tion, sharing, and reuse. Both the
strengths and limitations of physical
design practice point to the need
for an integration of computational
functionality with the physical and
spatial ecology for better supporting
collaborative design work. As long as
digital design tools do not consider
and actively support these aspects,
they will hardly be adopted for use
in practice.
in a fluent way. Achieving similar
qualities with digital tools requires
a simulation or imitation of these
characteristics. Recently, we have
seen great progress toward mixed-
media design tools that make use of
both physical and digital representa-
tions, thereby reducing the burden
of transforming artifacts between
these two worlds.
• Figure 1. Affinity
diagramming and
sketching methods are classic
examples of the
material and spatial
nature of collaborative design that is
practiced in design
studios.
Interactive Spaces for
Collaborative Design Practices
In HCI we have a growing interest in
technologies that integrate with elements of the physical environment
such as space and material artifacts.
Tangible interfaces and the notion
of “reality-based interaction” [ 3] are
also promising paths for supporting collaborative design practices.
In that sense, the power of digital
tools and informal interaction techniques could be used to augment collaborative design activities instead
of replacing them with digital-only
tools. As we outline here, this can
be achieved by carefully designing
digital functionality with the goal
of respecting and preserving well-established characteristics of traditional practice. In our research we
have mainly explored three themes
toward a better integration of digital
media in collaborative design practice: hybrid artifacts, interactive display
space, and capture and visualization.
All photographs by Florian Geyer
Externalizing with hybrid design
artifacts. The material nature of
design artifacts is one of the most
obvious benefits of physical practice. The rich affordances of paper
sketches, Post-its, and printouts support designers in rapid externalization and invite group interactions.
When interacting with artifacts in
design sessions, the properties of
material representations allow us
to view, to gesture on, to navigate
between, and to annotate them
