From big data communities to enterprising villagers: The transformational effect of a designerly approach within a research project

Abstract

Using a designerly approach in projects within a wide spectrum of disciplines is increasingly popular. This paper describes a case in where the 1:10:100 design approach is used in a social sciences project and explores the mutual learning that took place. It discusses the added value of using design artefacts (prototypes) in the process and to what level these can be seen as boundary objects. Among the project partners there are two teams of social scientists (German and Dutch) that were collecting data and worked with abstract thinking processes and a design team who concerned about usability and intervened with design tools. The prototypes in the project are reviewed as boundary objects on three levels: to create common ground, to sharpen focus and as window into the future. The learning mechanisms that occurred (reflection and transformation) shifted the focus in the project from mining data on behalf of a community database towards a tool in which enterprising villagers can show their qualities and entrepreneurship.