Slides from the talk "Reflective Design Documentation" at the Designing Interactive Systems 2012 conference in Newcastle. The talk was held on June 14, 2012. Dalsgaard, P. & Halskov, K. (2012): “Reflective Design Documentation”. In Proceedings of DIS 2012: ACM conference on Designing interactive systems, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

1. REFLECTIVE DESIGN DOCUMENTATION
PETER DALSGAARD & KIM HALSKOV
AARHUS UNIVERSITY
torsdag den 14. juni 12

2. AARHUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS CENTER FOR ADVANCED CENTER FOR DIGITAL URBAN
VISUALIZATION AND LIVING
INTERACTION
torsdag den 14. juni 12

3. AARHUS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS CENTER FOR ADVANCED CENTER FOR DIGITAL URBAN
VISUALIZATION AND LIVING
INTERACTION
torsdag den 14. juni 12

4. torsdag den 14. juni 12

5. torsdag den 14. juni 12

6. Experimental design research can be a messy affair
comprising multiple levels of wickedness
How can we capture what goes on in design and use this
data to inform and generate design research insights?
Which issues and implications emerge when we do so?
torsdag den 14. juni 12

7. TWO STORIES
torsdag den 14. juni 12

8. TWO STORIES AN ONLINE DESIGN DOCUMENTATION TOOL
The Project Reflection Tool (PRT), developed by a team of design
researchers with the intent of documenting design projects and
prompting reflection about design events as part of doing research
through design - first and foremost a tool for design researchers
torsdag den 14. juni 12

9. TWO STORIES AN ONLINE DESIGN DOCUMENTATION TOOL
The Project Reflection Tool (PRT), developed by a team of design
researchers with the intent of documenting design projects and
prompting reflection about design events as part of doing research
through design - first and foremost a tool for design researchers
CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF SYSTEMATIC DOCUMENTATION
Using the PRT tool as a catalyst to generate insights into the potentials
and challenges of a structured and systematic approach to design
documentation as part of design research
torsdag den 14. juni 12

10. torsdag den 14. juni 12

11. torsdag den 14. juni 12

12. torsdag den 14. juni 12

13. DESIGN PRINCIPLES
AND INTENTIONS
torsdag den 14. juni 12

14. Capturing events, discussions and thoughts as they occur makes the
design process observable, provides a better platform for analysing the
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
AND INTENTIONS process, and gives us backing for our findings
torsdag den 14. juni 12

15. Capturing events, discussions and thoughts as they occur makes the
design process observable, provides a better platform for analysing the
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
AND INTENTIONS process, and gives us backing for our findings
A collaborative online system for capturing ongoing events, discussions
and considerations, intended to:
- Provide a simple and open way for project participants to enter
information
- Invite comments and reflections about events as they unfold
torsdag den 14. juni 12

16. Capturing events, discussions and thoughts as they occur makes the
design process observable, provides a better platform for analysing the
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
AND INTENTIONS process, and gives us backing for our findings
A collaborative online system for capturing ongoing events, discussions
and considerations, intended to:
- Provide a simple and open way for project participants to enter
information
- Invite comments and reflections about events as they unfold
Major source of inspiration: Schön’s work on the intertwined nature of
action and reflection
torsdag den 14. juni 12

17. Capturing events, discussions and thoughts as they occur makes the
design process observable, provides a better platform for analysing the
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
AND INTENTIONS process, and gives us backing for our findings
A collaborative online system for capturing ongoing events, discussions
and considerations, intended to:
- Provide a simple and open way for project participants to enter
information
- Invite comments and reflections about events as they unfold
Major source of inspiration: Schön’s work on the intertwined nature of
action and reflection
Also inspired by parts of design rationale: A systematic approach to
documenting the design process, including ongoing thoughts about
specific decisions
torsdag den 14. juni 12

18. STRUCTURE
torsdag den 14. juni 12

19. torsdag den 14. juni 12

20. ADMIN
torsdag den 14. juni 12

21. NAVIGATION + FUNCTIONS
ADMIN
torsdag den 14. juni 12

22. NAVIGATION + FUNCTIONS
ADMIN
EVENTS + NOTES
torsdag den 14. juni 12

23. NAVIGATION + FUNCTIONS
ADMIN OVERVIEW
LINKS
EVENTS + NOTES
torsdag den 14. juni 12

24. TIMELINE NAVIGATION + FUNCTIONS
ADMIN OVERVIEW
LINKS
EVENTS + NOTES
torsdag den 14. juni 12

25. SIMPLE EVENT
torsdag den 14. juni 12

26. COMPLEX EVENT
torsdag den 14. juni 12

27. EVENT
torsdag den 14. juni 12

28. EVENT SUBEVENT
torsdag den 14. juni 12

29. TIMELINE
torsdag den 14. juni 12

30. CASES
torsdag den 14. juni 12

31. DANISH PAVILION AT EXPO 2010 HOLGER THE DANE
Large-scale media architecture 3D projection mapping on statue
TANGIBLE 3D TABLETOP REFLECTIVE DESIGN PRACTICUM
Novel interface Project based design education
torsdag den 14. juni 12

32. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF
SYSTEMATIC DESIGN DOCUMENTATION
torsdag den 14. juni 12

33. CHALLENGE:
SYSTEM LIMITATIONS
Information capture and entry must be rapid and straightforward
The system should not interrupt the task at hand
It should also provide benefits related to the current task
torsdag den 14. juni 12

34. CHALLENGE:
RESOURCES, ROLES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Documentation and reflection is time consuming
> the design agenda often prevails over the research agenda
Neglecting documentation efforts can undermine the accuracy and validity of research
New routines must be established in the design research work practice
> clear roles and dedicated time slots can support the process
torsdag den 14. juni 12

35. CHALLENGE:
DOCUMENTATION FOCUS AND DETAIL
Determining what to document
Finding the right level of detail
Unless you want to capture everything, you must determine a focus when you start
documenting in order to generate usable data
> use methods for easily collecting complex data that may later be explored in depth
(e.g. video)
torsdag den 14. juni 12

36. "…In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such
Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the
entirety of a City, and the map of the Empire, the entirety of a
Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer
satisfied, and the Cartographers Guilds struck a Map of the
Empire whose size was that of the Empire, and which coincided
point for point with it."
- Jorge Luis Borges, On Exactitude in Science
"... we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure
you it does nearly as well."
- Lewis Carroll, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded
torsdag den 14. juni 12

37. BENEFIT:
SUPPORTING SHARED REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION IN ONGOING PROJECTS
Having data constantly at hand invites reflection and discussion among researchers and practitioners
Strengthens ongoing communication among distributed design partners - if they use the system
Maintains focus on research agenda
torsdag den 14. juni 12

38. BENEFIT:
DEVELOPING, REFINING, AND REFLECTING UPON RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Researchers use the system not just to document data, but also to discuss research questions and
underlying assumptions
The initial strategy for capturing data influences how research discussions unfold
- strong initial focus: discussions of specific issues
- weak initial focus: discussions of general research questions and issues
Previously documented projects become a resource for new research questions
torsdag den 14. juni 12

39. BENEFIT:
SCAFFOLDING LONGITUDINAL AND CROSS-PROJECT STUDIES
Allows for studies of similar issues and research questions across a range of projects
Data and details in a project are lost and forgotten over the course of time
- a shared system goes some way to preventing this issue
Retrospective reinterpretation:
Accounts of what has happened during a design process, and why, has a tendency to
change over the course of time
torsdag den 14. juni 12

40. INSIGHTS AND QUESTIONS FROM THE DESIGN DOCUMENTATION WORKSHOP HERE AT DIS 2012
What are the consequences of reflection?
The timeline as organizing principle has clear implications
- offer alternative modes of representing and exploring
Providing immediate benefits is key
- automating data capture
- provoking input (e.g. formulating posts as stubs and questions)
Human mediators / documentation professionals
Personal project space vs shared project space
Supporting design narratives through documentation
torsdag den 14. juni 12

41. CONCLUSIONS
We have empoyed the Project Reflection Tool as a catalyst to generate insights into the issues of
creating and using tools to support design documentation:
+ it supports shared reflection and discussion in ongoing projects
+ it helps us develop, refine, and reflect upon research questions
+ it scaffolds longitudinal and cross-project studies
! system must enable easy data capture, integration w/ other systems, provide benefits to task at hand
! documentation is time consuming, we need to develop strategies to cope
! finding out what to document is a wicked problem
A good tool becomes a natural part of the work process and provides continuous benefits to the user
- we are not there yet, and the nature of design research makes this hard to attain
torsdag den 14. juni 12

42. THANK YOU!
And thanks to our partners and design students who
have taken part in our real life experiments with the system
PETER DALSGAARD & KIM HALSKOV
DALSGAARD@CAVI.DK & HALSKOV@CAVI.DK
CENTER FOR DIGITAL URBAN LIVING
WWW.DIGITALURBANLIVING.DK
CENTER FOR ADVANCED
VISUALISATION AND INTERACTION
WWW.CAVI.DK
torsdag den 14. juni 12