Abstract
Digital decision support systems in organizations are often designed on rationalist assumptions, favoring logics of optimization, efficiency, or cost-benefit analysis. However, real-world organizational decisions frequently rely on symbolic knowledge—corporate values, strategic metaphors, narratives, and taboos, which shape how problems are framed and what solutions are considered legitimate. This research addresses the epistemic gap between how systems reason and how organizations make decisions. We present Symbol2Sense, a design artifact that enables symbolic knowledge representation and reasoning in decision support. Drawing from rule-based systems and fuzzy logic, the artifact encodes symbolic constructs into structured logic to guide value-sensitive decision-making. The artifact is under development and will be evaluated through simulation scenarios and human-in-the-loop interaction studies. These evaluations will assess the interpretability, alignment, and perceived legitimacy of symbolic versus rational outputs. This research contributes a novel artifact for symbolic decision support, a theoretical framing of epistemic pluralism in IS design, and practical insights into how digital systems can support culturally grounded and value-aligned decision processes. By bridging symbolic reasoning and information systems, the work advances the design of decision technologies that more closely reflect the cognitive and cultural realities of organizational life.
Recommended Citation
Oketch, Kezia; Angst, Corey M.; Lalor, John P.; and Abbasi, Ahmed, "Symbolic Knowledge, Epistemic Pluralism, and Decision Support" (2025). Digit 2025 Proceedings. 24.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/digit2025/24