Visual workflows for design project knowledge management

This paper presents the findings of research into a digital learning knowledge management tool that uses an interactive surface to manipulate a design project in multiple stages. The research aim was to understand how designers might replace the traditional model of one device per person and use digital space as an alternative for analyzing data collaboratively. The research involved using one device for multiple users, including multi-gesture and navigability options to organize data and learning that were generated by team dynamics. Two different tests were implemented: a concept test about the general idea and a usability test with different groups of designers, to examine team dynamics. In the discussion section we consider how participants had problems recognizing a single device as appropriate for use in group activities, how the focus of attention in the interactive table took away some of the gestures and non-verbal communication that are common in team dynamics, how the novelty of the device created an initial exploration that was perceived as a game and how using an interactive technology as a tool created different levels of learning that affect the emotional response of participants. The paper concludes with recommendations about future implementations and some interesting patterns characterizing the use of the multi-touch gesture screen, such as the use of digital space as a way to control activities and the deliberate control of data as a way to impose a leadership.