Abstract
This inquiry examines how effective collaborative user experiences can be shaped in open source communities. It focuses on the changing design and development conditions of the prototype computer software application LabanAssist (Ebenreuter, 2008). By changing the project’s environment and activity of development, it is envisaged that a range of experts will have the potential to participate in the ongoing advancement of LabanAssist. The challenge, here, rests in designing a way in which an integrated view of the design situation and the associated activities required to continue the open development of the LabanAssist project, can be shared and communicated effectively across different design domains. In this paper, literature concerning the nature of collaborative activities in open online communities is examined. This is done to better understand the challenges of communicating interdisciplinary ways of working and thinking that contribute to the holistic development of open design projects. To address these challenges, a number of interaction design guidelines for facilitating collaborative action are offered as a means to maintain the purpose and activity of open design projects. The proposed guidelines offer a way of thinking about the manner in which interactive tools can be designed to assist with the identification of design elements in open design projects and to be able to visualise the relationships between various collaborators from different areas of expertise. An open design environment that has the potential to support collaborative action is shown through various interface designs of a conceptual tool that illustrates how a shared view of the form and significance of evolving ideas may be communicated over time.
Keywords
Open Design, Collaborative Action, Participation, Guidelines, Workflows, Open Source
Citation
Ebenreuter, N. (2010) Understanding the Practical Challenges of Moving from Closed to Open Source Collaborative Design, in Durling, D., Bousbaci, R., Chen, L, Gauthier, P., Poldma, T., Roworth-Stokes, S. and Stolterman, E (eds.), Design and Complexity - DRS International Conference 2010, 7-9 July, Montreal, Canada. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2010/researchpapers/34
Understanding the Practical Challenges of Moving from Closed to Open Source Collaborative Design
This inquiry examines how effective collaborative user experiences can be shaped in open source communities. It focuses on the changing design and development conditions of the prototype computer software application LabanAssist (Ebenreuter, 2008). By changing the project’s environment and activity of development, it is envisaged that a range of experts will have the potential to participate in the ongoing advancement of LabanAssist. The challenge, here, rests in designing a way in which an integrated view of the design situation and the associated activities required to continue the open development of the LabanAssist project, can be shared and communicated effectively across different design domains. In this paper, literature concerning the nature of collaborative activities in open online communities is examined. This is done to better understand the challenges of communicating interdisciplinary ways of working and thinking that contribute to the holistic development of open design projects. To address these challenges, a number of interaction design guidelines for facilitating collaborative action are offered as a means to maintain the purpose and activity of open design projects. The proposed guidelines offer a way of thinking about the manner in which interactive tools can be designed to assist with the identification of design elements in open design projects and to be able to visualise the relationships between various collaborators from different areas of expertise. An open design environment that has the potential to support collaborative action is shown through various interface designs of a conceptual tool that illustrates how a shared view of the form and significance of evolving ideas may be communicated over time.