City Research Online

Abstract

Design is a process of changing current situations into preferred ones, through conversations with design materials, and an understanding of the present practice of the designed artefact’s future users. Domain-relevant data, such as those generated by personal and autonomous computing systems, are an increasingly important design material presenting new ways to explore current practice. Examples of these data include that being generated by people using smartphones, health and fitness monitors, smart energy meters and social media; or that from official statistics made publicly available via Open Data initiatives.

This thesis details research developing CoDesign With Data, a novel approach to collaborative early-stage design workshops in which working with domain-relevant data is the key distinguishing feature. During a CoDesign With Data workshop participants are given the tools and techniques to help them seek insight from data, gain an understanding of the context these data might come from, and to inspire creative design ideas. These tools and techniques build on an understanding of research into information visualization and applied creativity. The activities in which they are used build on the experiences reported from other approaches to creativity in collaborative requirements gathering and design workshops.

The aim of this research is to support design innovation that results in new products or services appropriate to the contexts in which they will be used. To investigate the primary research question, and evaluate the tools and techniques being developed, two design experiments and three case studies were undertaken. In each study, examples of tools, in the form of workshop materials and information visualization interfaces, and techniques, in the form of workshop activities, are presented, and simple takeaways for design practice are offered. Finally, the knowledge and understanding gained during this research is presented as a series of guidelines and recommendations, and a description of the current state-of-the-art CoDesign With Data workshop.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources
Departments:	Doctoral Theses School of Science & Technology > School of Science & Technology Doctoral Theses Interdisciplinary Centres > Creativity in Professional Practice

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