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2016 | Book

Creativity and Collaboration in Early Design Read chapter Read first chapter

Collaboration in Creative Design

Methods and Tools

Editors: Panos Markopoulos, Jean-Bernard Martens, Julian Malins, Karin Coninx, Aggelos Liapis

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This book presents a number of new methods, tools, and approaches aimed to assist researchers and designers during the early stages of the design process, focusing on the need to approach the development of new interactive products, systems and related services by closely observing the needs of potential end-users through adopting a design thinking approach.

A wide range of design approaches are explored, some emphasizing on the physicality of interaction and the products designed, others exploring interactive design and the emerging user experience (UX) with a focus on the value to the end-user. Contemporary design processes and the role of software tools to support design are also discussed. The researchers draw their expertise from a wide range of fields and it is this interdisciplinary approach which provides a unique perspective resulting in a flexible collection of methods that can be applied to a wide range of design contexts.

Interaction and UX designers and product design specialists will all find Collaboration in Creative Design an essential read.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Creativity and Collaboration in Early Design
Abstract
Contemporary creative design practice draws from the fields of product design and user-centered design, as boundaries between these two traditions become blurred as design thinking is embraced by industry and academia. By early design we mean design activities taking place with the formulation of an initial design challenge all the way through to the articulation of a design concept and leveling off as designers shift their attention towards more detailed considerations of form, function and interaction, refining the design concept and making the transition to development work. Novel methods applied to the early stages of design help adopt a wider societal and business perspective transcending considerations of products or systems, helping to design for latent needs and emerging user experiences. Intense collaboration with stakeholders from different organizations throughout the design process is often required and design teams tend to be distributed across organizations and geographical locations, which reinforce the need for tools that can support collaboration during the early design process.
Panos Markopoulos, Jean-Bernard Martens, Julian Malins, Karin Coninx, Aggelos Liapis

Discovery

Frontmatter
Two Heads Are Better Than One: Principles for Collaborative Design Practice
Abstract
Design is an inherently complicated activity, reliant on the input of many other disciplines, stakeholders, and users. Over recent years, product designers, clients, suppliers and customers have become even more close and connected, and working together has become paramount in the design process. This chapter looks at the notion of collaboration in design, and suggests that being connected to others can enhance the overall creative effort. As the prevalence of interdisciplinary teams and global work practices grows, this is relevant across all design disciplines. An interdisciplinary team approach provides benefits that can bring about innovation. However, teams are also idiosyncratic and serendipitous. Since design itself is equally unpredictable, there is a need to structure collaborative working. This chapter aims to provide creative practitioners and students with a set of methods by which a collaborative approach can be fostered and maintained in contemporary design practice.
Fiona Maciver, Julian Malins
Probing – Two Perspectives to Participation
Abstract
Practitioners from different fields of design and research apply the ‘Probing’ method as means of getting a better understanding of their users and to inspire their designs. During the 15 years since its first appearance, the probing method has been extended for deployment in different contexts and for different uses. In this chapter we first briefly introduce what probes are about, then we look at probing from two perspectives: (a) as a process of collaborative discovery and learning, and (b) as a tool for entering the users’ contexts. We illustrate these perspectives through cases in which probes have been introduced in educational and professional environments. Based on the findings, we discuss how a making process of probes can engage a design research team to the issues of concern, and present a set of problems and challenges encountered while probing professional work. Finally, we propose a set of considerations for designing probes for different purposes.
Tuuli Mattelmäki, Andrés Lucero, Jung-Joo Lee
Supporting Early Design Through Conjoint Trends Analysis Methods and the TRENDS System
Abstract
This paper introduces methods and tool support to enrich the early design activity, especially in what we call the informational phase, where inspiration sources are of crucial importance. The Conjoint Trends Analysis method is put forward as a way to structure and operationalize the informational phase of early design; a model of the design process underpinning the method is introduced and guidelines are provided for its application in an industrial context. Based upon studies of designer’s activity during early design formal models of this process have been created that have been used for a partial digitalization of the informational phase of design in the TRENDS system.
Carole Bouchard, Jean-François Omhover

Generating Ideas & Concepts

Frontmatter
Designing with Cards
Abstract
In this chapter, we focus on design techniques that employ a particular form of design materials, namely design cards. Design cards can support different phases of a design process, from initial ideation through ongoing concept development towards evaluation of design concepts. We present three different techniques, namely PLEX Cards, Inspiration Card Workshops and the Video Card Game, and how they are used. Once we have illustrated the three techniques, we discuss general characteristics of design cards that make them great tools in collaborative design (i.e., tangible idea containers, triggers of combinatorial creativity, and collaboration enablers).
Andrés Lucero, Peter Dalsgaard, Kim Halskov, Jacob Buur
Combining User Needs and Stakeholder Requirements: The Value Design Method
Abstract
In the emerging design landscape, knowledge integration and collaboration with external partners are being valued in the design process due to the increasing scale and complexity of the design problems. It becomes important for designers to be in close contact with stakeholders, such as the people, communities and organizations who are affecting, or being affected by, the problem or the solution from the early stages of the design process. The majority of the methods that are utilized in design practice have until now been user-focused, aiming at understanding the users and designing for the user experience. Stakeholder involvement in the design process is a new topic of study in the design field. Approaches and methods that guide the designers in developing design solutions by considering diverse stakeholder perspectives are limited.
With the purpose of assisting the designers in considering the stakeholder perspectives in the design process, we present the Value Design Method that aims to integrate the user insights, business insights, and stakeholder expectations and roles at the early stages of the design process. We introduce the method alongside the Value Design Canvas. The Value Design Canvas is a visual probe that can be applied in collaborative multi-stakeholder design workshops. We provide advice on how to apply the method and on aspects that should be attended to while organizing multi-stakeholder workshops.
Pelin Gultekin, Tilde Bekker, Yuan Lu, Aarnout Brombacher, Berry Eggen
Crowdsourcing User and Design Research
Abstract
Crowdsourcing can be defined as a task, which is usually performed by an employee, that is given out as an open call to a crowd of users to be completed. Although crowdsourcing has been growing in recent years, its application to design research and education has only scratched the surface of its potential. In this chapter we first introduce the different types of crowdsourcing. Then, following the typical design cycle we present examples from literature and cases from an educational setting of how crowdsourcing can support designers. Based on these examples we provide a list of tips for utilizing crowdsourcing for design and user research activities.
Vassilis Javed Khan, Gurjot Dhillon, Maarten Piso, Kimberly Schelle
Cardboard Modeling: Exploring, Experiencing and Communicating
Abstract
This chapter presents Cardboard modeling as a tool for design that allows for simultaneous exploration, experiencing, and communication of design proposals. It introduces basic techniques and exercises to build skill and speed in Cardboard modeling and then demonstrates how it can be used as a tool for exploration. It ends with presenting two Cardboard models that were made to give a sense of the fidelity level and type of design that is possible with the technique.
Joep (J.W.) Frens

Designing with Stories

Frontmatter
STORYPLY: Designing for User Experiences Using Storycraft
Abstract
The role of design shifts from designing objects towards designing for experiences. The design profession has to follow this trend but the current skill-set of designers focuses mainly on objects; their form, function, manufacturing and interaction. However, contemporary methods and tools that support the designers’ creative efforts provide little help in addressing the subjective, context-dependent and temporal nature of experiences. Designers hence need to learn by trial and error how to place experiences at the center of their creative intentions. We are convinced that there is room for new tools and methods that can assist them in this process. In this chapter, we argue that storycraft can offer part of the guidance that designers require to put experiences before products right from the very start of the design process. First, we establish the background behind the shift from products to experiences and explain the challenges it poses for the designer’s creative process. Next we explore the contemporary conceptual design process to understand its shortcomings, point out the opportunity that storycraft offers and propose our approach to take on this challenge. Last but not least, we propose a specific method called Storyply that we have designed and developed iteratively by testing it in conceptual design workshops with students and professionals.
Berke Atasoy, Jean-Bernard Martens
Storyboards as a Lingua Franca in Multidisciplinary Design Teams
Abstract
Design, and in particular user-centered design processes for interactive systems, typically involve multidisciplinary teams. The different and complementary perspectives of the team members enrich the design ideas and decisions, and the involvement of all team members is needed to achieve a user interface for a system that carefully considers all aspects, ranging from user needs to technical requirements. The difficulty is getting all team members involved in the early stages of design and communicating design ideas and decisions in a way that all team members can understand them and use them in an appropriate way in later stages of the process. This chapter describes the COMuICSer storyboarding technique, which presents the scenario of use of a future system in a way that is understandable for each team member, regardless of their background. Based on an observational study in which multidisciplinary teams collaboratively created storyboards during a co-located session, we present recommendations for the facilitation of co-located collaborative storyboarding sessions for multidisciplinary teams and digital tool support for this type of group work.
Mieke Haesen, Davy Vanacken, Kris Luyten, Karin Coninx
Co-Constructing New Concept Stories with Users
Abstract
One of the challenges for companies when developing concepts for new products, services or applications is whether or not the concepts will make sense to the user. And evidence that a concept will be valuable should preferably become available early in the design process. Involving users in the process of reflecting on new concepts makes sense because they are domain experts. However, in order to judge whether a concept will bring added value, users need to envision future contexts of use. We present the Co-Constructing Stories method, which aims to facilitate this envisioning process for users. In one-to-one sessions of less than an hour, first users are prompted by stories about the current context, helping them recollect relevant real life experiences for sensitization. Next, they are prompted through future scenarios to envision possible future experiences that may be enabled by the concept. In this paper we explain the method and discuss its background and relation to other methods. We introduce a case study in which the method was applied. Based on the insights gathered through this and similar case studies, we provide guidelines for designers who might be interested to use the method in the future.
Derya Özçelik Buskermolen, Jacques Terken
idAnimate – Supporting Conceptual Design with Animation-Sketching
Abstract
Creating animations is a complex activity that often requires an expert, especially if results need to be obtained under time pressure. As animations are potentially relevant in many different contexts, it is interesting to allow more people to use them for communicating ideas about time-varying phenomena. Multi-touch devices create opportunities to redesign existing applications and user interfaces, and new classes of animation authoring tools that use gestural interaction have therefore started to appear. Most of them focus on specific applications, such as cartoon and puppet animation. This chapter presents idAnimate, a low-fidelity general-purpose animation authoring system for sketching animations on multi-touch devices. With idAnimate, the user can manipulate objects with natural hand gestures while the system records the trajectories and transformations, using them to build animations.
Javier Quevedo-Fernández, Jean-Bernard Martens
Using Video for Early Interaction Design
Abstract
This chapter discusses how to use video for prototyping interactivity during early phases of design. Advantages and limitations of video prototyping are discussed and related to other ways of representing early design concepts. The chapter traces the introduction and development of this method in the field of human computer interaction (HCI), moving on to discuss how video can help involve stakeholders in the design process and especially users. A range of techniques, methodological choices, and practical advice for future video prototype creators are discussed, and illustrated with examples.
Panos Markopoulos

Tools for Creativity and Collaboration in Early Design

Frontmatter
Early Stage Creative Design Collaboration: A Survey of Current Practice
Abstract
In an effort to gain a deeper understanding of how to better facilitate creative collaboration during early stage design activities, a survey and a number of interviews were undertaken to determine current practice in this field. A key aim of this research was to review how tools and technologies are currently used to support collaborative creativity and problem solving in design. The outcome is an overview of early stage activities, the environments in which they are currently carried out, and the role of tools and technologies within them.
Paul Bermudez, Sara Jones
Using the Bright Sparks Software Tool During Creative Design Work
Abstract
This chapter describes Bright Sparks, a web-based software tool that provides support for a codified version of the established Hall of Fame creativity technique. After summarising experiences with our manual use of the technique, the chapter reports codified knowledge, collected through practice, about more effective use of fictional personas in creative processes. This codified knowledge was embedded in the new web-based software tool to provide automated support to use the Hall of Fame technique. The tool has been developed to meet the needs of product and concept designers. The chapter ends with a report of the first evaluation of the application with designers, and future developments to extend the software tool.
James Lockerbie, Neil Maiden
From the Real to the Virtual: Developing Improved Software Using Design Thinking
Abstract
We all have our favourite software applications that we are most familiar with, and our least favourite, which we find frustrating and difficult to use. This chapter addresses how applying a methodological approach based on design thinking can be used to identify opportunities for the development of effective software applications and their subsequent design and evaluation. It begins by reviewing the concept of design thinking in order to provide a framework for the subsequent discussion. Much of the current software that we take for granted has either evolved from a period when computers were not much more than sophisticated adding machines, or by attempting to provide a virtual analogue of the real world in a digital format. A number of the more established applications are now beginning to creak at the seams and don’t meet our contemporary needs as the applications attempt to include more and more features. This chapter considers ways in which we can interrogate the real world in order to identify new opportunities and new approaches for developing applications and interfaces. It considers what criteria should be used to assess the effectiveness of a software application. The chapter reviews design thinking as an approach that can inform the development process.
Julian Malins, Fiona Maciver
Design and Data: Strategies for Designing Information Products in Team Settings
Abstract
This chapter aims at linking data and information to creative design, focusing on collaborative processes at early phases of the design with data. The chapter aims at providing clarity in a large space around design and data. Thus, it serves as a guide for design team’s approach towards the challenges of data design. Consequently, design is one of the key disciplines involved in data and information visualization (Moere and Purchase 2011). This chapter starts with a short introduction of ideas and concepts in the intersection of data, information, and design. It looks at users and designers as the main stakeholders, and considered the purpose of designed information. Following this introduction, we first focus on design artifacts essential for collaborative data design practices. Secondly, we focus on what it means to integrate data with design and the potential roles of data in the data design process. The chapter outlines a general design process with methods and approaches towards early design challenges. Furthermore, this chapter concludes with an annotated bibliography to guide further reading. Along the chapter runs an example case of a real information product that helps for better understanding. It links the more theoretical elaborations to the application level of a concrete design case.
Mathias Funk
Decrypting the IT Needs of the Designer During the Creative Stages of the Design Process
Abstract
Designers are frequently challenged by complex projects in which the problem space is unique, rapidly changing, and the information available is limited. In such cases, combining knowledge from different fields of expertise is required. Furthermore, collaboration during the design process is essential for achieving a meaningful and well-formed solution. Designers therefore regularly find themselves exchanging ideas and reflections in the form of emails, sketches, and images with a group of experts from different backgrounds, working altogether through the creation of a design, its development and proper implementation. This particular chapter focuses especially on issues of synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, team dynamics and the management and monitoring of the early stages of the design process. The overall aim is to identify the essential characteristics and needs of distributed teams when in remote collaboration during the early stages of the design process and to suggest a prototype environment based on the identified requirements and workflow.
Aggelos Liapis, Mieke Haesen, Julia Kantorovitch, Jesús Muñoz-Alcántara
Metadata
Title
Collaboration in Creative Design
Editors
Panos Markopoulos
Jean-Bernard Martens
Julian Malins
Karin Coninx
Aggelos Liapis
Copyright Year
2016
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-29155-0
Print ISBN
978-3-319-29153-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29155-0