Problematizing in IS Design Research

This paper is based on the interest to see how problems are addressed in information systems design research. Problems addressed by design research are often implicit, sometimes open, and sometimes even underdeveloped. Problem-solving processes, action research and in a broader sense, engaged scholarship all encompass the explicit addressing of problems and investigation problem situations. Such a problem-orientation is to a lesser degree part of design research. In this paper, we will investigate how we can provide a better understanding of problematizing in design research; and in particular what we may learn from other approaches with a stronger problem-orientation.