Staging for Creative Collaborationin Design Teams: Models, Tools and Methods

This work presents a vision-oriented methodology forthe early stages of the design process. It is dividedinto two stages: a vision-based and aspecification-based stage. The vision-based stage hasfocus on user experience and applies visions, ratherthan specifications, as guidelines in the earlyphases of the concept development. Essential to themethodology is a vision-based model with four levelsof abstraction: the spiritual, the contextual, theprincipal and the material levels. The methodologyalso integrates the physical arrangement of space andthe use of scenario play, storytelling and mentalvisualisation exercises. It emphasises the extensiveuse of associative images and qualitative keywords.Furthermore, it proposes the use of events, such asconceptual workshops and milestones, during thedevelopment process. Based on interviews and cases,it is concluded that the methodology can help toimprove creative collaboration in design teams,especially for projects that have a conceptualorientation and a focus on user experience. It helpsto avoid initial mental fixation and seems to be moremotivating and engaging than traditional methodology.

Erik Lerdahl is an innovation manager and author. He has taughtcourses in creativity and design methods at many design schoolsin Europe and has lead several design and innovation processesfor larger companies.