'Caution - Principle Under Construction' a Visual Inquiry Tool for Developing Design Principles

Researchers and practitioners often face challenges in structuring larger design projects and, therefore, struggle to capture, discuss, and reflect on essential components that should be considered. These first steps are, however, of great importance because decisions such as in terms of selecting an underpinning (kernel) theory, following certain development approaches, or specifying knowledge sources impact the resulting design solution. To provide a frame for developing one of the dominant forms of prescriptive knowledge in information systems (IS), we present the 'Principle Constructor' that seeks to support the iterative endeavor of formulating design principles. This so-called visual inquiry tool is grounded in previous research on design knowledge and an empirical analysis of IS articles that present principles, built according to available guidance for this class of tools, and evaluated through several workshops. Doing this, we provide an underlying structure with building blocks for creating design principles and complement research on their anatomy and development procedures.