natural science research on information technology. Decis. Support Syst. 15, 251–266 (1995)
McPhee, K.: Design Theory and Software Design. Technical report TR 96–26. Univ of Alberta (1997)
Nia, M., de Vries, M.: Models as artefacts of a dual nature: a philosophical contribution to teaching about models designed and used in engineering practice. Int. J. Technol. Des. Educ. 27(4), 627–653 (2017)
Offermann, P., Blom, S., Schönherr, M., Bub, U.: Artifact types in information systems design science – a literature review. In: Winter, R., Zhao, J.Leon, Aier, S. (eds.) DESRIST 2010. LNCS, vol. 6105, pp. 77–92. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13335-0_6
Pandza, K., Thorpe, R.: Management as design, but what kind of design? An appraisal of the design science analogy for management. Brit. J. Manage. 21, 171–186 (2010)
Purao, S.: Design Research in the Technology of Information Systems: Truth or Dare. GSU Dept of CIS Working Paper, Atlanta: Georgia State University (2002)
Silver, M., Markus, L.: Conceptualizing the sociotechnical (ST) artifact. Syst. Signs Actions 7(1), 82–89 (2013)
Simon, H.: The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd edn. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)
Simondon, G.: On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects Minneapolis. Univocal Publishing (1958/2016)
Sinha, Ch.: Language and other artifacts. Front. Psychol. 6, 1601 (2015)
Sperber, D.: Seedless grapes: nature and culture. In: Margolis, E., Laurence, S. (eds.) Creations of the Mind: Theories of Artifacts and Their Representation, pp. 124–137. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)
Vermaas, P., Kroes, P., Poel, van de, I., Franssen, M., Houkes, W.: A philosophy of technology: from technical artefacts to sociotechnical systems. In: Synthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology and Society, vol. 6, no. 1. Morgan & Claypool Publishers, San Rafael (2011)
Wang, X., Guarino, N., Guizzardi, G., Mylopoulos, J.: Towards an ontology of software: a requirements engineering perspective. In: Proceedings of FOIS 2014, pp. 317–329. IOS Press (2014)
Weigand, H.: Value expression in design science research. IEEE RCIS 2019, 1–11 (2019)
Wieringa, R.: Design Science Methodology. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)
Winter, R.: Design science research in Europe European. J. Inf. Syst. 17, 470–474 (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Weigand, H., Johannesson, P., Andersson, B. (2020). An Ontology of IS Design Science Research Artefacts. In: Dalpiaz, F., Zdravkovic, J., Loucopoulos, P. (eds) Research Challenges in Information Science. RCIS 2020. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 385. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50316-1_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50316-1_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-50315-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-50316-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)