Meta-requirements for Immersive Collaborative Spaces in Industrial Workplace Learning: Towards a Design Theory

2020 | DESRIST | Citations: 0

Authors: Haj-Bolouri, Amir; Winman, Thomas; Svensson, Lars

Abstract: As the digital transformation of society accelerates, sophisticated Information ... Expand

Abstract: As the digital transformation of society accelerates, sophisticated Information Technologies (IT) emerge and are introduced into organizations and institutions of society. An example of such technologies is the Virtual Reality (VR) technology that has re-emerged and become a frequently used solution for supporting collaboration and workplace learning in immersive spaces. The deep sense of immersion in VR enables users to learn and develop working skills in an authentic virtual space, which facilitates an increased feeling of user presence and mapping with real world working scenarios. However, due to the emerging nature of using VR for collaboration and workplace learning, there are wide possibilities for Information Systems (IS) scholars to explore the prescriptive knowledge space of how to design and theorize VR technologies through Design Science Research (DSR). In this research in progress paper, we scrutinize the question of how to design immersive collaborative spaces for industrial workplace learning, and subsequently perform a preliminary round of literature review to address the question. Consequently, the findings of the review are reported as three meta-requirements, which we target as the contribution and input for further development of an information systems design theory. Collapse

Topics: virtual reality new product development IT supported collaboration

Methods: design requirement literature study design theory cross sectional research meta design

Clarifying Ontological Inseparability with Heidegger’s Analysis of Equipment

2017 | Management Information Systems Quarterly | Citations: 0

Authors: Riemer, Kai; Johnston, Robert B.

Abstract: The founders of sociomateriality argue that the difficulty of maintaining distin ... Expand

Abstract: The founders of sociomateriality argue that the difficulty of maintaining distinctions between material and social entities, increasingly encountered empirically, also necessitates a commitment to inseparability at the ontological level. Yet reservations have been voiced that this proposal is contrary to experience, incoherent, and of little practical use. While not denying the phenomenon, the critics insist that the ontological commitment to separated entities must be maintained. We show that Heidegger’s work in Being and Time (1927, 1962) provides a careful exploration of ontological inseparability that reveals it to be plausible, coherent, and useful. Although his terminology is alien, Heidegger’s analysis proceeds from everyday experiences to provide a plausible account of ontological inseparability. His work provides a coherent ontology that treats inseparability as fundamental, but also shows that our familiar dualist experience of the world, far from justifying ontological separation, is actually derivative. We demonstrate the usefulness of Heidegger’s concepts with a case. Instead of proceeding from a priori separated categories meaningful to the researcher, Heidegger’s concepts allow investigation of what IT “is” when involved in particular user worlds. We conclude that IS must engage with the “being of IT” if it wants to adequately deal with the increasing ubiquity of IT in practice. Collapse

Topics: knowledge representation information system use usability telephone computer hardware

Methods: qualitative interview ontological modelling field study design artifact theory development

Theories: sociomaterialism theory information systems theory

Equipment-as-Experience: A Heidegger-Based Position of Information Security

2016 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Harnesk, Dan; Thapa, Devinder

Abstract: Information security (InfoSec) has ontologically been characterised as an order ... Expand

Abstract: Information security (InfoSec) has ontologically been characterised as an order machine. The order machine connects with other machines through interrupting mechanisms. This way of portraying InfoSec focuses on the correct placement of machine entities to protect information assets. However, what is missing in this view is that for the InfoSec we experience in everyday practice, we are not just observers of the InfoSec phenomena but also active agents of it. To contribute to the quest, we draw on Heidegger’s (1962) notion of equipment and propose the concept of equipment-asexperience to understand the ontological position of InfoSec in everyday practice. In this paper we show how equipment-as-experience provides a richer picture of InfoSec as being a fundamental sociotechnical phenomena. We further contend using an example case to illustrate that InfoSec equipment should not be understood merely by its properties (present-at-hand mode), but rather in ready-to-hand mode when put into practice. Collapse

Topics: knowledge representation data security organizational control

Methods: ontological modelling qualitative interview case study design science conceptual modelling

A HERMENEUTIC APPROACH TO SOLVING THE TRANSLATION PROBLEM IN DESIGNING ONTOLOGIES

2014 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Abi-Lahoud, Elie; Butler, Tom; O'Brien, Leona

Abstract: Problems with traditional GRC information systems (IS) in the financial industry ... Expand

Abstract: Problems with traditional GRC information systems (IS) in the financial industry has led to a growing interest in solutions provided by regulatory and GRC ontology-based semantic technologies. However, the process by which ontologies are designed is, we argue, problematic. This is due, in the main, to the ‘translation problem’, which typically arises between business subject matter experts (SMEs) and software engineers during the ontology design process. The root cause of this problem is, as we illustrate in the first phase of our design research (DR) initiative, due to an over-reliance on formalism when developing ontologies and a failure to adhere to the ‘Ontologist’s Credo.’ Due to the problems that arose here, we modified the formalist method for ontology design to incorporate an approach informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, which is sensitive to the particular design challenges in representing the social world. We apply this approach in the second phase of our study which, like the first, focuses on the development of a regulatory ontology. This novel method we developed, which is based on an industry standard for creating a structured natural language, helps solve the ‘translation problem’ and enables the creation of ontologies that better represent problem domains of human activity systems. Collapse

Topics: knowledge representation sensemaking systems design extensible markup language knowledge base

Methods: ontological modelling design science metamodel design theory experiment

Towards a Reference Architecture of Intent for Information Systems Strategic Alignment

2008 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 3

Authors: Woolridge, Richard W; Hale, Joanne E; Hale, David P

Abstract: Enterprise architecture enables strategic alignment through creation of a unifie ... Expand

Abstract: Enterprise architecture enables strategic alignment through creation of a unified business and IS view of the target state of the business. Using a design science approach, this paper proposes an intent-based technique as an extension to existing modeling techniques for strategic alignment. The proposed approach defines a reference architecture of enterprise intent that includes vocabulary, rules, and structure for development of purposefully aligned strategic-level enterprise architecture. The proposed approach results in interacting hierarchies that can be analyzed through network science approaches. Collapse

Topics: enterprise architecture IT alignment information systems strategy

Methods: design science business process modeling conceptual modelling

A Philosophical Re-Appraisal of Peter Naur's Notion of "programming as Theory Building"

2007 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Wyssusek, Boris

Abstract: The recent resurgence of interest in design science as meta-theoretical framewor ... Expand

Abstract: The recent resurgence of interest in design science as meta-theoretical framework for information systems research is taken as a motivation for the re-appraisal of Peter Naur’s notion of “programming as theory building”. In stark contrast to the artifact orientation of current design science frameworks, Naur considers the artifact orientation as one of the most fundamental misconception in the information systems discipline (in its widest sense). Naur’s work is philosophically challenging since it has not only meta-theoretical relevance, e.g., as an opposition to design science frameworks, but also practical relevance, e.g., for the conduct and management of information systems development—thus bridging the traditional theory–practice gap. Moreover, Naur’s work not only exhibits the tension between relevance and rigor in information systems research but also illustrates that rigorous and relevant research may still yield questionable results. The goal of the paper is to direct the interested reader’s attention to a view on information systems development that challenges a number of presuppositions not only of the meta-theoretical design science frameworks in contemporary information systems research but of other meta-theoretical frameworks as well. It might thus serve the reader as a starting point for a critical reflection on metatheoretical presuppositions underlying her/his understanding of information systems development. Collapse

Topics: systems development IS discipline

Methods: design science

Play as the Way Out of the Newspeak-Tower of Babel Dilemma in Data Modeling

2005 | International Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Fonseca, Frederico; Martin, James

Abstract: A data modeler, when faced with different interpretations of a given reality wit ... Expand

Abstract: A data modeler, when faced with different interpretations of a given reality within an organization, may opt to create a standard model for the whole company (the Newspeak solution). On the other hand, allowing multiple, and sometimes incompatible, models to coexist may lead to what some researchers call the Tower of Babel problem. The clash between these two possibilities creates a fundamental design problem for IS. We argue that the concept of play in Gadamer can be seen as the “place” where differences and similarities among various perspectives are expressed and discussed. Based on Gadamer’s Truth and Method (1960) and on Heidegger’s Being and Time (1962), we review the concepts of horizon, fusion of horizons, play, application, and the hermeneutic circle, and show some applications to information systems. Following Hirschheim et al. (1995), who consider that “the role of a data models should be seen in a similar light as the role of a theory for a scientific community,” we turn to the debate between objectivism and relativism in philosophy of science in order to discover a way of negotiating the clash between the Newspeak and Tower of Babel possibilities in Information Systems. We introduce an historical example of hermeneutical play—the Popper/Kuhn debate in the philosophy of science—which directly addresses the problems and possibilities associated with communication among people holding incommensurable perspectives. We show how this situation informed their hermeneutic play in the philosophy of science. Finally, we argue that a similar play, in conjunction with the dimension of application, is the way beyond the either/or of the Tower of Babel versus Newspeak dilemma. Collapse

Topics: systems analysis systems design usability

Methods: data modeling design science