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

CASE DESIGN COLLABORATION CURRENT – FUTURE
Active@work
Five one-off co-design gatherings
with identical aims and material
but with different participants and
place.
Design took place in a dialogue among researchers and
an ageing worker. The researchers’ role was supportive
and initiating during the design gatherings where
user’s ideas were emphasised. However, the researchers
also proposed new ideas. Co-design built on direct
user involvement.
Contextual approach supported creative interplay between current
practices and future opportunities as well as idea generation.
In that interplay, design materials worked as things-to-actwith.
With enough support, users were able to envision and enact
future visions that were grounded to their current work practices.
Co-design among young
children
Two one-off co-design gatherings
with the same overall research objectives
and participants but with a
different design task and material.
Design took place in a dialogue among a group of children
without researchers’ intervention. The researchers
were purely facilitators, not design partners. However,
the researchers’ creative input was embedded in the
design game and other design material. Co-design
built on direct user involvement, however, the case was
research-oriented without practical design objectives.
Regardless of the contextual approach, design ideas and kids’ everyday
life remained separate. Design game was prominent in directing
discussions and gathering user insights, although not perfect in supporting
group dynamics. A classroom setting had explicit and implicit
constrains, affecting the creative collaboration negatively. Many
challenges in creative collaboration became evident with the children
emphasising the need for contextual sensitivity in all co-design.
Co-design as embodied
practise
Seven one-off co-design gatherings
(four in Finland & three in Netherlands)
with identical aims, setting
and material but with different
participants.
Design evolved in a dialogue among the designer and
the researcher (in one gathering there were always two
pairs working simultaneously). The researchers were
equal design partners. Co-design built on direct user
involvement, since the designers were also possible users
of the designed solution.
In enacted design, ideas are sketched through bodily actions and
performance (instead of e.g. drawing) where props gain their
meaning in the action. This extended the language of design and
enabled joint reflection-in-action. Providing a variety of props
allowed participants to choose the sketching medium they felt
comfortable working with.
Stories as a source of inspiration
Three one-off co-design gatherings
with identical material but with
separate aims, context, researchers
and participants.
Co-design took place in a dialogue among researchers
and participants. The researchers were equal design
partners. There was no direct user involvement, as
ideation was grounded to user’s experiences through
stories written by them.
Users’ insights were presented in the form of stories used as inspiration
for design. The design game gave rules for the interpretation,
including individual and collective efforts and an easyto-repeat
structure. Moreover, it invited insights from various
people, creating more holistic view on the data.
Co-designing
University
A sequence of three co-design
gatherings with separate aims,
building on the results from the
previous session, with the same
participants.
Co-design evolved a dialogue among a multidisciplinary
group where the researchers had an equal right to
contribute. Co-design built on direct user involvement,
since participants were possible users of the Design
Factory, the unit under development.
To ground design ideas to the understanding of current practices,
possible users were invited to take part as design partners. Temporal
interventions to the on-going development project gave
rise to critical questions in relation to learning, documentation
and participation. Who should be involved and when, how to
share the learning emerging during the process, etc?
DESIGN MATERIALS
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