Design Principles for Boundary Spanning in Transdisciplinary Design Science Research

Design principles capture prescriptive design knowledge to guide design science researchers and design professionals in their design works. In the context of a transdisciplinary team, design principles can also be a powerful vehicle to bridge knowledge barriers and facilitate collaboration among team members with different backgrounds and expertise. These heterogeneous actors use design principles as a boundary object which helps to mediate their diverse perspectives. The paper draws from boundary object theory to explore the goals and the mechanisms of boundary spanning through ‘design principles-in-use’ and ‘design principles-in-formulation’. We discuss the applicability of our findings using a case of formulation and application of design principles for data spaces in a transdisciplinary research consortium. Our results add the layers of transdisciplinary collaboration to the ongoing discourse on design principles and design knowledge accumulation and evolution.