DSR - Cases

Structure

All cases follow a unified structure that makes the relevant case knowledge easily accessible and transferrable to other contexts. Following this structure the chapters are short and sharp and efficient to document. With the unified structure of each case we thus hope to support both authors writing up the cases as well as readers accessing most relevant parts to build on in their own work:

1. Introduction – What is the story of your design. Please give a brief and motivating narrative what you think is worth mentioning most (500 – 1500 words ≈ 1– 2 pages).

2. The Context – Can you describe the context of your design in more detail, such as the business or the societal context, so that readers would be able to relate your findings to their own context (1500 – 2000 words ≈ 2 – 3 pages).

3. The Journey – Design Science typically does not follow not a linear process, but rather a journey of continuous refinement of both problem and solution understanding. Please describe this journey. What activities have you conducted, in which cycles and iterations, what has happened and how have you reacted to change? You might describe multiple iterations of problem– and solution understanding as they have led your design process (2000 – 3500 words ≈ 3–5 pages).

   In each iteration, please refer to:

   • Problem understanding – What were the initial (and later) design problem(s) that triggered your design activities? How did you narrow down and focus the problem? Since a specific design project cannot address all problems identified, what design objectives have your formulated specifically to be addressed in course of your project?
   • Solutions understanding – What initial (and later) design idea have you had? How have you thought to achieve the evolving design objective(s)? How did you end up with your final solution and how did you evaluate to what extent the solution solves the problem(s) in course of your project?

4. The Results – Which key results in the form of tangible artefacts were delivered as the final result of your design journey?
   • Presentation of artifact(s): Resulting from your design journey, please describe the final outcome of your design project. Since also the context, the problem–understanding and the objectives might have developed in course of your problem, please also specify your final understanding of the context, the problem and the objective(s) your artifact has been built for (2000 – 3000 words ≈ 3 – 4 pages).
   • Application of artifact(s): Please describe an application example of your artifacts that shows the reader how the artifact(s) work and how to apply your artifact(s), preferably in a real–world setting, that matches the context, problem and objective(s) your artifact has been built for (2000 – 3000 words ≈ 3 – 4 pages).
   • Evaluation of artifact(s): Please describe the effects, you have been able to observe in applying your artifact. To what extent has the application succeeded in meeting the objectives? What side effects have you been able to observe? Please add both quantitative measures (e.g. performance measures) as well as quotes from people involved in the application where applicable (2000 – 3000 words ≈ 3 – 4 pages).
   • Growth of Design Theory: How have you attempted to understand why your design is an effective solution to the problem environment? What more general contributions to knowledge can you make based on your project experiences? How have you represented your nascent and mid-range design theories.

5. Key Learnings – What were the key experiences you have made during this project? What have been key success factors and what would you do different if you ran the project again? What can others learn from this DSR case (1500 – 2000 words ≈ 2 – 3 pages)?