AbstractLeeet al. () suggest the concept of information system (IS) artefact as an alternative to information technology (IT) artefact, defining the former as a system of an IT artefact, an information artefact and a social artefact. This paper assesses this suggestion, contrasting it with the concepts of IT artefact and IS application as introduced in the prior IS literature. After this conceptual analysis, the paper discusses the relationships between an IS artefact and design and between an IS artefact and design science. The analysis concludes that an IS artefact is problematic as a unit of design because of the great differences in the designability of its constituent parts. Instead, the paper maintains that an IS application is more appropriate as a unit of design, but an IS artefact may be fruitful as an analytical concept to be used in behavioural science research on the interplay of IT artefact, information artefact and social artefact, or – especially if including IS application design – in action research‐oriented design science research. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd