Research Proposal

As part of the selection procedure for the Master Design, WDKA has asked to present my proposal for design research in a poster. You can download the poster (PDF) or read it in this post here.

Introduction

I find spaces intriguing both in my personal life and in my professional life. From an early age I have been interested in architecture. Architects take the opportunity to design spaces, both inside and outside, that inspire and aesthetically enrich their surroundings. Although a well-designed space blends harmoniously with its environment, it is a fixed object. And probably will be for a very long time.

I never really dared to become an architect. Perhaps I come closest when I experiment and prototype with my extensive Lego Architecture Studio set.

I became a different kind of designer, one with a focus on interaction design. Whether it is product design or service design, the challenges lie in designing for people. What is desirable, useful and easy to use? I see the interfaces as my virtual spaces. Spaces where they can move around and interact with.
In the past 6 years I also taught these subjects to my students at the HAN University of Applied Sciences.

Context

I am confronted daily with spaces that have a narcotic effect on creative collaboration. Our university’s formal classrooms and small project spaces are packed with (sometimes way to large) desks and are, in all honesty, plain and boring.

Social Spaces of Slack's HQ in Dublin
Slack ‘s Headquaters in Dublin provides both physical social spaces as private group spaces. (1)

They often lack freedom for the people using it to be able to transform it themselves, move things around, and create what they need for the work they’re doing at the moment. And although the spaces I find at creative agencies already work much better for creating atmosphere and projecting their creative philosophy, they too feel to some extent inflexible and too focused on private workplaces.

I don’t think space is an initial, given condition, or something that should be accepted as is. As interaction designer I am eager to see if blending space and digital technology could create opportunities for more aware and flexible spaces. Spaces that better meet our needs and have a valuable impact on creative collaboration.

My research will be focused around these three topics and in doing so exploring the intersections between them.

Creative Collaboration

Within the educational model of our profile (Interaction Design) we strive to be relevant to both the academic world and the creative industry. We use agency partnerships and industry- oriented projects to expose our students to a wide range of relevant and current topics and real-world contexts. By following the same methods and by continuously learning from each other, we form not only our students, but also the industry.

Within this approach, we increasingly deviate from traditional classroom teaching. We encourage collaboration, exploration and discussion and strongly believe that learning will be the result of (sometimes serendipitous) interactions between students.

I also see agencies in the creative industry increasingly opting for methods in which multidisciplinary teams take on challenges together, sometimes even with their clients. In addition, they (also) focus on learning through, for example, the development of in-house academies and workshops.

For both shifts I think we should bias toward having more collaborative spaces than individual spaces.

Spaces

When you walk into most (traditional) offices, the space tells you that it’s meant for a group of people to work alone. Closed-off desks sprout off of lonely hallways. The same goes for most physical academic spaces; wings and full buildings are designed around the formal classroom model and create a repetition of uninspiring, mostly rectangular, rooms where teacher and student are clearly separated by little desks.

But space can be something to think of as an instrument for innovation and collaboration. And following the shift to a more collaborative way of working and learning, I see spaces being designed and used differently.

Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft published a great book called “Make Space”. It describes how they use space in creating a different kind of educational environment. In the foreword David Kelley mentions: “At IDEO we value innovation as a team sport; it needs “we” spaces more than the conventional “I” spaces.”

Huddle rooms in LOOP's HQ in Salzburg
LOOP‘s Headquaters in Salzburg has several huddle rooms available as private group spaces. (2)

These new spaces are increasingly more open, flexible and networked. They bring together formal and informal activities and acknowledge that learning and collaboration can take place at any time, in any space. I am finding interesting examples of both physical social spaces and private (group) spaces. Lounges, mimicked living rooms and open makerspaces or ‘stations’ are all social spaces designed for getting to know each other, engage in dialogue, making, learning, exploring and sharing. If more privacy or specific team collaboration is needed private (group) spaces like cocoons, labs or smaller team spaces can offer a solution. The latter is also being referred to as a huddle room, a convenient drop-in space for team collaboration.

Photo of a Cul-de-sac Space at IDEO from the book Make Space
IDEO ‘s metaphorical cul-de-sac is a spot at which to linger and chat before or after a gathering. (3)

Technology

The thought of how the fields of architecture and interaction design could be converging makes me excited. Physical and virtual spaces are still often seen as two different worlds, but todays technology provides us with more and more possibilities to blend the two. Embedded Media, for example, allows for physical inanimate objects to become interactive by embedding sensors into these objects. It often depend on play and playful interactions to connect people with their environment. It can also initiate interesting topics such as tangible media, mixed realities and tangible or full-body interactions.

At the beginning of this year, Trendwatching introduced a trend called ‘Sentient Spaces’. They are referring to an emergence of consumer experiences created in environments that could ‘feel’ and actively adapt. Sentient spaces are simply spaces containing sensors that register for example heat, light, sounds or movements. In other words, the spaces have a sense of feeling and with that information can react on changes.
A very practical and functional example has been developed by Mirabeau, who fitted their entire Amsterdam office with different sensors. To show if a meeting room is in use they collect data from both motion and co2 sensors.

A sentient installation called ’Let’s get physical’ by NorthernLight
At FrameLab 2019, NorthernLight presented their sentient installation called ’Let’s get physical’. (4)


When computers are ubiquitous and continuously used for the interactivity of objects and spaces, it’s easy to be overwhelming or pervasive. Therefore it might be interesting to explore the phenomenon of “Calm Technology”. First introduced by Mark Weiser and John Seely Brown in their article “Designing Calm Technology”, it describes a kind of technology where interactions are designed to occur in the user’s periphery rather than constantly at the center of attention.

Interactions

Bringing together the three topics creates a number of interesting areas of tension. These areas of tension can serve as a starting point, or even questions, for my research.
Do we aim for flaring or focus? Facilitating collaboration or challenging it? Intimacy or playfulness? Spaces that respond and adapt or spaces that actively influence? To name a few.

They also provide direction in exploring possible interactions, like interactions between people and interactions between people and spaces, or possible interfaces, like tangible interfaces, gestural interfaces, conversational interfaces and interactive surfaces.

Research Question

In exploring the intersections between creative collaboration, spaces and digital technology, I hope to find opportunities for more aware and flexible spaces. Spaces that better meet our needs and have a valuable impact on creative collaboration.

My research question is:
“How can I, as an interaction designer, design ‘living’ spaces for creative collaboration”

In addition I hope my research could bring insights, or even principles, to the fields of architecture and interaction design.

Participants

I would like my research to focus on a selection of collaborative spaces used by both students and creative teams. In his book “Make Space” Scott Doorley quotes: “Creating a space collaboratively is the best recipe for creating a collaborative space.” So, in following his advice, I would like to involve my students and possibly my network at creative agencies as participants in my research.

I would also love to learn from architects, interaction designers and studio’s who are already exploring the intersections between the two fields of expertise. In my preliminary research I found for example interesting work of Clive Wilkinson (architect), James Patten (interaction designer), Amsterdam based studio’s NorthernLight and Silo Agency, and others. Architecture firms like Mesura, ODOS architects are also creating office spaces for new ways of working.

Picture of Mesura Architects workspace
Design and Architecture firm Mesura uses open and semi-closed spaces in their Barcelona office. (5)

Sources:
Feature Image: DEPT Agency, Rotterdam office. Photo DEPT https://www.deptagency.com/nl-nl/office/rotterdam/
1 Slack European HQ, Dublin. Photo: © ODOSarchitects http://www.odosarchitects.com/slack-european-hq
2 LOOP New Media GmbH, Salzburg HQ Photo LOOP Agentur https://www.agentur-loop.com/about
3 Make Space, Scott Doorley & Scott Witthoft, EAN 9781118143728 https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/-make-space-excerpts
4 NorthernLight Amsterdam, Photos by: Jeannette Huisman, Frame and NorthernLight https://northernlight.nl/pro-ject/lets-get-physical/
5 Gomis 34, Mesura architects, Barcelona office. Photo by: Iris Humm https://mesura.eu/gomis-34/