Morphological Analysis for Design Science Research: The Case of Human-Drone Collaboration in Emergencies

Abstract

Drones are becoming pervasive in private and professional settings. The engineering of human-drone collaboration poses unique challenges. Specifically, drones’ distinctive capabilities yield a vast design space. Yet, the relevant guidance is scattered across literature such that an overview of various design dimensions is missing. This paper synthesizes adequate research and provides an overview of essential design dimensions in the form of a morphological box (MB) to support designers of drones for emergencies. Using this MB, practitioners and researchers become aware of design decisions they will have to make when designing drones or collaboration between drones and humans. It prevents fragmented or partial perspectives on drones design and provides a basis for structured, holistic design explorations. Using the case of drones, we discuss the potential of morphological analysis for design science research (DSR). New types of sociotechnical systems involve a vast, multidimensional design space, and singular studies frequently address domain or discipline-specific subsections of this space. We claim that morphological analysis supports a systematic exploration of the design space across disciplinary boundaries and might contribute towards a more transparent and traceable design of DSR artifacts.