Expanding Design Space: Design-In-Use Activities and Strategies

This paper introduces an analytical framework for understanding the collaborative nature and distributed structure of what is often referred to as design space. We propose that the design space should be conceptualized as the space of possibilities for realizing a design, which extends beyond the concept design stage into the design-in-use activities of people. By locating different activities and mapping participants' possibilities in a continuum from consumption to active creation, we develop a framework for understanding and locating design research interventions and a tool for mapping design activities. We argue that: 1) a design space is always actively co-constructed and explored by multiple actors through their social interactions with and through technologies and 2) the participating actors, resources, conditions and supporting strategies frame the design space available. In doing this, we bring forth relationships between an expanded view of the design space, contemporary discussions on the nature of innovation and the imperative to support explicit collaborative and participatory design activities.