fp12 [wicked problems]

Audio: http:./mp3/fp12.mp3

Design activities are endemic in many professions. In particular, the engineering profession has produced a considerable literature on design (Dym 1994; Pahl and Beitz 1996; Petroski 1996). Within the IS discipline, many design activities have been extensively studied, formalized, and become normal or routine.

Design-science research in IS addresses what are considered to be wicked problems (Brooks 1987, 1996; Rittel and Webber 1984). That is, those problems characterized by unstable requirements and constraints based upon ill-defined environmental contexts complex interactions among subcomponents of the problem and its solution inherent flexibility to change design processes as well as design artifacts (i.e., malleable processes and artifacts) a critical dependence upon human cognitive abilities (e.g., creativity) to produce effective solutions a critical dependence upon human social abilities (e.g., teamwork) to produce effective solutions