Journal article on how designers collaborate

A forthcoming article on how designers collaborate in the industry will be published in the CoDesign journal. Drs Yumeng Xie and Mauricio Mejía are co-authoring this publication.

How Designers Navigate Collaboration in Design Practices: An Interview Study of Professional Designers in the United States.

Abstract: Design practitioners face multifaceted obstacles and dilemmas in complex real-world situations. Addressing these difficulties necessitates transcending the capacities of singular designers or specialized disciplines. Consequently, collaborative efforts have emerged as a crucial aspect of professional design activities, becoming essential for designers navigating demands from society and the job market. Design knowledge is needed to understand how designers engage in collaboration dynamics. This study presents an assessment of collaboration in professional design practices and an interview study with 18 designers across industrial, graphic, product, user experience, and service design. It investigates how designers experience collaboration, deal with challenges during collaboration, and how collaboration influences their design practices. The findings highlight the multidimensional nature of collaboration, encompassing communication, task management, and collective intelligence. This study emphasizes the significance of emotional and social intelligence in collaborative dynamics, coupled with resilience in navigating critiques. It revealed that challenges arise from structural issues, such as design value underestimation and siloed departments, more than interpersonal issues. It also suggests that designers work to understand collaborators while preparing them for the collaborative process, employing strategies such as learning others’ practices and clarifying design value.