Mithra Zahedi

Designer as Mediator: An Innovative Model for Designing Interactive Devices within the User-Centered Approach

This study aims to explore interface design in its early stages. It also seeks to explain how the designer can actively modify the vision of a multidisciplinary project team in order to promote the transfer of knowledge. This is to ensure that the design activity is focused on users. This reflection is supported by case studies from which we propose a new design model geared to facilitate collaboration and exchange of information amongst contributors. The model permits the appropriation of knowledge, while positioning the user at the center of the design process.

Understanding Collaborative Design Through Activity Theory

Abstract Complex projects are often designed and developed through teamwork of different disciplines, which allows for the consideration of multiple perspectives and knowledge construction across specific expertise. Although this type of collaborative design has been granted many benefits, it is also known that multidisciplinary teams can encounter difficulties when they go about sharing information and knowledge. With the intent of gaining clearer understanding of teams’ interactions to reach the project outcome, we propose to use Activity Theory as a framework to analyse a team’s collaborative evolution. This article seeks to demonstrate the value of Activity Theory to explain and interpret a design situation. The findings confirm its strong potential to gain in-depth understanding of a team’s progression in an authentic design project. Activity Theory seems to provide a robust method to accurately disentangle the collaborative dynamics. Therefore, we seek to demonstrate the promising advantages of this framework as a next methodology for design research.