Supporting Early Stages of Design Method Validation - An Approach to Assess Applicability

Design method validation is an important research activity in method development. But the design method's applicability is often left out in validation, although it is a necessary step and it enables further validation steps. Currently, there is a lack of support for the assessment of design method applicability. We present an approach to provide support for iterative studies on three aspects of design method applicability. We evaluate the approach in a single case study. In the study, we investigate the applicability of a method for model building in analysis, in three iterative steps of the approach. Application of the approach produced valuable insights on the method applicability. The results show how aspects of applicability can be assessed using the presented approach. Therefore, the approach can contribute to the standardisation of design method validation, especially for early stages of validation, which is currently discussed in the community.