DESRIST2026

Menu

Workshops

Register now
The Role of the Researcher: Exploring Reflexive Practices in Design Science Research (08.06. 9.00-12.30h)

Format:

  • Duration: 3 hours
  • Date & time: 08th June – 9.00-12.30h
  • Location: Schlosspl. 2 (Castle) – Room “S01”
  • Max participants: 25

Overview:
This interactive workshop explores how researchers’ assumptions, values, and positionalities shape design science research in complex socio-technical contexts. Participants move beyond traditional methodological reflection to engage in a collaborative, exploratory inquiry into how perspectives influence problem framing, stakeholder engagement, design decisions, and artefact evaluation. Through individual exercises, case-based group work, and plenary synthesis, participants surface diverse interpretations, tensions, and blind spots, and experiment with ways to articulate design reasoning. Particularly relevant for ethically sensitive or value-laden contexts, the workshop creates a space to collectively probe, question, and iteratively refine reflexive practices in DSR.

What to Expect:

  • Introduction to reflexivity, positionality, and transparency in DSR
  • Individual researcher profiling and self-assessment exercises
  • Small-group case study analysis of design decisions and hidden assumptions
  • Collaborative discussions on trade-offs, stakeholder perspectives, and decision trails
  • Practical synthesis of reflexive techniques for integration across the DSR cycle

Audience:

  • Design science researchers at all career stages
  • Doctoral and early-career scholars
  • Researchers focused on responsible innovation, ethics, AI, sustainability, or socio-technical systems

Organizers and Contributors:

  • Lorenzo Matthias Burcheri (University of Luxembourg, Interdisciplinary Centre of Security, Reliability and Trust, Kirchberg-Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
  • Hanna Buyssens (Say Institute, ESCP Business School, Berlin, Germany)
  • Alexander Herwix (Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Department of Applied Information Technology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden)

Format:

  • Duration: 3.5 hours
  • Date & time: 08th June – 9.00-12.30h
  • Location: Schlosspl. 5 (beside Castle) – Room “Festsaal”
  • Participants: 25

This interactive workshop explores how explicit visions of desirable future worlds can strengthen design science research by making underlying assumptions, values, and societal goals more visible. Participants will examine how vision can complement traditional design, rigor, and relevance cycles to better guide artifact creation and future-oriented research. Through collaborative discussions and hands-on group work, attendees will develop and reflect on visions for their own research domains while contributing to a broader conversation about how DSR can more deliberately shape responsible digital futures.

What to Expect:

  • Introduction to the concept of vision in DSR and its methodological relevance
  • Group discussions on desirable futures, values, and implicit assumptions in research
  • Hands-on development of visions for participants’ own research areas
  • Collaborative reflection on vision characteristics, structure, and practical implications
  • Shared synthesis toward integrating vision more explicitly into DSR practice

Audience:

  • Design science researchers
  • Doctoral and early-career scholars
  • Researchers interested in responsible innovation, future-oriented design, and societal impact

Organizers and Contributors:

  • Susanne Robra-Bissantz (TU Braunschweig)
  • Bijan Khosrawi-Rad (Leuphana University of Lüneburg)

Format:

  • Duration: 3.5 hours
  • Date & time: 08th June – 13.30-17.00h
  • Location: Schlosspl. 5 (beside Castle) – Room “Festsaal”
  • Max participants: 30

Overview:
This interactive workshop introduces design science researchers to practical methods for integrating future-oriented thinking into their projects. Moving beyond present-day artifact design, participants will explore how speculative, critical, and anticipatory approaches can help address long-term societal, environmental, and technological challenges. Through a keynote, rotating World Café sessions, and facilitated discussion, attendees will gain hands-on experience with diverse futuring techniques that expand how artifacts are imagined, evaluated, and positioned within broader future contexts.

What to Expect:

  • Opening keynote on anticipatory and futures-oriented design
  • Rotating World Café sessions with five hands-on futuring methods
  • Practical exercises applying speculative tools to participants’ own research or artifacts
  • Group discussions on future assumptions, design implications, and alternative scenarios
  • Collaborative wrap-up on advancing a futuring-oriented DSR agenda

Audience:

  • Design science researchers
  • Doctoral students and scholars interested in future-oriented design
  • Researchers tackling complex social, environmental, or systemic challenges through design

Organizers and Contributors:

  • Dirk S. Hovorka (University of Sydney)
  • Katja Thoring (Technical University of Munich)
  • Roland M. Mueller (Berlin School of Economics and Law)
  • Shahper Richter (University of Auckland)
  • Hermann W. Klöckner (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences)
  • Alejandro Lecuna (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences)
  • Maria Maciejko (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences)

Format:

  • Duration: 4 hours
  • Date & time: 08th June – 13.30-17.30h
  • Location: Room S01, Castle, Münster
  • Max participants: 30

Overview:

The DESRIST 2026 Impact Forum creates a dedicated space for exchange between researchers and practitioners on concrete problems that require research attention and actionable pathways toward impact.

Prior to the conference, practitioners are invited to submit concrete problems or impact-related concerns from their organizational or societal context. Selected problem statements will serve as the starting point for an interactive co-creation session, where researchers and practitioners jointly reflect on persistent challenges and explore how design-oriented research can contribute to meaningful solutions.

For researchers, the Impact Forum offers an opportunity to engage directly with real-world problem owners, better understand current impact gaps, and connect design science research with pressing practical concerns. The goal is not to present finished solutions, but to identify promising directions, research-practice collaborations, and actionable pathways forward.

What to Expect:

  • Interactive co-creation format with researchers and practitioners
  • Discussion of concrete problem statements submitted by practitioners
  • Joint reflection on why these problems persist
  • Exploration of researchable challenges and actionable pathways
  • Opportunities to connect with practice partners and identify future collaborations

Audience:

  • Registered DESRIST 2026 researchers interested in impact-oriented research
  • Practitioners, policy makers, NGOs, social enterprises, startups, and public-sector representatives contributing concrete problem statements
  • Scholars and practitioners interested in research-practice collaboration and actionable pathways toward impact
  • Participants working on topics such as digital transformation, AI adoption, governance, sustainability, process innovation, platform strategies, and algorithmic management

Organizers and Contributors:

  • Brian Donnellan (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)
  • Asif Gill (University of Technology Sydney)
  • Iris Junglas (College of Charleston)
  • Timo Strohmann (University of Münster)
  • Robin Killewald (University of Münster)

Format:

  • Duration: 1 hour
  • Date & time: 09th June – 15:30–16:30h
  • Location: Foyer / Plenary
  • Interactive poster session
  • No separate registration required – part of the regular conference program

Overview:

The Startup & Industry Forum is a new format at DESRIST 2026, hosted by the Flow Factory, the joint research lab of the University of Münster and the Sparkassen Finanzgruppe. It showcases AI-related DSR projects that have either resulted in an innovative startup or have been developed in close collaboration with industry partners, bridging academic theory and real-world application.

The session runs as a regular Tuesday session in parallel to the paper tracks and is open to all registered conference participants.

Scroll to Top