ACROSS FAMILIES/ Evaluation strategy
Artefact evaluation
Match evidence to an artefact’s claims
Artefact evaluation is a planned set of tests of utility, quality or explanatory claims about a designed solution. Formative evaluation improves it during development; summative evaluation judges a developed version. Artificial evaluations use controlled or constructed settings, while naturalistic evaluations study realistic use. A strategy can deliberately combine these forms across successive evaluation episodes.
WHEN IT FITS
Use it alongside design science when you need to decide what counts as success, which risks need early testing, and what evidence can substantiate deployment or design knowledge claims.
Strengths
- Makes success criteria and evaluation timing explicit
- Combines technical performance with realistic user or organisational evidence
Limitations
- Convenient evaluation settings can miss adoption barriers
- Late criteria selection invites favourable reporting
Know the boundary
An artefact availability badge does not evaluate whether a design solves the substantive problem.
USED ACROSS
Computer scienceBusiness & MBA