Background: Traditional serious game design methods often overlook stakeholder needs. This study integrates stakeholder theory and enterprise architecture (EA), along with the Architecture Development Method, to propose a novel framework for serious game design. Crafted to aid practitioners, researchers, and specialists in leveraging resources more effectively, the framework is validated through a design science research methodology. Expert reviews have further refined its features, making it a robust tool for enhancing serious game design and implementation. Objective: This paper introduces a framework for designing serious games, covering stakeholder analysis, requirements gathering, and design implementation planning. It highlights the importance of expert review in validating and refining the framework, ensuring its effectiveness and reliability for use in serious game design. Through critical assessment by experts, the framework is optimized for practical application by practitioners, researchers, and specialists in the field, ensuring its utility in enhancing serious game development. The next step will be to validate the framework empirically by applying it to a serious game development project. Methods: We developed and validated a conceptual framework for serious game design by synthesizing stakeholder theory and EA through literature review, concept mapping, and theory development by way of a design science research approach. The framework is iteratively refined and validated via expert review, drawing on insights from professionals experienced in serious games, stakeholder theory, and EA. This method ensures the framework’s practical relevance and effectiveness in addressing real-world design challenges. Results: An expert review by 29 serious game practitioners validated the framework’s success in stakeholder management, confirming its stakeholder-centered effectiveness. Although the experts praised its structured approach, they suggested clearer guidance for game design elements. In addition, the experts, while acknowledging the framework’s complexity, saw its depth as valuable for efficient management. The consensus calls for a refined balance between detailed functionality and user-friendly design, with the framework’s impact on stakeholder capabilities revealing a spectrum of professional needs. Conclusions: This paper presents a framework for creating effective and organizationally aligned serious games. Evaluated across execution, practical, and EA levels, it is logical but varies in ease of understanding, with experts calling for more accessibility at the EA level. It enhances stakeholder efficiency and management but is criticized for rigidity and a need for flexibility. Recommendations include streamlining the framework, enhancing clarity, reducing administrative tasks, and incorporating clear guidelines on technology use, motivational elements, and operational tools. This aims to help stakeholders produce more targeted and adaptable game designs. The next iteration will be developed after application to a project and team feedback.

As educators, we want to guide our students so that they develop to the best of their ability and are emancipated. As researchers in education, we often use action research. We use proven theories to guide our intervention to emancipate our students. Or do we? Recently, prominent information systems journals have published few papers in the field of information systems education. We demonstrate that the guidelines for action research from a critical social research perspective in information systems are not evident in action research studies in information systems education. The emancipative goals of pure critical social research and reliance on critical social theory to guide our intervention are lacking in these educational studies. Our aim is to provide alignment between educational action research in information systems and information systems research conducted from a critical social theory perspective. Our methodology is to explicitly propose phases of action research from a critical social research perspective, grounded both in information systems and education literature. Then, we demonstrate the value of this approach in a study on the improvement of a data warehousing module. We conclude that by using proven theories and reflecting on the presuppositions in a problem environment, the researcher is able to guide the development of students and the community.

The development, adoption, and use of mobile applications (mobile apps) in Africa are growing rapidly. Some of these mobile apps have gained widespread acceptance, while others have not due to discontinued use and absolute rejection. This study aims to investigate and identify the factors influencing mobile app discontinuation and rejection in Africa. Through a survey, respondents’ perceptions were collected from five selected countries representing the five geographic locations in Africa. Of the 2300 questionnaires distributed, a total of 1285 was returned, giving a response rate of 55.87%. The results revealed that the discontinuation of use and total rejection of mobile apps by the African social system are significantly affected by specific factors, including unsatisfactory performance, lack of support, size of mobile app and expensive to use. The findings of this research will be of interest to all stakeholders involved in the African mobile app ecosystem.