This paper reports on the results of a study of how scholars engage with and use the action designresearch (ADR) method. Since its publication, ADR has been acknowledged as an importantvariant of DSR, and has been adopted by a number of researchers. It has been adopted as theprimary research method for doctoral dissertations as well as research projects in severaldisciplines. With the increasing use of ADR, the research community is also learning about how toapply ADR in different contexts. In this paper, we focus on how researchers are using the method.Drawing on primary data from researchers who have recently engaged in or finished an ADRproject, we identify several recurring themes: managing expectations with actual outcomes ofADR-projects, coordinating work across different ADR-stages, and balancing the focus on probleminstance versus class of problems. Our work contributes a greater understanding about how ADRprojects are carried out in practice, how researchers can avoid some of the common pitfalls, andhow the method can be applied more effectively.