From The Theme
KNOWLEDGE WORKER PRODUCTIVITY

WHAT IF
What if we could improve the productivity of knowledge workers by developing information management tools that are capable of communicating design processes?

WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO
We set out to develop a tool that contributed to knowledge workers’ process and productivity by providing project teams with relational information about the digital files they were using. Specifically, we developed a cloud based tool, the Process Integration Platform (PIP), which leveraged our Design Process Communication Methodology (DPCM) and enabled project teams to save, organize and share files as nodes in an information dependency map that emerged as they worked.

We explored whether these tools could be implemented for industry scale projects, and whether the resulting process transparency increases the productivity of multi-disciplinary design teams.

WHAT WE FOUND
Our approach addressed gaps in transparency and process knowledge by communicating information dependencies. This approach also fostered design integration within a project team. Our results demonstrated the power of DPCM to effectively and efficiently communicate design processes within projects, between projects, and across projects.

LEARN MORE
Design Process Communication Methodology: Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Collaboration, Sharing, and Understanding

mediaX 2013 Conference Presentation: Spinning Out and Scaling Up: StartX, CloudLeaps, Persuasion API, Coursera, Premonit

PEOPLE BEHIND THE PROJECT
Martin Fischer is Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. His research goals are to improve the productivity of project teams involved in designing, building, and operating facilities and to enhance the sustainability of the built environment. His work develops the theoretical foundations and applications for virtual design and construction (VDC).

Larry Leifer is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Founding Director, Center for Design Research at Stanford University. His engineering design thinking research is focused on instrumenting design teams to understand, support, and improve design practice and theory. Specific issues include: design-team research methodology, global team dynamics, innovation leadership, interaction design, design-for-wellbeing, and adaptive mechatronic systems.

Martin Steinert is a Professor of Engineer Design and Innovation at the Department of Engineer Design and Materials at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). His various research projects are usually multidisciplinary (ME/CS/EE/Neuro- and Cognitive Sc.) and often connected with industry. The aim is to uncover, understand and leverage early stage engineering design paradigms with a special focus onto human-machine/object interactions.

Ben Schwegler is Vice President and Chief Scientist of Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) Research & Development, where he created and manages the Simulation-based Design Group. The overall goal of this team is to improve Disney’s ability to simulate, predict, and manage the project delivery process to enable sustainable design and engineering of the built environment.

Reid Senescu is a Product Leader, Entrepreneur and Enterprise Saas Consultant. He is a founder of CloudLeaps and, most recently, has held positions with Enlightened Inc and Rhumbix. Dr. Senescu received a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in 2011.