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Towards Tool Support for Design Science Research Understanding of Novice Researchers

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Learning and Collaboration Technologies (HCII 2025)

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Abstract

Novice researchers in Design Science Research (DSR) face challenges due to the complexity of the methodology and the extensive range of available methods. To address the gap in tool support for understanding the DSR process, this study investigates the design of a Generative AI-based conversational agent (CA) as a DSR support tool to enhance understanding among novice researchers. Using the DSR methodology, we derive design principles (DPs) from existing literature to guide the development of such tools. A prototype CA was developed and evaluated through a mixed-method approach, including think-aloud sessions and semi-structured interviews with seven novice researchers. The evaluation followed the fidelity of real-world phenomena criteria to assess the prototype’s effectiveness. The study contributes to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Design Science (DS) theory by providing descriptive knowledge from the evaluation and prescriptive knowledge through actionable DPs and their instantiation, offering guidance for designing effective CAs to support the DSR process.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Source code of Dezzi: https://github.com/researchDSRCA/dezzi.

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Acknowledgments

This study is part of the Hannover-Hildesheim Urban Living Lab for Sustainability (HULLS) research project and was funded by the ‘zukunft.niedersachsen’ program (grant number ZN4409).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hildesheim, Universitätsplatz 1, 31141, Hildesheim, Germany

    Daniel Bierschwale, Phillip Oliver Gottschewski-Meyer, Paul-Ferdinand Steuck & Ralf Knackstedt

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  1. Daniel Bierschwale
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  2. Phillip Oliver Gottschewski-Meyer
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  3. Paul-Ferdinand Steuck
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  4. Ralf Knackstedt
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Correspondence to Daniel Bierschwale .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

    Brian K. Smith

  2. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Marcela Borge

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Bierschwale, D., Gottschewski-Meyer, P.O., Steuck, PF., Knackstedt, R. (2025). Towards Tool Support for Design Science Research Understanding of Novice Researchers. In: Smith, B.K., Borge, M. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. HCII 2025. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15807. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93567-1_3

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