Lab+Seven

Bill Moggridge defines ‘design as a collaborative process’ by explaining that individuals from different backgrounds and areas of specialization come together and contribute their ideas towards the creation of a product. According to Moggridge this is a more effective approach to design since various sources of knowledge are incorporated into the product. Beyond just collaboration between designers, the consideration of end-users through “participatory design” can also be considered a part of the collaborative process since this ultimately shapes the nature and quality of the design. Two examples that Moggridge provides as to how creators can involve end-users in their work: · First, the designers of a mechanical device that would be used by ENT (ear, nose and throat) surgeons decided that actually integrating some of the surgeons into the design team would benefit the design process. This way continuous accurate and direct information/feedback would be provided straight from the users mouth eliminating assumptions what they might require/desire. · Second, organizers at the American Red Cross decided to promote and encourage blood drive/donations by incorporating their end-users (blood donors that had already participated) into a campaign. The use of ‘Why I Give’ cards had qualitative and quantitative benefits in that it created a personal element that enabled donors to express their reason for giving and it provided a public visual display of the cards as a symbol of all those who had already given. Find an online example of a product, which utilizes his principles of collaborative design which it, involves people in it design. Cite its URL, and describe its design process in two paragraphs, and how it involved its user(s) in a paragraph. (3 paragraphs) Wikipedia is a well known online product that utilizes the principles of collaboration since it depends on the knowledge and information that people post on its web-pages to operate. It is easily accessible and open to any user who wishes to post information for public use. Essentially the design process on Wikipedia is fairly simple and user oriented; users are integrated into the design process each time they decide to contribute to a page. This provides a forum for those from various backgrounds to participate and integrate their knowledge. Since those that use the website are integrated in creating it, there is a sense of dependency that develops between those in this online community because people are using and altering the information that is provided by others.