Empirical grounding of design science research methodology

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to empirically ground design science research methodology (DSR). We claim that popular DSR methodologies lack solid empirical grounding since they are based on reconstructions of studies conducted for other purposes. Thus, we have systematically collected methodology users’ empirical experiences and reflections from DSR projects. The overall findings show that the experiences are mainly positive. However, there are negative experiences such as the guidelines’ granularity, lack of rigorousness concerning evaluation of new knowledge, and support for collaboration.