The Iterative Design of a Virtual Design Studio

ur initial concept for Design eXchange as a shared collaborative online and physical space for design has changed as a result of several iterations. Our present notion places less emphasis on Design eXchange being a place for our students to share their work, and instead favors a complex mix of key elements, namely 1) a virtual online studio, 2) a forum for review of all things related to design, especially design with the materials of technology, 3) individual, group, class, program, and public spaces supported by a logic of permissions for access and sharing, and 4) a vision for supporting design knowledge, credentials, community, and guild. The wiki-based technology we are using for the Design eXchange is in its second iteration and—largely due to the more pervasive awareness of wiki culture—is enjoying considerable success compared with earlier attempts. This article describes the progression of form for the Design eXchange, as well as the projects that preceded and inspired it. Our research is motivated by a desire to create and support design culture in the context of design in general and human-computer interaction design in particular. For the past two years, we have been using wiki technology to accomplish this. Although our use of the wiki is targeted at this specific context rather than the study of wikis as a technology in-and-of-itself, we are so delighted by our experience and vision for the future that we believe that our reflections on this experience and vision will be of great interest to the wiki development community. Moreover, the twin goals of supporting design culture and making an effective choice of mechanisms for so doing are not separable. We describe in this paper that our specific context of supporting design culture changes how we think about using a wiki and equally that our use of the wiki changes our vision for how to best support design culture. Our report is of interest to anyone concerned with virtual collaboration for design, as well as the application of wiki technologies.