VOSS: Design Collaborations as Sociotechnical Systems

设计方法正在迅速融入经济的许多领域，并重塑我们对科学和工程的看法和理解方式。该项目专注于三个国家的四家公司的设计工作，研究混合虚拟团队，以确定设计过程的哪些阶段可以虚拟执行，哪些阶段需要面对面的互动。此外，它还将建立一个原型，通过改善信任、建立社交网络和提供可视化工具来帮助协作设计活动。依靠通信、信息科学和科学技术研究的理论，研究小组将使用人种学观察和对跨文化设计合作参与者的定性访谈，其中包括设计专业人员和服务不足的城市人口，以解决社会创新和可持续发展问题。通过这项研究，我们将更好地了解文化、背景和环境在采用和使用信息和通信技术以促进虚拟组织中的互动和建立信任方面发挥关键作用的程度。随着媒体的种类扩展到包括以前不可用的社交媒体，以及现有媒体增加了高级功能，理解媒体选择和设计背后的问题具有理论和实践意义。一个开发完善的工具，以改善参与社区发展努力的设计师之间的合作，将对这个社区具有相当大的价值。此外，设计方法将有助于多个科学学科的研究规划阶段，以发现新的问题、关系和模型。该项目的跨学科和国际影响范围将通过大量接触各种不同的视角和文化并从中获得投入，从而增强其更广泛的影响。这项研究涉及本科生和研究生，并将导致他们在跨学科研究方面的进一步培训和教育。

Design methods are rapidly being incorporated into many sectors of the economy and reshaping the ways in which we visualize and understand science and engineering. Focusing on design work at four firms in three countries, this project studies hybrid virtual teams to identify which phases of the design process can be performed virtually and which require face-to-face interaction. In addition, it will build a prototype to aid in collaborative design activities by improving trust, building a social network, and providing visualization tools. Relying on theories from communications, information science and science and technology studies, the research team will use ethnographic observation and qualitative interviews with participants in cross-cultural design collaborations that include design professionals and under-served urban populations addressing issues of social innovation and sustainability. Through this research, we will gain a better understanding of the degree to which culture, context and environment play a key role in the adoption and use of information and communication technologies to facilitate interaction and trust-building in virtual organizations. Understanding the issues underlying media choice and design is of theoretical and practical concern as the variety of media expands to include previously unavailable social media and as advanced features are added to existing media. A well-developed tool to improve collaboration among designers engaged in community development efforts would be of considerable value to this community. In addition, design methods would be useful to the research planning phases in multiple scientific disciplines to uncover new sets of problems, relationships and models. The interdisciplinary and international reach of this project will enhance its broader impact through significant exposure to and input from a wide variety of perspectives and cultures. The research involves undergraduate and graduate students and will result in their further training and education in interdisciplinary research.