Designers and Stakeholders Defining Design Opportunities "In-Situ" through Co-reflection

this article proposes co-reflection as a workshop to situate design practice in its context of application and presents a case study done at the eLearn Center of the Open University of Catalonia. Co-reflection is a re!ective practice. In the half-aday workshop developed, co-reflection was specifically tailored for group dynamics in situ. The workshop was the kick-off meeting of a design research project and involved both designers and stakeholders. The project focused on how to communicate and disseminate relevant information between members of the eLearn Center. the aim of the kick-off meeting was to define design opportunities by framing both collaboration and a design space. this double aim has been achieved by: a) exploring and framing a design space by re!ecting on short design activities in situ, and b) motivating stakeholders to collaborate in the design research project by making them re!ect on the expertise and interests they can share and gain. Participants’ evaluations have been used as feedback and treated as insightful considerations for further action research

Vigour : smart textile services to support rehabilitation

"Vigour" is a garment that shows the possibilities of smart textile services for geriatric rehabilitation exercises. It is the result of a collaborative design process between a design researcher, three therapists, an eldercare manager, a textile developer and an embedded systems designer. Vigour embodies the knowledge that was accumulated during the collaborative design process. We contribute to the theme of experimentation in design research by showing the value of experimentation in a participatory setting through the iterations leading to the final garment. Further, we will briefly describe three of the steps that lead to the final prototype

A systematic analysis of mixed perspectives in empathic design: not one perspective encompasses all

Although it is common for designers to base design decisions on own experiences, the specific utility, and legitimacy, validity of thisfirst-person perspective in design is currently not sufficiently understood and recognized. In particular, wisely applying the first-personperspective in projects that require great sensitivity can be a major contributor to design outcomes. As such, a better understandingof the relative value of the first-person perspective compared to—and combined with—other fundamental perspectives (introduced asperspective transitions and clusters) can contribute to enrich and develop design methodologies.In this paper we report on a case study targeting mourning. We describe when and how junior designers employed the first-, second-,and third-person perspectives and how they were combined. This leads to new insights. First, we improve the current understanding ofperspectives. Second, we identify the specific value of transitions between perspectives. Third, we introduce perspective clusters andhighlight how these—as building blocks—can give flexible guidance to design. These insights, in turn, support a mixed-perspectivesapproach. This approach supports empathic design by enabling designers to be receptive, inclusive, and committed toward users. Moreover,it supports designers in employing (relevant) personal experiences and intuition in a more credible and intentional way.Although it is common for designers to base design decisions on own experiences, the specific utility, and legitimacy, validity of this first-person perspective in design is currently not sufficiently understood and recognized. In particular, wisely applying the first-person perspective in projects that require great sensitivity can be a major contributor to design outcomes. As such, a better understanding of the relative value of the first-person perspective compared to—and combined with—other fundamental perspectives (introduced as perspective transitions and clusters) can contribute to enrich and develop design methodologies. In this paper we report on a case study targeting mourning. We describe when and how junior designers employed the first-, second-, and third-person perspectives and how they were combined. This leads to new insights. First, we improve the current understanding of perspectives. Second, we identify the specific value of transitions between perspectives. Third, we introduce perspective clusters and highlight how these—as building blocks—can give flexible guidance to design. These insights, in turn, support a mixed-perspectives approach. This approach supports empathic design by enabling designers to be receptive, inclusive, and committed toward users. Moreover, it supports designers in employing (relevant) personal experiences and intuition in a more credible and intentional way. <br/

Interactive prototypes in the participatory development of product-service systems

Stakeholders who are part of the development process of a new Product-Service System (PSS) could use interactive prototypes during meetings to exchange different point of views. Based on the findings of a conversation analyst and the reflections of a design researcher we compared three explication techniques of how a prototype was involved during such a meeting (for pointing and manipulating, for demonstrating its function and for imitating and/or demonstration through body movement and gesture) with the phases of a co-reflection session (exploration, ideation and confrontation). We found that the prototype was especially useful during the exploration and confrontation phases. Pointing and manipulating helped to make reflections concrete, made it easier to propose small design changes and helped the participants to reach common goals. Interactive prototypes do have their limits, during the ideation phase the prototype did not play an important role

Designers initiating open innovation with multi-stakeholder through co-reflection sessions

This paper explores a designerly approach to open innovation initiation as start of the PhD research of the third author. More specifically, it presents the application of co-reflection sessions by designers in a healthcare open innovation project to initiate multi-stakeholder participation. Integrating co-reflection in open innovation initiation provides designers with the opportunity to a) negotiate with and function in multi-disciplinary environments consisting of stakeholder representatives and stakeholder customers (possible end-users); b) analyze complexity and structure of stakeholder ambitions, wishes, concerns and restrictions in order to frame a collaboration space; c) synthesize, visualize and materialize the value proposition to communicate the benefits to multi-stakeholder networks in order to define a design space and motivate their participation; and what is more important, keeping the balance between design thinking and design action. Lessons learned from this study a) can be used to provide a set of skills and practical guidance to designers when initiating open innovation b) define a spectrum for research on how designers can initiate innovation

Designers initiating open innovation with multi-stakeholder through co-reflection sessions

This paper explores a designerly approach to open innovation initiation as start of the PhD research of the third author. More specifically, it presents the application of co-reflection sessions by designers in a healthcare open innovation project to initiate multi-stakeholder participation. Integrating co-reflection in open innovation initiation provides designers with the opportunity to a) negotiate with and function in multi-disciplinary environments consisting of stakeholder representatives and stakeholder customers (possible end-users); b) analyze complexity and structure of stakeholder ambitions, wishes, concerns and restrictions in order to frame a collaboration space; c) synthesize, visualize and materialize the value proposition to communicate the benefits to multi-stakeholder networks in order to define a design space and motivate their participation; and what is more important, keeping the balance between design thinking and design action. Lessons learned from this study a) can be used to provide a set of skills and practical guidance to designers when initiating open innovation b) define a spectrum for research on how designers can initiate innovation

Ecological data for manifesting the entanglement of more-than-human livingness

Data in Design and HCI research is often associated with something captured from the world in digital form and transferred to a database. However, the assumption of digitalisation, as well as the intentions and values underlying it, can obscure more nuanced approaches to data, and is becoming increasingly criticised (e.g., through notions of data colonialism, data extractivism, etc.). In this workshop, we invite participants to critically review data concepts and practices that sustain Western industrialised socio-economic systems, considering their ethical, environmental, and ecological implications. In contrast, we will explore data in the entangled ecologies of organisms, matter, and environments, focusing on ‘livingness’ as a way to reveal embodied, relational, and situated aspects of data. Through wandering and foraging, we will discuss how these aspects of data might help us regain our attentiveness, appreciation, and responsibility towards more-than-human ecologies, and ultimately reframe concepts of data in the world

Co-reflexió: la implicació de l'usuari adreçada a la transformació social

Aquest article presenta una aproximació de l'usuari, que permet confrontar les araons fonamentals dels dissenyadors amb les motivacions i els valors socials. Aquesta aproximació està particularment feta a mida per als processos de disseny adreçats a la transformació social. En aquest acostament, la implicació de l'usuari es considera un procés constructiu i no destructiu. Amb més precisió, es defineix com una sessió co-reflexiva entre els dissenyadors i els usuaris, que comença amb una sensibilització per construir la realitat desitjada per l'usuari per tal de confrontar-la amb les raons del dissenyado

Augmenting subjectives experiences (part II) : some examples of smart textiles designs

no abstrac