Dr. Alan Hevner
University of South Florida

Abstract

Design science research seeks to extend the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts. In this presentation, I will describe the performance of design research in Information Systems via a concise conceptual framework and clear guidelines for understanding, executing, and evaluating the research. I then analyze design science research as an embodiment of three closely related cycles of activities - the Relevance Cycle, the Rigor Cycle, and the central Design Cycle. The recognition of these three cycles in a research project clearly positions and differentiates design science research from other research paradigms in the Information Systems field. The presentation concludes with a discussion of several key issues concerning Design Science research in IS - publication in top journals, external funding, and academic value.

Bio

Alan R. Hevner is an Eminent Scholar and Professor in the Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department in the College of Business at the University of South Florida. He holds the Citigroup/Hidden River Chair of Distributed Technology. Dr. Hevner's areas of research interest include information systems development, software engineering, distributed database systems, healthcare information systems, and service-oriented computing. He has published over 150 research papers on these topics and has consulted for a number of Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Hevner received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University. He has held faculty positions at the University of Maryland and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hevner is a member of ACM, IEEE, AIS, and INFORMS. Recently, he served as a program manager at the U.S. National Science Foundation in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate.