AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REPERTOIRES OF SERVICE AND INTERACTION DESIGNERS

Different designers develop, keep and maintain different repertoires. In different situations a designer tend to activate a repertoire more or less systematically.

With the perspective of Schön (1987) a repertoire would be the collection of past experiences and the reflective ability to draw upon these in unique situations, even though the contents of the repertoire might be created in another unique situation. From another design theoretical perspective the repertoire is the collective experience of a designer, implicitly structured by value judgements and recurring situations, supporting her in making design moves across the whole design process. Löwgren & Stolterman (2004), and Keller, Pasman & Stappers (2006) highlights the repertoire of examples and formats that designers use. Löwgren & Stolterman calls for research on the content and characteristics of such repertoires. Keller, Pasman & Stappers is on example of that, focusing on visual material for inspiration and reference.

In design processes it is common to notice the products of a design repertoire, such as moodboards, collections of examples, questions asked to drive the design process, general limitations put to a solution space to foster innovative work, ways of approaching potential users to understandtheir view, etc. Keller, Pasman & Stappers (2006) captures parts of this.

We study two design disciplines, interaction design (IxD) and service design (SD). These design disciplines are similar to one another in the sense that they both deal with a design object that is time-based. The focus of this paper is an investigation into the repertoires that designers from these disciplines depend on in their design work. The overall objective is to understand the characteristics, meaning and contents of such repertoires. Thus, we will build on earlier research by Schön, Löwgren & Stolterman, Keller, Pasman & Stappers, Edeholt and many others. It will be supported by an analysis of empirical material collected in design workshops.

The contribution we wish to make is an increased understanding of contents and characteristics of the repertoire of interaction and service designers.

References

Keller, A., I., Pasman, G., J., Stappers, P., J. (2006). Collections designer’s keep: Collecting visual material for inspiration and reference. CoDesign, 2(1):17-33.

Löwgren, J., Stolterman, E. (2004). Thoughtful interaction design: A design perspective on information technology. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.