I think Therefore i-Phone: the influence of Pervasive Media on Collaboration and Multi-Disciplinary Group Work

The study of value and its transfer during the multi-disciplinary process of design is stable fodder for research, an entire issue of Design Studies has been devoted to Values in the Design Process. By scrutinising design meetings Dantec (2009) and Ball (2009) separately examine the mechanisms of value transfer between the agents involved in design (clients, designers, engineers). Dantec suggests this is best understood in terms of requirement, values and narrative, Ball proposes it should be viewed as a combination of "analogical reasoning" and "environmental simulation". If we look at Vitruvius and his primary architectural manual (Pollio 1960) we find values in the form of firmitas, utilitas and venustas embedded in this early codification of architectural practice. However, as much current research is restricted to design practice what occurs when value frameworks move between domains of cultural activity (such as design to construction and vice-versa) is not privileged with a comparably sizable body of research. This paper is concerned with the ongoing usage of pervasive media and cellular phones within communications and value transfer across the disciplinary threshold of design and construction. Through participation in a building project we analyse the subtleties of interaction between analogue communication such as sketches and digitally sponsored communication such as e-mail and mobile phone usage. Analysing the communications between the designer and builder during construction suggests it is also a creative process and the distinctions between design and construction processes are complex and often blurred. This work provides an observational basis for understanding mobile computing as a dynamic tuning´ device as hypothesized by Richard Coyne (2010) that ameliorates the brittleness of communication between different disciplines. A follow up study deploys digital field notes (dfn) a bespoke iPhone application designed to test further suppositions regarding the influence exerted upon group working by mobile computing. Within collaboration individual communiqu's have different levels of importance depending on the specific topic of discussion and the contributing participant. This project furthers the earlier study, expanding upon what mobile computing is and enabling us to infer how these emergent devices affect collaboration. Findings from these two investigations suggest that the synchronous and asynchronous clamour of analogue and digital tools that surround design and construction are not exclusively inefficiencies or disruptions to be expunged. Observational evidence suggests they may provide contingency and continue to have value attending to the relationship between static components and the avoidance of failure within a complex system such as design and construction.