Towards transdisciplinary design research as a delicate dance

ABSTRACT

This study explores how design research encompassing multiple disciplines is accomplished. Such work is highly challenging. Even if information systems (IS) research generally shows an interest in reflecting on its research practice and celebrates work involving multiple disciplines as an ideal and a necessity, sufficient attention has not been paid to the challenges of such an approach or their resolution. This study introduces a situated perspective on design research entailing multiple disciplines. “Doing design research” is approached as a complex and skilful interactional accomplishment in situ with extensive and ongoing identity and agency articulation and negotiation. The study demonstrates that “doing design research” and “being a design researcher” with multiple disciplines involve a delicate dance. The study renews our discourse on design research and enables serious reconsideration and development of IS research methods education. The research also has implications for digitally augmenting research.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• multidisciplinary
• interdisciplinary
• design research
• nexus analysis
• agency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Design research is used as an umbrella term covering developments within multiple disciplines such as design, arts, engineering, and science (see, e.g., Cross, 2001; March & Smith, 1995; Purao et al., 2008).

2. Choi and Pak (2006, p. 359) discern three forms of disciplinary collaboration: 1) Multidisciplinary: Disciplines work on a problem in parallel or sequentially without challenging their boundaries; 2) Interdisciplinary: Disciplines interact with each other, their boundaries become blurred, common methodologies, perspectives, knowledge, or even new disciplines emerge; and 3) Transdisciplinary: Scientists from different disciplines, nonscientists and other stakeholders view systems in a holistic way transcending disciplinary boundaries and transforming disciplines. This study empirically examines interdisciplinary design research including reciprocal actions and integrating knowledge, with no aim to transform disciplinary boundaries or disciplines involved. Still, the results should be generalisable to other forms.

3. These include action research (e.g., Davison et al., 2021), collaborative practice research (Mathiassen, 2002), and engaged scholarship research (Mathiassen & Nielsen, 2008).

4. Please note that Hevner et al. (2022) characterisation of transdisciplinary design research lacks transforming disciplinary boundaries, or the disciplines involved. Thus, it could also be called interdisciplinary in the sense discussed by Choi and Pak (2006).

5. Moment-by-moment action that takes place in a particular space and time (Scollon, 2001; Scollon & Scollon, 2004).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [324685].