How Designers Adjusted to Remote Design Collaborative During the COVID-19 Pandemic

What is it about?

Due to the sudden transition towards online learning caused by COVID-19, we realized the urgency of deepening our understanding of the distributed collaborative design process. We conducted critical incident interviews to identify the challenges that design students and professional designers encountered and how they overcame them in their work. Based on the insights from this first study, we carried out an online survey to corroborate our insights. We found that the shift towards online meetings impacts the collaborative design process. Most notably it causes reduced co-exploration in the design process, especially on and with physical objects. This leads us to the conclusion that the current strategies are not adequate for facilitating designers who collaborate remotely. Following our insights, we provide suggestions for enhancing the supporting tools for the distributed collaborative design process

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Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our research reveals the impact of the shift toward online meetings on co-exploration within the design process, particularly highlighting challenges associated with physical objects. Initial findings from a study involving eight participants shed light on how designers navigate various challenges in distributed collaborative processes. We distilled these experiences into four primary themes: "problems," "solutions," "understanding," and "the bright side." Further enrichment from professional contributions introduced three additional themes: the critical role of physical meetings, the importance of keeping everyone updated, and the necessity for a shared understanding. Integrating insights from both students and professionals underscored the significance of physical aspects in the design process, divided into the social dynamics of physical meetings and the tangibility of design ideas. A subsequent online survey provided statistical validation of our initial findings and offered deeper exploration avenues. This follow-up study confirmed the pandemic-induced transformation in collaborative design processes, pinpointing a reduction in co-exploration. This reduction was attributed not only to the absence of adequate online tools but also to the inherent challenges in communicating interaction ideas with designs and the prevailing uncertainty about mutual understanding in online settings.