Software Tools for Supporting Reflection in Design Thinking Projects

Abstract

In creative work such as design thinking projects, teams mostly seek to solve complex (wicked) problems as well as situations of uncertainty and value conflicts. To design solutions that cope with these aspects, teams usually start doing something, reflect on their results, and adjust their process. By actually doing something, tacit knowledge (i.e., knowing-in-action) of individuals is disclosed, which might be beneficial for an entire project team because it allows drawing on information and experiences that go beyond single individuals. Accordingly, the present study aims to investigate how tools can be designed that support collaborative reflection in creativity-driven projects. Drawing on reflection theory and several expert interviews, we derive design requirements as well as present a concrete software-based prototype as an expository instantiation.

Supporting the Reflective Learning of Conceptual Modeling Using Interactive Timelines and Replays

“…Huge benefits from reflective learning are researched and identified in different areas including but not limited to: computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) in co-located teams [14,15,16,17]; as well as in asynchronous online communities [18,19]; design thinking and designing of business models [20,21]; in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) [22,23] and (teacher) education [24,25,26]. These various approaches and concepts are unified in their shared insights on the importance of reflective learning and the challenge to create effective facilitation for each domain's unique requirements for reflection support.…”

Innovationsnetzwerke als Treiber für Wissenschaft-Praxis-Kooperationen: Ein Erfahrungsbericht

“…B. Softwarelösungen oder digitale Plattformen) gestaltet werden können. Als ein Beispiel aus SmartHybrid wurde auf Seiten der wissenschaftlichen Partner über einen längeren Zeitraum ein Softwarewerkzeug für die Begleitung und Dokumentation von Design-Thinking-Projekten prototypisch implementiert und in verschiedenen Testszenarien mit Studierenden und Experten evaluiert (Hofer et al 2019;Schoormann et al 2020). Mittels dieses Vorgehens konnte Wissen über die notwendigen Werkzeugfunktionen zur bestmöglichen Unterstützung der Dokumentationsprozesse in kreativen Projekten erarbeitet werden, das in entsprechende Empfehlungen und Richtlinien für die Gestaltung solcher Werkzeuge mündete (auch Design Prinzipien genannt, z.…”

InnoPulse: a Tool to Support Collaborative Reflection in Creativity-Driven Engineering Projects

“…As a pedagogical tool, reflective practice involves the ability to consider one's own experiences both during and after applying knowledge to practice [9]. Reflection is particularly important to creative work, where assumptions need to be tested with users and solutions iteratively reframed based on user feedback [10]. When conducted in a group, reflection helps students discuss their experiences, encourage critical thinking about team experience and solidify lessons learned [11].…”

“…While there are many studies that investigate reflective practice in educational contexts, research on the role of digital technology to support collaborative reflection in creativity-driven engineering projects lies still in its infancy [10]. In the particular context of students using design thinking, Schoormann et al [10] are the first to propose a prototype of a software solution that enables students to reflect upon the entire process of a design thinking project and its outcomes. In our study, we aim to extend the work of Schoormann et al [10] by using concepts from Educational Data Mining (EDM) to develop a digital solution that uses micro surveys to gauge changes in team dynamics.…”