EXPERIENCE OF GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED DESIGN TEAMS IN A CHANGING WORLD
Year: 2024
Editor: Grierson, Hilary; Bohemia, Erik; Buck, Lyndon
Author: Coutts, Euan; Wodehouse, Andrew; Berglund, Anders; Grierson, Hilary; Liikkanen, Jussi; Parkkamäki, Hannu; Akane, Matsumae; Johnsson, Mikael; Venkataraman, Srinivasan; Petrakis, Konstantinos
Series: E&PDE
Institution: University of Canterbury, New Zealand; University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom; Indian Institue of Technology Delhi, India; Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland; Mälardalens University, Sweden; Kyushu University, Japan
Page(s): 663 - 668
DOI number: 10.35199/EPDE.2024.112
ISBN: 978-1-912254-200
ISSN: 3005-4753
Abstract
The development of modern communication and online collaborative tools has helped to increase the diversity and distribution of product design teams. Where designers may once have shared a physical space, remote working and asynchronous design practices are rapidly becoming prevalent. As the world continues to adapt to significant events in the post Covid-19 era, there is much debate about whether or not such working practices may become the norm and their value. At the same time, the emergence of digitally-driven design tools and generative AI offers design teams a diverse range of approaches for rapid realisation during design development, with substantial debate regarding the legitimacy of work conducted using such tools. Where physical model making was once the cornerstone of product design, modern techniques in computer aided design, generative design, rapid prototyping, and immersive tools offer new opportunities to accelerate and enhance the design process and, at least in theory, lead to superior design solutions. This is further supported by the use of generative AI tools which can support the many other facets of working in a globally distributed design team; tools for language translation, generation of code for mechatronic designs, automated scripting and graphic design, to name a few. This study considers and reflects upon the experiences of globally distributed groups of design students, set a particular design challenge and given free choice over the tools that they may employ to complete that challenge. The study presents a set of reflective case studies undertaken by students working in asynchronous globally-distributed teams. The students were tasked with a product design challenge and organised into teams across universities from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, India and Japan. The teams conducted the design challenges over eight weeks, culminating in completed design solutions. Teams were asked to reflect upon how the range of methods available to them might best be deployed, presented, and utilised and what the key differences and benefits from particular approaches might be. Interestingly many “traditional” tools were still employed alongside more contemporary options. The study reflects upon their experiences and how their choices shaped their solutions and learning throughout the design process.
Keywords: Collaboration, International, Distrbuted, Asynchronous, Global