Situating requirements engineering methods within design science research

Abstract

Design Science Research Methodologies (DSRM) are increasingly used to guide research in fields beyond Information Systems, in particular those of Requirements Engineering and Software Engineering (RE/SE). While a number of DSR methodologies have been developed by scholars in the RE/SE fields, there remains a certain level of confusion about the way in which the aim and scope of DSRM and those of methods typically used in RE/SE differ. This issue can be observed in graduate students' work as well as in published literature. In particular, the difference be-tween the research orientation of DSRM and the solution orientation of RE/SE methods can be difficult to navigate. We propose to address this challenge by situating three RE/SE methodologies proposed in published literature within one common DSRM; doing so clarifies the scope of these methodologies and highlights ways in which the knowledge contributions of their results could be further enhanced. This effort is a first step towards providing better guidance to researchers who are new to design science research in order to ensure that recognized DSR principles are promoted and respected.