Situational factors in method selection for data-driven service innovation

This study explores the application of Method Engineering in the context of Data Driven Service Innovation (DDSI), which is deemed one of the key applications for data. Method Engineering is used in Information Systems development projects and may be applicable for creating situation-specific methods for the development of data-driven services. However, Situational Method Engineering has never been applied in this context and it is unclear how the project situation relates to the developers’ choice for a specific method or method fragment used in DDSI projects. Therefore, the study is aimed at answering that need by studying the relation between contextual factors and the used methods and techniques in data-driven services innovation projects. This is done through a multiple case study, performing an in-depth analysis of the project situation of four projects within three organizations. A literature review resulted in a list of 152 situational factors, which provided a framework for the interview- and case study protocol. Using this framework, interviews were held with key participants within each of the projects. These interviews were transcribed and coded, which resulted in an abstraction of the cases regarding the situational factors and the used methods and method fragments, which were in turn verified with the case study participants. A comparison of the results, including an in-depth analysis of the overall results, showed that there were large differences in the context and identified method fragments. However, a generic approach to DDSI projects was drawn up.