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Dear Ranjan and Chuck,
Firstly, I'd just like to thank you both for the very rich and precise
exchanges that you have brought to this thread. I have really enjoyed
them and learnt a lot.
Ranjan on sept 2nd you wrote:
"...Now this brings me to the key issue for innovation in the design
workflow of a learning organisation. Can we help create tools for
designers that would facilitate their capture and reuse of the complex
action sequences and the associated data of their various actions so
that such reflection can be made an integral part of their review
proceses leading to embedded learning from
all ongoing tasks? ... since many just seem to loose interest in the
task stages once the event is past and a satisfying synthesis is
achieved..."
This reminds me of a discussion I had once with a project manager after
we had completed a project. The project had lasted about 18 months. We
- 5 of the team members - had an informal reflection session on the
development of the project. There was a "chairman" who came form
another department and had no knowledge of the project. He recorded the
minutes and managed the session. The main speaker was the project
manager, who very much told his version of events, with a few remarks
from the rest of us. This took roughly an hour and that was it. A few
weeks later I asked the project manager what would happen to the
minutes and was told that the "chairman" of the session would write
them up and file them away "so that others could see them when a new
project was started in the division".
He continued "... I don't know why we bother really. Nobody can see the
point of reading reports. They can't relate to the project. They can't
understand what we've been through from reading a report and would like
to do it their way anyway..."
I wondered if you might be interested in the alternative approach
below, that was used by a colleague of mine at our institute, Birgit
Fabius, for her doctoral thesis. It is a deceptively simple approach
and a very powerful tool. I think it is a good example of how one can
develop methods and techniques that can support design learning in a
professional context.
A group of designers, involved in the development of a cooling
controller project were asked by a design researcher to reflect on the
project’s progress, by recounting the paths taken hitherto (Fabius
2003, Fabius 2001). A large sheet of paper, 2mtr x 4 mtr, on which a
timeline has been drawn, has been pinned to the wall. The designers
recount the project’s progress using discussion, negotiation and
various artifacts to represent the events and activities that have
taken place. The designers pin up e-mails, budget proposals, video key
frames, photos, prints of drawings, sketches and written comments.
There is often lengthy discussion between the designers as to exactly
what happened when and what was used when.
The beauty of this approach is that it can be done at any stage of a
project. In Birgit's case, if I remember correctly, the technique was
used to reflect back in time, but the conclusions reached were meant to
be used as a future strategy model for the designers. The designers
ended up discussing at length, what had actually happened, so in a
sense there was a kind of re-alignment of the personal understandings
of the project and the common understanding then generated could help
the way forward.
The other interesting aspect that came to light, from my point of view,
was the range of artifacts that had been used throughout the design
process that were needed as a reference in order to re-tell the story.
As indicated above these artifacts were very varied and had a character
that were quite apart from the more traditional drawings or models.
Best regards,
Chris.
references:
Fabius B (2003) Design as learning across contexts
(Ph.D thesis in preperation), Mads Clausen Institute, University of
Southern Denmark, Sønderborg
Fabius B (2001) Learning from design reflection - Retrospective stories
of industrial development processes. SEFI.
-----------------------------------
from:
Chris Heape
Senior Researcher - Design Didactics / Design Practice
Mads Clausen Institute
University of Southern Denmark
Grundtvigsallé 150
6400
Sønderborg
Denmark
e.mail : [log in to unmask]
telephone : +45 6550 1671
http://www.mci.sdu.dk
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home:
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telephone: +45 7630 0380
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