Understanding the digital experience: phenomenological IS research

Phenomenology is about gaining insights into the lived experiences of individuals that are often taken for granted, which means revealing how individuals perceive the world pre-reflectively. These insights can be obtained and organised to make sense of individual experiences, which are ultimately subjective. This approach is not widely used in the information systems field, and this chapter argues why this is unfortunate, especially when technology is increasingly becoming woven into our everyday lives to allow us to perceive, embody and exist in the world. In such a situation, a phenomenological stance can provide scholars with a better appreciation of various everyday digital experience phenomena than other approaches because it does not rely on theories to offer causal explanations and does its best to avoid pre-conceptions. More importantly, phenomenological studies reveal the concrete richness and fundamental meanings of a phenomenon. The chapter provides background on phenomenology, describes the three main schools of thought, and presents opportunities for phenomenological research in information systems.