Abstract

This paper explores artefact generativity as a novel conceptual frame to inform information system (IS) artefact design beyond designing for artefact utility at the time of an artefact’s introduction or implementation. The paper draws on three recently developed generativity conceptualizations and applies the findings to IS artefact design. Artefact generativity captures the notions that 1) sustained artefact utility may require potentially continuous artefact changes over its lifetime, 2) (re-)designers need to enact these changes within a design system, and 3) continuous artefact use may lead to further generative transformations in the artefact’s social and technical environment. IS design science researchers can draw on this paper’s findings to inform future artefact design decisions that address these three notions by drawing on the established and growing foundations of IS and social science theories that underlie the established generativity perspectives.

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