Information systems encompass development and design. Design science research has an aim of creating innovative IT artifacts. The IT artifacts is a self-sufficient entity that is defined by its properties and the functions of the artifacts are designed into its properties and in this case the artifact is expected to do what it is intended to do.
IT artifacts are ensembles which are shaped by the organizational context during the time of development and time of use. Sociomateriality depicts that artefacts commonly referred as “the material” and social activity commonly known as “the social” cannot be separated as they constitute each other.
However, even what we commonly take as features cannot be usefully defined without reference to human practice. The features are all co-constituted by the user context and also practices (Riemer and Seidel 332).
Artifacts can also be co-defined in relation to myriad and other artifacts which are in use within some given practice. Any artifact is first defined by its place in human practice. Material features then will enable the artifact to be suitable in executing this function. This means that artifacts will provide possibilities for goal oriented action depending on its context of use.
If artifacts are defined by their place in the holism of social practice any design activity starts from something that already exists (Riemer and Seidel 333). In a nutshell, design is never a process that begins from zero, in fact to design is always to redesign. For design to take place there is an issue or a problem that exists. Any design whatsoever aims at changing or improving the social world by creating better or sometimes new artefacts.
A good design is good for decontexual task but also needs to tie with existing ecology of artifacts which are already in practice.
Reference
Riemer, K., & Seidel, S. (2013). Design and design research as contextual practice. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 11, 331-334.
