De-scription at early phases of artifact design

This paper reflects on the push and pull forces that go into co-designing an artifact at the early phase of the design process, and which typically lose touch in later design stages. The design method and approach, how users and designers interact, and the relationship between process and result are all interests. The goal is to analyze a case study and reflect on how the change in the user-designer-artifact relationship also changes the mechanisms by which an artifact is shaped. Following the work of Madeline Akrich, which advises design researchers to explore instances where the design and use of an artifact are not well-matched, this paper investigates how participants and designers collaboratively define the boundaries between the “inside” and “outside” of an artifact at the early phase of the design process.