Hello all,
I have a question for the list that is of immediate practical interest to
me, but which I hope will also engender some interesting discussion among
others.
I'm a PhD student in the area of interaction design and my school has
recently formed an interaction design research division. We are now working
on establishing a workspace for post-graduate students in the division. My
question is, what kind of workspaces do other post-graduate design students
enjoy (or not, as the case may be)?
I'm interested in:
* What works in your workspace?
* What sets it apart as a workspace for design research?
* What would you change if you could?
* How many people would you prefer to share your space with?
* Should spaces be set aside for workshop or project areas?
Although my faculty was early in introducing a design-based IT degree (see
Information Environments Program link below), until now post-graduate
students have been housed in traditional computer science environs. Mostly,
we are housed in offices with two or three other students, each with a desk,
computer, and filing cabinet. Most offices also have a pin-board,
white-board, and bookcase. My office is unusual in that it has six students
and we have a little TV and video recorder for watching video on. There is a
link to a photo of our room below.
I hope this discussion will be of interest to the group in two respects.
Firstly, because I think it gives another perspective on the 'what is design
research' threads that surface from time to time (my hypothesis being that
our workspaces are responsive to our different research needs - and by
extension, positions). Secondly, perhaps you will simply find it worthwhile
reflecting on how you arrange your space and hearing how others arrange
theirs.
I am happy for responses either on, or off-list. I will try to collate the
responses I get and post them back, (let me know if you don't want your
details posted). I also welcome any references to case-studies of workspaces
for design-researchers, however my primary interest is in your personal
experiences and insights. I am also, interested in hearing from all kinds of
design-researchers, not just people in the interaction design area.
Best regards,
Jared Donovan.
Links:
Interaction Design Research Division
<http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~id>
Information Environments Program
<http://www.infenv.itee.uq.edu.au>
Our room
<http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~jared/images/room.jpg>
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