DANCING WITH COMPLEXITY IN DESIGN MANAGEMENT:
AN ALTERNATIVE ROLE FOR THE BRIEFING PROCESS

Design practice is generally project based, client centred and market oriented. The complete project cycle often runs from market (research) to market (use), embracing, on the way, bidding, briefing, design process and review. The actual process however, is non-linear, often circular, iterative, at times meandering despite being goal-directed. Briefing and the design brief play a central role in this process—it comes from the marketplace, frames the design process and finally justifies itself in the marketplace.

Much has been written on the skills of briefing (Philips, 2002, Blyth and Worthington, 2001, Boyle 2003, Thomson 2003). But little has been said about the process as enacted in a complex, rapidly changing, turbulent marketplace environment. This paper suggests that the notions of brief and briefing are dynamic and pervade the whole project process; that their measure of success lies more in the way they enhance participation and cohesion amongst all agents (stakeholders) than simply in the final product.

The paper suggests that the brief (briefing) can be located in whole or in part on a communication continuum from precision to ambiguity across which it traverses (backwards and forwards) with a dynamic tension, constantly searching for the edge of chaos. This dynamic activity we call — “pulsing” and we make tentative suggestions on how “pulsing” might operate. We suggest that the communication dimension might be related to measures of satisfaction attained by both designer and client (mutual) throughout the project and in this lies the real efficacy of briefing.

As well as suggesting the technique of “pulsing”, this paper will also outline how the interaction between client and designer throughout the briefing process can be seen as “a dance”. We introduce the idea of “entangoment” where leadership during the pulsing process shifts between designer and client, just like the partners in the tango. We draw on the work of Wheatley, on the dynamics of leadership, and elements of quantum physics to illustrate what we mean by “entangoment” and how this principle is useful to both clients and designers engaging in the briefing process whilst operating in complex environments.
 
The paper also considers this brief theory (theory of the brief) in relation to a sample of actual design briefs and interactions between clients and designers. This paper will also draw on examples from 2 research workshops which explored the dynamics of briefing and on data derived from semi-structured interviews and 2 years of participant observation. The paper will conclude by discussing the results from the data, giving guidance on optimum briefing conditions for good briefing practice; how the essence of briefing lies in the process of briefing, and not just in the brief itself.