Problem space exploration for wicked psychosocial problems: Insights from two cases

A critical pre-requisite to delivering social good through the design of digital solutions is a deep and nuanced understanding of the problem space – beyond awareness, framing or problematization. This “problem of the problem” is particularly acute for wicked psychosocial problems (a subclass of wicked problems) that are characterized by stigma, emotional vulnerability, identity threats, and sensitive disclosure dynamics. In this paper, we develop a set of principles for effective problem space exploration (PSE) for this class of problems. Our work relies on cross-case analysis of PSE journeys for two design science research (DSR) efforts aimed at specific problems in this class: young adults experiencing social anxiety disorder, and older adults facing loneliness. We validate the principles with a retrospective analysis of prior DSR efforts and a structured evaluation from experts to assess their potential applicability. Our work contributes a set of PSE principles for wicked psychosocial problems that are empirically grounded and validated with expert feedback – adding to contemporary discussion of PSE in DSR.