Towards an integrated framework for developing blockchain systems

Although the expanding applications of blockchain technologies have been widely explored in the IS literature, a noticeable gap exists in understanding information systems development methods (ISDMs) that facilitate the implementation of systems leveraging these technologies. A conceptual foundation that cohesively organizes an ISDM along with its facets associated with the development lifecycle for this class of systems is lacking. Applying a Design Science Research approach and borrowing ideas from method engineering, we describe a comprehensive framework for the development of blockchain systems. A series of qualitative in-depth applicability checks with domain experts and case studies lend credence to the core framework fragments. The evaluation results demonstrate the utility of the proposed framework as a conceptual anchor to simplify the understanding of the complex nature of developing blockchain systems and lead researchers to suggest future research agendas in their quests using our framework. The framework can aid practitioners in comparing or designing new ISDMs to satisfy the requirements of blockchain development.