Design science in the IS discipline seeks to create artifacts that embody the ideas, practices, technical capabilities, and products required to efficiently accomplish the analysis, design, implementation, and use of information systems (Hevner et al 2006). SA&D research, being close to the design science paradigm, has suffered from a lack of appreciation from the behavioral science paradigm. To provide a paradigmatic foundation, we propose a conceptual framework for SA&D research. The framework was developed based on several essays that systematically articulate the design science paradigm in the IS field. Using this framework, we reviewed some UML papers that appeared in the proceedings of AMCIS. This preliminary literature analysis indicates that our framework for SA&D research is viable and does manifest itself in the IS literature.