Examining the canvas as a domain-independent artifact

The popularity of Osterwalder’s (The business model ontology a proposition in a design science approach [Ph.D. Thesis], Université de Lausanne, Faculté des hautes études commerciales, 2004) business model canvas has led researchers to develop analogous artifacts in a variety of domains. However, we still lack a conceptual foundation explaining the essential and common characteristics of the canvas, regarded as domain-independent artifact. In this study, we focus on how the canvas helps representing and theorizing about a particular behavior or structure. We develop a framework for canvas design, which characterizes the canvas design at the surface and deep levels. While the surface level concerns a lightweight representation, using components and implicit relationships, the deep level involves theorizing about a particular behavior or structure, using a systems perspective and considering a static and a dynamic view of the canvas. The proposed framework is demonstrated in a case addressing the design of the research contribution canvas. This study contributes to a domain-independent conceptualization of the canvas, which can be used to design canvases in various domains.