Communication and cooperation in a virtual design space

Abstract

A major problem in the management of a product development process is to facilitate the continuous communication between perspectives of different stakeholder groups, especially in early phases of design. In this paper we suggest that virtual prototypes -3D models of product prototypes with functionality in virtual realityare a promising candidate to form the core of a support system that smoothly integrates several of the necessary support functions for multidisciplinary cooperation in design into one system. Thus, we address the question what should be communicated between the different stakeholders in a design situatim from the point of view of Activity Theory, an approach well known in the fields of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and human computer interaction (HCI). Consequently, in addition to the virtual prototype as a common object for supporting cooperation between designers, we identify following four means for cooperation: by directly changing the state of the object of the cooperative work, through a jointly constructed common information space, through a specially designed coordination mechanism or by active communication between persons through communication channels. Each of these means needs a different kind of computer support, and their importance varies during the design process. We elaborate the concept of virtual prototype into a concept of virtual design space, which could be an environment that integrates these perspectives of cooperation and communication support for a design group. From implementational point of view a virtual prototyping environment has been built in order to simulate a cellular phone. This prototype demonstrates how a virtual prototype can be built to simulate and in combination with hardware enable telephone calls. For technology transfer purposes the research work is done in close cooperation with industry.

Re-Thinking Design Representations in Design Education: An Interview Study With Professional Designers

“…Over the years, industries have promoted and invested profoundly in digital tools, with the aim to streamline the development process, and it has been argued that digital tools and virtual representations will replace physical representations in the design process (e.g. Gupta et al, 1997;Kuutti et al, 1997). It was therefore of particular interest to hear the designers' views the matter.…”

Facilitating designer‐customer communication in the World Wide Web

“…Naturally, later when evaluating the support we must address also video on Internet, Internet phones and talk, user interface facilities such as datagloves for suitable user interface design etc. For the moment being they are referred to being a part in a virtual design space (Kuutti et al, 1997).…”