Design games as a tool, a mindset and a structure Kirsikka Vaajakallio

The observational part aimed at establishing a view into the normal
work practices to support broader design aims of the project, whereas
the Situated Make Tools focused on generating design ideas expressed
in physical, narrative and acted-out formats and developing insights into
the workers’ needs, desires and attitudes in relation to digital information
and communication technologies. The exercise had two main objectives:
1) to explore how real-action context triggers and grounds concept design;
and 2) to amplify worker’s creativity through tangible Make Tools
and a contextual approach. Let me give an example from one of the Situated
Make Tools sessions to illustrate the method:
Three persons are gathered around a table in the janitor’s room in
a school in Helsinki: a janitor and two design researchers 1 . The janitor
explains his typical use of mobile technology while researchers
ask clarifying questions. Soon the janitor is encouraged to build
the mobile device of his dreams, that could improve his wellbeing
during the work day, from the Make Tools on the table. The design
material includes a variety of three-dimensional blocks covered
with a fabric attachable with Velcro stickers to allow easy configurations
with pieces that mimic buttons and displays. The janitor
starts to play with the materials and ends up building a device with
a few buttons and a camera; he cannot explicate their meanings
yet, but the researchers expect that the functions will become clear
once they start the Situated Make Tools exercise.
After a short video shadowing, the researchers see something
that evoke their curiosity and interrupt the activity. They ask the
janitor what happened and how it could have been done differently.
The janitor tells about the incident with one of the toilets and
describes the flow of tasks needed to handle it. After his verbal illustration,
he is encouraged to enact the situation anew – this time
with the dream device (Figure 1).
Altogether six similar exercises were conducted and through analyses
some patterns were identified in the way sessions progressed and in the
way the contextual setting and the Make Tools influenced idea generation.
The findings are connected to the overall structure of the co-design
gatherings that took place in the midst of ageing workers working day.
The key findings are presented in detail elsewhere 2 . I will next introduce
the three main themes that have been explored further in the following
chapters.
1 All the observations and Situated Make Tools exercises were conducted by me and my colleague
Salu Ylirisku.
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