Three Roles of Conceptual Models in Information System Design and Use

This paper attempts to draw together results from information systems research, linguistic theory, and methodology in order to present a unified framework in which to understand conceptual models. Three different roles of conceptual models (CM's) in the design and use of information systems (IS's) are investigated. The descriptive role of a CM is that it is an abstract representation of the universe of discourse (UoD) of the IS; the normative role of a CM is that it contains prescriptions for the behavior of entities in the UoD. A third role of CM's emerges when a computer is viewed as a symbol-manipulating machine capable of performing speech acts like commanding and promising. These acts are commands or promises only against a background of shared conventions, which is stored in a shared CM. A CM playing this role is called institutional. This paper is an abstract of Wieringa [1989].