Co-creating external design representations: Comparing face-to-face sketching to designing in virtual environments

Gül L. F., Maher M. L.

CODESIGN-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COCREATION IN DESIGN AND THE ARTS, vol.5, pp.117-138, 2009 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 5
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/15710880902921422
  • Journal Name: CODESIGN-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COCREATION IN DESIGN AND THE ARTS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Art Source, Communication Abstracts, Design & Applied Arts Index, Educational research abstracts (ERA), INSPEC, Metadex, DIALNET, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.117-138
  • Keywords: collaborative design, protocol analysis, external design representation, sketching, 3-D modelling, virtual worlds
  • Istanbul Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

While developments in computer-supported collaborative work tools, computer aided design and the availability of high bandwidth networks offer alternative collaborative environments for design, the alternatives have yet to be characterised in terms of their impact on the co-creation of a shared model. A specific collaborative design environment makes a commitment to the way in which the designers can communicate and co-create an external representation of the shared design model. This research focuses on the impact of alternative collaborative virtual environments on design behaviour and collaborative processes. An experiment was conducted to identify similarities and differences between co-located collaborative designing using sketches as the external representation and remote collaborative designing sessions using sketches and 3-D models. The results of this study are discussed in terms of: (1) the effect of being remotely located; (2) the effect of the type of external representations.