Co-Exploration in Remote Design Collaboration

Design teams collaborate to solve complex problems by sharing expertise and combining diverse skills. Using techniques such as sketching, prototyping, and experimentation, they exchange ideas, explore solutions, and test assumptions. With the rise of remote work, designers increasingly collaborate across distances, creating new research challenges focused on improving remote design collaboration. This thesis addresses the question: How can tools be improved to better support remote design collaboration? To approach this broad question, I refined the scope, as presented in Chapter 1. My initial focus was on the prototyping process, where I noticed that many tools prioritize early-stage design collaboration but fail to capture the full richness of ‘thinking through prototyping’—especially the tacit and experiential knowledge that cannot be fully communicated through text, photos, or videos. Chapter 2 details two exploratory studies conducted to gain deeper insights into remote prototyping. The first study involved an ideation exercise in which design students and professional experts imagined future tools for remote prototyping. Key themes emerged, such as the need for standardized prototyping environments and synchronized team actions. The second study took place during the early COVID-19 pandemic, which forced an abrupt shift to remote collaboration. Interviews and surveys revealed that designers experienced a significant reduction in co-exploration, which they described as “building on each other's ideas” and achieving “true collaboration.” These findings led to two main research perspectives: tools and strategies to specifically support remote prototyping, and an in-depth examination of co-exploration, its characteristics, and its value in design collaboration. Chapter 3 focuses on tools and strategies. The investigation into tools and strategies identified four key needs: the need for prototypes in different levels of fidelity, to express bodily actions, to engage in different types of spaces, and to participate in creative social practices. A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines revealed that while some tools synchronized digital and physical prototypes, they often lacked real-time interaction capabilities. Others supported scenarios where remote experts guided novices on physical tasks, but neither approach addressed ‘parallel experience’— where all team members actively engage and share the collaborative experience. Two constructive design studies explored solutions through manipulable shapes in video conferences and shared low-fidelity prototyping toolkits, which improved shared understanding but remained limited to early-stage tasks. Chapter 4 delves into co-exploration, initially understood as a joint effort to tackle uncertainties in the design process. A more precise definition was needed, as “co-” is used across disciplines without consensus. I conducted a longitudinal observational study of 16 design teams over five months. There are three sequential analyses of the qualitative results of this study, each building on the previous. The first identified features of co-exploration, such as teamwork, skill integration, open-mindedness, and shared goals. The second analysis developed an analytical framework with four dimensions: information distribution, people distribution, diversity of insights, and communication types. The third analysis applied this framework to identify five patterns of co-exploration: merging insights, reflecting on materials, refining concepts, generating ideas, and seeking cooperation. These patterns emphasized co-exploration’s functional and social value, such as fostering togetherness and keeping design teams open-minded. Chapter 5 builds on the previous investigation of co-exploration by examining how the identified patterns can inform the design of tools and strategies for professional practice. Experts confirmed that co-exploration patterns persist in remote settings but are hindered by issues like reduced social interaction, delayed discussions, and preparation burdens. Ideation sessions generated ideas focused on people, materials, and interactions across different collaboration spaces, culminating in the “Designing Tools for Co-exploration” (DTC) guideline—structured advice for creating tools to facilitate remote co-exploration. Finally, Chapter 6 reflects on the research journey, acknowledging limitations, particularly its focus on product and interaction design fields, suggesting that testing the DTC guideline across varied cultural and professional contexts could further validate its applicability. The thesis concludes by discussing how emerging technologies present new opportunities and challenges for remote design collaboration, establishing groundwork for future research to advance the field.