1. Information Spaces for Creative Conversations 3rd June 2010 Sara Jones, Neil Maiden, Meirion Williams, Raj Arjan Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design Shane Wohlers, Connie Tse School of Informatics
2. Background Funded by JISC e-Learning programme, Transforming curriculum development through technology. Working with Middlesex University, Interaction Design Centre 2 year project: 2008 - 2010
3. Aim To support active, student-centred learning of creative interactive system design To digitally augment physical design spaces
12. Creative Design Station Capabilities Whiteboard Whiteboard with projection Whiteboard with projection and recording
Editor's Notes
Active learning: get students to actually do designBecause design ‘in the real world’ is done in teams, this means getting them to work in teams – hence we need to support collaboration and conversation.Student-centred learning: focused on the student's needs, abilities, interests, and learning styles – eg aim to allow for different styles of learning - requires students to be active, responsible participants in their own learning. Students are involved in deciding how to demonstrate their learning – format of submissions is up to students.Digitally augment spaces in such a way that physical affordances are preserved, and digital elements provide extra functionality
Product design using physical artefacts and lots of sketchingAccording to Schön (1983), as summarised in Johnson and Carruthers, 2006, pp1002:The ‘language of designing’ includes drawing and talking – sketching enables experimentation, and when the designer talks about designing, this allows reflectionA designer designs by utilizing her/his repertoire of examples, images, understandings and actions from existing knowledgeAt a certain point, the designer evaluates her/his ideas by considering desirability of their consequencesAccording to Resnick et al, NSF workshop, 2005Support exploration: easy to try things out, then backtrack; make functionality self-revealing; pleasurable and fun; sketching; trying ‘what if’s’.Low threshold, high ceiling, wide walls: easy for novices; possibility of ‘power use’; support for wide range of outputs.Support many paths and many styles: ‘hard’ and ‘soft’; ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’.Support collaboration: teams of different talents; foster community.Support open interchange: seamless operation with other tools; data import/export; extensibility.Make it as simple as possible – and maybe even simpler.Choose black boxes carefully: primitive elements available determine outputs.Invent things that you would want to use yourself.For collaborative creativity:From Schön (see week 6): the ‘language of designing’ includes drawing and talkingFrom Resnick et al (see week 6): support collaboration: teams of different talents; foster communityFrom Mamykina et al, 2002: enable groups to devise shared language and understanding, and to share knowledge resourcesFrom Fischer et al, 2005: enable development of Communities of Practice and Communities of Interest eg through externalisations or boundary objectsTechnology must supportNatural interpersonal interactionTransitions between activitiesTransitions between personal and group workTransitions between tabletop and external workUse of physical objectsAccessing shared physical and digital objectsFlexible user arrangements (sitting, standing etc)Simultaneous user interactionsFrom Warr and O’Neill 2005:Reduce or eliminate production blocking by allowing multiple users to act in parallelReduce evaluation apprehension by making ideas anonymousORReduce social loafing (or free riding) by attributing ideas
ConceptLab at Industrial Design department of the Eindhoven University of Technology – still under construction
University of Konstanz media room – experimenting more with interactive technologies
InQbate at University of Sussex – flexible physical space with embedded technologyCentre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Creativity Two Creativity Zones form the centrepiece of InQbate and offer exciting opportunities for students to work in spaces that foster collaborative, self-directed and experiential learning. We have smaller space, and budget!
Stakeholders: For the hardware installation: administrator, lab manager, TST, property and facilities, University IT supportFor linking in with e-learning infrastructure: School e-learning support, ULCC podcasting serviceThe story of the whitebards: broken, non-magnetic, waiting for parts from Portugal ….
Whiteboard with projection used mainly for viewing: search for inspiration, individual contributions to group work, shared resources, records of previous work etc – this year’s students used Google wave and Yahoo groups to continue work between sessions.Whiteboard with projection and recording is for doing: for design discussions that can usefully be recorded eg physical annotation of digital resources, work with 3d objects, demonstrating potential interactions. Videos can be podcasted and linked into moodle wikis. (Now have bigger tables to facilitate round table discussions.)Whiteboard used for additional note-keeping, brainstorming
