Designing in the Street: Innovation In-Situ

This paper suggests that taking the design process into the field and constantly engaging with the site to observe, intervene, brainstorm, prototype and create fosters unique forms of inspiration and innovation. How does a consideration of participation of both the designer and the user in the space change the design process? With participation comes understanding of the situation and by elaborating on possible futures with users, designers can find lucid innovations. We describe a project conducted by students from the Interaction Design course at the Royal College of Art in London which used a variety of approaches to speculate on the social and technological future of a London street. We discuss and compare the role of different techniques which enable designers to find inspiration for innovative technology in the field, or in this case the street. Keywords: Design, Prototyping, Ethno-Fiction</p

Defining Values Through Collaboration

Abstract As the service sector within the global economy is growing at a rapid pace, design is called upon by the economy, society and culture to help address complex problems and build bridges between previously separate disciplines. Large organisations struggle to deliver new services that address complex problems, but do not fit into their organisational models. Designers are asked to expand their traditional roles, and also address complex organisational re-structuring. In order to play these more strategic roles, designers however need be involved at the start of an innovation process and not -as is now the often the case -only towards the end. Using a &apos;thinking through making&apos; approach the CRISP PSS 101 project introduces tools that facilitate the alignment of expectations and address the importance of trust and meaning within networks producing Product Service Systems

Design for emergence: experiments with a mixed reality urban playground game

In this paper we present our work in the design of ubiquitous social experiences, aiming to foster group participation and spontaneous playful behaviours in a city environment. We outline our approach of design for emergence: to provide just enough of a game context and challenge for people to be creative, to extend and enrich the experience of play through their interaction in the real world. CitiTag is our mixed reality testbed, a wireless location-based multiplayer game based on the concept of playground ‘tag’. We describe the design and implementation of CitiTag and discuss results from two user studies

Transformative Learning as Impact in Social Innovation

Measurable impact is an often expected and required outcome of innovation programs, and yet is particularly challenging when trying to understand social impact. The overt focus on economic value often overshadows other more impactful social outcomes such as learning that has emerged as a result of the work. In this paper, we use Transformative Learning theory (TLT) to explore the types and ranges of transformative learning that take place in design and social innovation (D&SI). TLT is an adult learning theory in which critical reflection is used to challenge the learner's beliefs and assumptions and can be particularly useful in helping us understand the perspective shifts important for participants of D&SI initiatives. Our aim is to re-orientate the discussion on D&SI impact by focusing on transformative learning as a form of social value. Using examples and reflections of projects sited in various cultural contexts (Japan, UK, Europe), this paper draws attention to the significance of transformational learning in contributing to social change and demonstrate the potential in addressing, framing and communicating learning as one of the many important social impact that occurs in D&SI initiatives

A design research process for varying the experience of ubiquitous social play

This 8,000 word reviewed conference paper presented new research methodologies and ways of thinking about designing and experimenting with mixed reality experiences, discussing lessons learned from three different research projects, each of which produced a unique multiplayer location-based game (CitiTag, Savannah and Schminky). The paper draws distinctions between ‘emergent' and ‘designed' user experiences and proposes a focus on the unexpected as a research methodology to uncover creative opportunities. The paper reported on methodological aspects of designing for emergent experiences in mixed reality urban games

Viewfinders: Thoughts on Visual Design Research

We believe there's a gap out there – one we can start to fill as design researchers. Photography and film are particularly well-suited for design research, as they provide deep qualitative insight into an experience, serve as design inspiration and can be revisited and re-analysed for ongoing reflection. Although visual research methods have gained traction and recognition across the social sciences, there is still relatively little critical inquiry into how photography and film can be used specifically as a design research method. In addition, investigations into visual research methods can tend to focus on visual analysis as opposed to how we can take photographs or make films as design researchers. However, more recently researchers have begun to ask important questions around the role visual material can play in various design disciplines, from photography in HCI to visualisations in service design. Similarly, discussions around documentary film theory and practice since its origin in the late 19th century can inform and influence design research methods. Viewfinders is part of a self-initiated project by STBY, co-funded by Innovate UK and in collaboration with Goldsmiths' Interaction Research Studio, which began with an initial interest in investigating a method for visual design research. We designed and deployed an 'auto-cam', a research tool combining a wearable camera with sensor technology. This publication builds on our investigation of visual design research, looking across film, photography and more experimental approaches in this space. This publication doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but instead offers observations and reflections on our experiences, things we have tried and learned from in projects and experiments. We hope to grow the discourse around visual design research in an inspiring way for those working in the field, from peers to academics to industry teams who commission this kind of work. Photography and film hold rich potential for design research, deserving our attention, critical consideration and further exploration

DOI 10.1007/s00779-006-0068-5 ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Design for emergence: experiments with a mixed realit