The effect of remote collaborative work on design processes during the pandemic

Abstract

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 spread rapidly all over the world. Social distancing has been one of the measures taken to prevent the disease from spreading, meaning employees and students have been forced to work remotely using communication tools. Within the design field, professionals and students working remotely were limited to using communication tools developed during the design process, finding ways to use these facilities in accordance with their practice routines in the physical environment. In this article, the tools used to conduct collaborative design processes remotely during the pandemic were examined through a questionnaire study. Even though designers have had to work digitally to maintain workflow during this period, positive experiences were observed when using the special tools. However, the transfer of tacit knowledge was restricted in design projects due to limited spatial communication. While many designers discovered they could already use the available tailored tools, many improvements were suggested through needs that were previously unknown becoming explicit.