Design, Experimentation

In this paper we describe a variant of the "show and tell" method designed to be used in collaborative design processes. We will show that it works as a qualitative and, as well, as a quantitative aid to the design process, especially, but not exclusively, in the analysis phase. Thanks to it, indeed, it i s possible to identify with a small effort, as emerging features, those critical characteristics of a given domain that may require an appropriate design action. We show also that this method, in its quantitative variant, gains further pedagogical value because it compels the students to operate a mediation aimed to achieving a shared outlook, starting from the realization of existing differences in the perception of a specific design's domain (due to different mental models). The method finds its use also in entirely or partially online design processes. In fact, we show and briefly discuss the results obtained by applying the method to different educational design contexts within an on line open source educational environment, LIFE. Finally we show how it would be possible to optimize the use of the proposes method, by means of a specific application that we start to develop as an internal module of the LIFE environment, as part of a project that aimed to develop an online collaborative design lab. Categories and Subject descriptio