Matthews2009

From emcawiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Matthews2009
BibType ARTICLE
Key Matthews2009
Author(s) Ben Matthews
Title Intersections of brainstorming rules and social order
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Design
Publisher
Year 2009
Language
City
Month
Journal CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts
Volume 5
Number 1
Pages 65–76
URL Link
DOI 10.1080/15710880802522403
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

Download BibTex

Abstract

This paper looks at the use of brainstorming as a method in two successive engineering meetings. Through a close analysis of engineers’ interactions I examine how brainstorming rules are used, and often ignored, in the course of the sessions. It is found that engineers rarely explicitly orient to the rules of brainstorming, and that many sequences of interaction appear at first glance to be in breach of brainstorming rules (but are not censured within the meeting as such). Through a set of empirical examples, I develop the case that engineers are principally orienting to social order – the ‘rules’ of social interaction – in preference to the rules of brainstorming. This finding has a number of implications for design research: (a) it enables a reassessment of the nature and use of methods in design, (b) it reveals what other ‘rules’ are in play and found valuable in design activity, and (c) it uncovers aspects of the organisation of collaborative idea generation that have not been previously identified.

Notes