communicating ideas purposefully : toward a design theory of innovation artifacts
TRANSCRIPT
1
Communicating Ideas PurposefullyEuropean Conference on ISJune 9th 2014, Tel Aviv
Ciriello, RaffaeleAschoff, RobinsonDolata, MateuszRichter, Alexander
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv
Structure
2
Motivation
Research Design
Results
Toward a Design Theory of Innovation Artifacts
Conclusions and Future Work
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 3
Innovation is a critical success factor for companies
Management-oriented literature that focuses on processes & organizational structure dominates
Shift from R&D-oriented to network-based work structure
Need to support innovative employees in realizing ideas
Motivation
1. What role do objects play in communicating ideas in a corporate environment?2. How can objects be designed to communicate ideas purposefully??
Innovation practices are constellations of inter-objectivity
Boundary Object theory provides a suitable lens to describe these complex interaction
Lack of explicit prescriptive, practitioner-oriented guidance on designing and using objects
The Age of Innovation The Role of Objects in Innovation
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 4
Research Design
Design Science Research (Hevner et al. 2004)
Design Theorizing Framework (Gregor, Müller, Seidel 2013)
Qualitative Data Analysis– Transcribing & Coding
Interviews– Genre Analysis of Artifacts
Methodology
Multinational banking software provider (~1400 employees)
2008’s financial crisis increased the pressure to innovate
Close collaboration since 2011
Setting
32 semi-structured interviews – How to communicate ideas successfully through objects?
216 artifacts– Handwritten Sketches, Usage Descriptions, Structured Text Documents,
PowerPoint slides, Issues, Prototypes, Business Cases…
Dataset
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv
Whiteboard“The simplest and most efficient way to develop a common understanding”
Software DiagramGood for internal collaborationBad for customer interaction
Wireframes“The desired feedback only comes when they really see it”
Storyboard“The customers were excited. They understood: There are people with ideas here”
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 6
A Design Theory of Innovation Artifacts
We define it as An underspecified representation of an envisaged solution
that is used to communicate an idea across intersecting social worlds in a corporate environment
Affords creating a tangible preview of a possible future product or service
Serves as communicational bridge across technical, functional, or organizational boundaries
Confronts observers with a first prospect of the idea Advances the chain of thoughts and inspires further
development Can be a decisive catalyst in transgressing quality gates
Innovation Artifact
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 7
Principles of Form and Function
Principle 1 - Persuasion An innovation artifact should help persuade relevant
stakeholders through proof-of-value and proof-of-concept
– Proof-of-value Doing the right things Illustrate added value for a relevant target group Enable an appealing and vivid representation
– Proof-of-concept Doing the things right Demonstrate feasibility of the idea Completeness and consistency of decision-relevant information Highlight important aspects while leaving out unimportant ones
A Design Theory of Innovation Artifacts
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 8
Principle 2
An innovation artifact should help innovators collaborate with relevant stakeholders by acting as boundary object and activity object
– Boundary object Preserve an idea’s integrity in different context through a shared
language Create a common understanding and promote mental model
matching
– Activity object Facilitate interaction through embodying incompleteness Enable collaborators to take an idea to higher degrees of maturity Serve as working basis and contain targeted instructions
A Design Theory of Innovation Artifacts
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv 9
Ever more companies seek to support innovative employees in realizing ideas
Communicating ideas purposefully is crucial
A stronger focus on innovation artifacts is necessary
Conclusions and Future Work
Thank you very much for your attention!
Focus on one single company Comparative study on track
Contribution is only the quintessence of a design theory Further refinement ongoing
Conclusions Limitations and Future Work
Text
Ciriello R., Aschoff R., Dolata M., Richter A. – Communicating Ideas Purposefully – ECIS 2014 – Tel Aviv [email protected]
Q&A