This study addresses the persistent challenge of social inclusion faced by senior citizens, a group frequently marginalised in an increasingly digital society. While existing Information Systems (IS) research has documented the barriers seniors encounter in digital engagement, limited knowledge exists on effectively translating these insights into actionable design practices. Approaching social inclusion as a design challenge, we conducted an Action Design Research (ADR) project with a large international humanitarian organisation to co-design a digital gateway artefact to support seniors in achieving relevant, independent, and meaningful use of digital technologies. Drawing from this experience, we introduce the concept of socially inclusive design and articulate three prescriptive design principles that explicitly embed the core social needs of trust, agency, and belonging into IS artefact design, fostering meaningful integration of digital tools into seniors’ everyday social lives. In doing so, we challenge prevailing assumptions that improvements in technological usability alone sufficiently achieve meaningful digital integration, emphasising instead the necessity of intentionally addressing users’ underlying social needs through artefact-level design decisions. Our research advances IS design knowledge by providing actionable guidance for aligning artefact design with broader societal objectives, facilitating deeper digital engagement and consequently, greater social participation among socially excluded groups.

People with disabilities (PWD) often face social barriers, such as inaccessible environments, public misunderstandings, and stereotypes, which lead to their exclusion from societal activities. To address this issue, we collaborated with a disability research institute to carry out an action design research (ADR) project aimed at designing an immersive virtual reality (IVR) artefact to cultivate public awareness of the social barriers faced by PWD and foster inclusive attitudes and behaviours towards them. Using technology affordance as a lens, this study went through four interwoven ADR stages to co-design and refine the IVR artefact with researchers, disability groups, IVR and media experts, and end users representing the public. Reflecting on this design process, we distilled our learnings into four design principles to prescribe what and how to craft IVR artefacts for fostering disability inclusion. These principles can guide researchers and practitioners in developing similar IVR artefacts to help address similar problems. Our co-design process, which involved PWDs, enhances the existing understanding and practice of socially inclusive design-oriented research by providing empirical evidence of working with marginalised groups in developing emerging technology artefacts.

Information systems (IS) strategizing is particularly challenging for established organizations because of their historical conditions. The question of how established organizations can effectively manage their historical conditions in IS strategizing remains under-explored. To address this question, we conducted a case study tracing the history (1960–2020) of an established organization in the building and construction industry. Through the analysis, we found four systems: accounting management system, business communication system, knowledge management system, and community collaboration system, as the historical conditions that formed an IS imprint, which was later managed and reproduced during IS strategizing. Using the imprinting lens, we developed an understanding of: (1) the formation of the IS imprint at the organizational foundation; and (2) the reproduction of the IS imprint, considering imprint-as-resource and imprint-as-constraint during IS strategizing. We contribute to the literature by providing an understanding of how historical conditions inform IS strategizing in the long term and by applying the imprinting lens to uncover the process through which an IS imprint is strategically managed and reproduced beyond the founding phase. The insights developed from this study are transferable to similar organizational contexts for managing historical conditions in IS strategizing.