Swedish Design Research Journal

Designing, Adapting and Selecting Tools for Creative Engagement: A Generative Framework

Leon Cruickshank — 2017-09-10

Increasingly public sector practitioners are turning to design to help them do more with less. This often takes the form of designing tools or resources that are used by public sector workers in their everyday practice. This paper critically examines the practice of tool design with the aspiration to improve creative engagement (that is, novel interactions that result in the creation of new knowledge or understanding in the public sector). We assert that designers should not be attempting to define what is a 'right' or 'wrong' way to use an engagement tool, but instead seek to enable new interpretations and adaptations of tools so the creativity of practitioners is supported and amplified. We present a proposal for a framework that supports people in organising the multitude of creative engagement tools in a manner that is meaningful to them rather than imposing taxonomies form the outside, enabling them to fix their own meanings, significance and use of the tools they use. To explore this we present 2 use cases, one by IRISS (a leader in innovation in the social services in Scotland) and a second by Leapfrog (a research project led by Lancaster University looking to transform public sector engagement by design).
We believe this change in the terms of reference when thinking about the creation and use of tools has profound implications for designers working in the social services and wider pubic services sector.

What is it like to see a bat?

Richard William Herriott — 2017-09-10

The article outlines the main strands of design research into means-based and end-based inquiry. It examines problems with design research on the appearances of objects which are qualitative and psychological. A tentative outline is made about the core of design and how designers approach aesthetic judgements during design. The distinction between intuitive design and process-based design is made before exploring a question posed by Hillier (1998) concerning design´s relation to processes and form. Finally, a case is made for an art-criticism approach to design research.

Organizational sensemaking through enabling design services

Magnus Eneberg — 2012-12-01

It is argued that the focus of design is becoming increasingly intangible. At the same time as design consultants are expanding their offerings with new services aimed at enhancing innovation and the strategic process in client firms, studies indicate that industrial design consultancies have a problem getting commissioned and paid for the intangible parts of their service. One possible explanation is that design is regarded as providing a relieving service that delivers aesthetic competence at the end of a product development process. This indicates a problem in communicating the contribution of enabling design services to client firms.

The aim of this paper is to increase the understanding of enabling design services. This is done by comparing the characteristics of design thinking, its methods and processes with sensemaking theory as described by Weick (1995).

Different Approaches to Design Management - comparative study among Swedish and Polish furniture companies

Justyna Starostka — 2012-12-01

There are many roles that design can play in organisations. It can be source of good marketing strategy, and designer by himself can be a promotional tool for a company. Thanks to those actions companies can gain publicity, media attention and good PR.

On the second level, design can be perceived as ‘process of making things better’. In this case companies can achieve more effective product development process, new tools and technologies.

On the third level we have the situation when designer work alongside with company managers with the whole business concept. At this level, designers’ work looks more like a brand consultant, a strategist. In this approach design should be reflecting certain brand name and brand values.

As our study presented, Swedish companies operate on those two, higher levels, while Polish still limit the scope of design. We strongly believe, that Polish companies, as they gain more experience with design activities, will be more likely to perceive design in this more mature approach. In the meantime, presenting best practices from companies from other, more mature countries could be a good way of promoting design as a strategic asset rather than promotional tool. We believe that in order to fasten this process, Polish companies should as follows:

1. Work more often with external and foreign designers;

2. Expand the area of designer responsibilities in companies;

3. Place the responsibility for design in hands of professional design managers.

Multiple perceptions as framing device for identifying relational places

Claudia Scholz — 2012-12-01

We have presented an inquiry method in which citizens talk about their relationships to their built surrounding, raising problems, strengths, changes and dreams. It allows citizens to understand and describe their urban experiences and makes it easier for architects to recognize frameworks and rules inside the context in which they are asked to intervene.

Wisdom of the Crowd: How Participatory Design has evolved Design Briefing

Emma Murphy — 2012-12-01

This case example has discussed the significant and important role of the residents in determining a new all embracing vision for the Royds estates, that not only aims to reduce crime but to create a social and environmentally sustainable future for the residents.

Firstly, the input of Stephen Town, Architectural Liaison Officer, has been considerable in terms of driving consultation and the engagement of residents; secondly, Tony Dylak, Director of Royds Housing Association, his vision and ability to listen and support the wishes of the residents has been immense. Combined, it is suggested that the design briefing stages was the catalyst for change and the mutual sharing of vision.

The design briefing process provided a platform for all stakeholders to envision a future for the estates, providing a common ground for residents, the police, housing authorities and architects to meet, discuss and implement the wishes of everyone that embraces a crime-reduced future.

Referring back to the central focus of this paper, the 5 key drivers for participatory engagement are clearly explicit within the case discussion.

Firstly, the designer’s role within the initial briefing stages embraced a wider remit of responsibility. They carefully orchestrated a series of planned events to both appeal and entice the residents to the consultation ‘roadshows’.

Secondly, with the opportunity to meaningfully participate and be an equal part of the consultation process, the residents responded wholeheartedly to expressing their requirements and ambitions to reinforce positive changes within the design and development process. As such, this then leads us to the issue of blurring boundaries between the various domains of knowledge, which traditionally remained distinctly separate and isolated. With the erosion of these perceived ‘boundaries’ by the residents, they actively engaged through all stages of the project duration, often contributing specialist knowledge and experiential understanding of complex design considerations.

Rethinking textile fashion: New Materiality, Smart Products, and Upcycling

Antti Ainamo — 2014-12-01

Manufacturing operations in much of textile fashion have migrated from the developed economies to developing countries in search of cost economies. Consideration for the natural environment has been lost in the process due to lack of clarity what corporation or some other participant in what kind of an economy is most responsible.

This paper is intended as a thought piece on how new materialisms offers an approach to bring back responsible concern for the natural environment in textile fashion and, perhaps, beyond.

Exploring the use of design thinking in large organizations: Towards a research agenda

Lisa Carlgren — 2014-05-01

In managerial debates, design thinking (DT) is promoted as a user-centered approach to innovation, suggesting that any firm could learn from the practice of designers. Still, it is unclear how DT relates to design in general, and to the design profession in specific. Previous work on DT is mainly theoretical, and empirical investigations of how DT is used in organizations are needed in order to better understand the concept in relation to existing theories.

This paper reports the findings from an exploratory study of the use of DT in large organizations from four industries: software, product, service and healthcare. Based on qualitative interviews with key informants in 16 firms, a wide spread in terms of how DT was perceived and used in a variety of organizational settings is described. This puts focus on the use of DT as well as the importance of the local context.

The paper contributes to an increased empirical understanding of DT, and proposes a research agenda.

Unremarkable experiences - Designing the user experience of elevators

Rebekah Rousi — 2014-05-01

Elevators enable people and goods to be transported to great heights at substantial speeds.The feats required technologically for suspension, movement, controls and safety are no less than remarkable. This is increasingly so when considering the competing new heights of skyscrapers. Although technological accomplishments are becoming ever more extraordinary, for the sake of those using the technologies, there is also the need to counter this remarkableness and consider the unremarkable as an experiential design goal.

Discourse in user experience (UX) has mainly focused on designing for positive, affective and memorable experiences. However, in the case of utilitarian technologies such as elevators often good or positive experiences go unnoticed. The current study’s findings show just this. This article describes a study of UX with elevators using field observations and short interviews.

Positive experiences were reflected in quantitative opinion scales related to the elevators under study. Negative experiences regarding previous elevator experiences were qualitatively recollected without prompting. The age and the detail of the recollected experiences suggest the significance negative (remarkable) events have on memory, influencing current and future impressions of elevator design. This calls for UX attention to be placed on designing for the unremarkable.

Roles of externalisation activities in the design process

Maral Babapour Chafi — 2014-05-01

Designers engage in various activities, dealing with different materials and media to externalise and represent their form ideas. This paper presents a review of design research literature regarding externalisation activities in design process: sketching, building physical models and digital modelling. The aim has been to review research on the roles of media and representations in design processes, and highlight knowledge gaps and questions for future research.

Design strategy: Towards a post-rational, practice-based perspective

Ulises Navarro Aguiar — 2014-12-01

This paper critically reflects on the concept of design strategy as deployed in design management literature.

It starts by describing current discourses in the wider field of strategy research and then discusses how, by conforming to orthodox theories in strategic management, design management literature has tended to overlook alternative streams of strategy research.

In many instances, studies in design strategy adopt taken-for-granted assumptions from rational planning approaches, and analyses of firm performance tend to take precedence over actors and their actions. Thus, it highlights the need for new lines of inquiry grounded in practice, letting go of the economic rationality and theoretical abstractions that have permeated mainstream strategy research. Hence, for future studies, it suggests a post-rational, practice-based perspective to advance our understanding of strategy as it relates to design management.

Design thinking and artistic interventions - tools for understanding and developing organizational creativity?

Oriana Haselwanter — 2014-12-01

Organizations in both the private and public sectors need to find new, creative ways of handling challenges in the complex environments of global competition. Engaging creative professionals like designers and artists - with the aim of developing organizational creativity as a strategic tool - has attracted a lot of interest in different kinds of organizations.

In our study, we followed a weekly intervention process led by an artist, within a trade union. The union wanted to bring change to its working processes, with the ultimate goal of increasing membership numbers.

The study is based on qualitative methods inspired by ethnography. Creativity, design thinking and artistic intervention literature form the main theoretical framework. Between the members of the workgroup and the artist, we have noticed a lot of discontent and differences in ways of understanding business versus creative goals.

We propose that knowledge of design processes, conceptualised in design thinking writings, can help to communicate what is going on during an artistic intervention process, thus narrowing the gap between different understandings. However, a certain amount of friction and conflict will be both necessary and desirable during a creative process.

Embedding design capacity in public organistions: Evaluation by design for public service

Stefano Maffei — 2013-06-01

The paper reflects about the need to introduce and develop approaches and tools for public services evaluation. Starting from the acknowledgment that investments in public services has dramatically increased over the last decade, we could state that they must also respond to new varieties of societal challenges and rising demands coming from service users. This pressure makes a strong push upon innovation considering that, if services must be designed to meet the complex needs of users, they also must reach a high rate of delivering cost efficiency.

This article proposes an approach based on qualitative and quantitative measurements throughout the whole service design process in which service evaluation may represent a tool for value creation and a driver for innovation in public sector.

Considering the emerging interest on evaluating design and innovation (OECD, 2010; European Commission, 2012) the authors try to explore existing evaluation methods for services in public sector, in order to define an evaluation framework that could support new innovation patterns.

Embodying, enacting and entangling design: A phenomenological view to co-designing services

Yoko Akama — 2013-06-01

What is holding back service design from making a distinct departure from a product-centred to a socio-material human-centred framework? We have a concern for co-designing that is often discussed as a generic method to develop empathetic connections and understandings of people and their contexts. In this use, mastering the craft of co-designing had inadvertently isolated the method from the practitioner, fragmenting its process as a series of static events or a tool for deployment in staged workshops. Contributing to current debates on co-designing and design anthropology, our paper seeks to re-entangle co-designing back into its lived and enacted contexts. We see co-designing as a reflexive, embodied process of discovery and actualisation, and it is an integral, on-going activity of designing services. Co-designing can catalyse a transformative process in revealing and unlocking tacit knowledge, moving people along on a journey to 'make real' what proposed services might be like in the future. Co-designing plays a critical role especially when it involves the very people who are enmeshed in the realisation of the proposed services itself. As such, our case study of a weekend Ordnance Survey Geovation camp pays closer attention to how this took place and discusses the transformative process that was central to it. By taking a phenomenological perspective and building on a seminal anthropologists' work, Tim Ingold, our paper counters the limitations in service design that tends to see its process as a contained series of fixed interactions or systemized process of methods. Through Ingold, we see 'the social world as a tangle of threads or life-paths, ever ravelling here and unravelling there, within which the task for any being is to improvise a way through, and to keep on-going. Lives are bound up in the tangle.' Similarly, we view co-designing as being and becoming, that is constantly transforming and connecting multiple entanglements.

Effective Approaches For Innovation Support For Smes

Julian Malins — 2013-12-01

Providing appropriate innovation support to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is an on-going challenge. Governments offer a range of initiatives from advice, to research and development grants; however, the underlying methodological frameworks for these interventions are often unclear. Universities have an increasing role to play in providing an understanding of the learning frameworks that surround innovation support and by providing design-led interventions that follow a design thinking approach. This paper considers the ways in which innovation knowledge can be transferred to SMEs based on a constructivist model of knowledge development. The development of Communities of Practice that support innovation making use of IT systems is also explored. Observations are made on the most effective ways of providing support for SMEs applying an experiential learning model, based on the authors’ experience of directing and working within the Centre for Design & Innovation (c4di) at the Robert Gordon University Aberdeen

The Encyclopedia Hands From Design Thinking to Design Making

Karin Havemose — 2013-12-01

This article deals with creativity in practice and reveals the complex web of knowledge and skills that are in the things we create. Immaterial values such as traditions, memories and intentions are made visible. Also dimensions from the philosophy of knowledge are revealed: reflective judgement, aesthetic sensitivity and accountability for doing good work. The epistemology of the article is based on the theory of hermeneutic experience and empirical examples are gathered from the author’s book Things in motion – the design process (2012).

Co-Design: Fundamental Issues and Guidelines for Designers: Beyond the Castle Case Study

Leon Cruickshank — 2013-12-01

In this paper we describe a high profile project to reimagine a large green space in the heart of the city of Lancaster in the UK. This co-design project involved professional designers, but also 2500 people with 700 of these making an active co-design contribution. This project forms the basis of a discussion of how we used a series of events to help participants reach their full creative co-design potential.

From this case study we go on to develop a framework of recommendations to help designers reflect on their normal practice and how they need to operate within a co-design project. These recommendations seek to maximise the benefits of this approach and produce good design outcomes. This framework has been evaluated in a series of international workshops in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Arguing for Design Thinking Interventions as a Form of Artistic Interventions

Ulla Johansson Sköldberg — 2013-12-01

Drawing on data from two projects where artists used their artistic competence as organizational change facilitators, we argue for a theoretical coupling of the discourse(s) of design thinking to research streams within art-and-management. The artistic dimension of design, the practice perspective and the artistic process should be considered if we are to understand the full potential of design thinking for companies.

This paper describes two artistic intervention projects that highlight valuable ways artists can contribute to organizational innovation and change. We begin with the theoretical frame of reference and a short methodological statement, followed by the empirical material. In the analysis section we point to ways in which such interventions are similar to ones led by designers when we consider the designer’s process as individualized and contextualized. Finally, we draw conclusions.

Knowledge integration of and by design

Per Åman — 2016-06-28

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible uses, benefits, limitations and future directions of a formal knowledge integration perspective on design management. The paper develops the concepts of management thinking and design(erly) thinking, and questions the implied contention. With a knowledge perspective, design management may be seen as including the capability to integrate specialized, distributed and heterogeneous knowledge bases. Consequences regarding the characteristics of scope, flexibility and efficiency of knowledge integration indicate both greater difficulties and greater possibilities. Regarding the architecture of knowledge, integration of design indicates a functional orientation and a limited role for design, while integration by design may indicate a strategic role.

Using an action research approach to embed service design in a higher education institution

Heather Madden — 2016-06-01

Design Thinking can address the political and cultural divides in higher education and improve the focus on student experience. The challenge is reshaping a traditional organisation into a more modern one and at the same time creating an environment that is favourable towards change brought about by design-led thinking.

In one higher education institute, almost two years into the journey and despite some challenges along the way, Service Design methods are demonstrating their capacity to change the processes and procedures that support the delivery of student services in higher education.

An action research approach is currently being used to assess how the tools of Design Thinking are applied to real organisational problems and the consequences of design-led action. This research introduces a new set of tools and techniques to an organisation and analyses the effects of this fresh approach on the organisation via a number of action research cycles. There are many stages on the road to introduce Design Thinking as a bottom-up approach to changing an organisation into a more innovative, progressive, efficient and user-centred one.

Social change through place innovation

Malin Lindberg — 2015-08-01

This article explores how ‘place innovation’ can be used as a new scientific concept and practical tool to understand and shape the social design of the future.

The article’s starting point is a collaborative project between academia, industry and the community in northern Sweden. The project is developing knowledge and methods of place innovation based on a coherent perspective on the innovative design of places. Place innovation weaves together social, cultural, economic and technological aspects in order to increase the attractiveness of a place to existing and potential visitors, residents and investors.

Beyond ICT: How industrial design could contribute to HCI research

Anna Thies — 2015-09-01

This paper takes an industrial design practitioner perspective to reflect on the articulation of ’design’ in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research – one of several research fields, articulating and contributing to design knowledge. The paper critically reflects on the importance of more holistic perspectives for design activities, and the articulation of design in HCI research. We argue that industrial design practitioners can contribute to HCI research by broadening the design knowledge and the practice within the field not to view ICT as a self-evident part of either a solution or as a tool in the process of specifying the problem or finding a solution. This may not only improve the articulation of design and design activities, but more importantly point towards an opportunity to support more socially and environmentally sustainable solutions in society.