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Areas

Design Techniques research covers two overlapping areas 'rich media tools' and 'contextmapping', located in the IDE research portfolio as Portfolio MTT-2

Contextmapping

Increasingly, designers need to be aware of the contexts of product use: the who, what, how, where, when, why, which surround the product and its user. The contextmapping projects aim to explore new methods for gathering insights about users by involving those users intensively, and bringing these insights to design teams, either directly (participatory design) or indirectly (communication).

Rich Media Tools

Computers have all but taken over any kind of work which involves thinking. But they are failing at a number of points, especially in the support of creative processes, such as conceptual design. We actively explore the opportunities offered by the media possibilities that computers offer: visualization, sound, interactivity, in order to support the creative individual or the creative group.

Projects:
Delftsche Beeldtafel: cultural heritage in the public library
Palette: a gesture-based table-top for supporting conceptual design sessions
Light Blue: a tool for visualization of Delftware decorations for Royal Delft

The overlap

The above areas differ in emphasis (user-centered versus media-centered), but all our work carries both ingredients. Tool design is based on and occurs within studies about actual and possible design contexts. Contextmapping studies make extensive use of various types of visual media to explore or convey user experiences. Several projects therefore rest in the overlap of both areas.

More overlaps

The design techniques research is primarily aimed at supporting designers. Our products are design tools. Our users are designers. Because we explore our research in close-to-practice settings, we often work at two levels: the tool level (with a 'designer' as user), and the product level (with a 'consumer' as user). Over the years, the products which served as carriers have varied greatly, from museum expositions, to workstations for radiologists, to affective communication devices, to interactive photo collections, to tools for creative sessions.

Last update: Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 11:19:58 PM