Evaluation of Approaches for Designing and Developing Decentralized Applications on Blockchain

Abstract

Blockchain as a novel technology has shown the capacity to transform multiple sectors. Due to opportunities such as data security, transparency, privacy and interoperability presented by decentralized applications on blockchain networks, organizations are now moving their inter-organizational functions to blockchain-based systems. Traditional system-design methods are not suitable for developing blockchain systems since they are not capable of capturing new functions that are associated with decentralized applications. This paper seeks to address this gap by exploring existing design methods and frameworks that support the development of decentralized application on a blockchain. To achieve this, case-study based research is used in identifying current software-development techniques used in designing decentralized applications (DApp). Experts in this field are interviewed to identify their chosen techniques for designing and developing block-chain applications. Furthermore, related literature is selected to identify current techniques for DApp-designs based on the state of the art. A systematic analysis of the identified techniques is conducted using the current limitations of blockchain technology as criteria for the analyses. Finally, based on the findings of this study, we propose a new model-driven framework for designing blockchain applications.