Diagram: State Transition of an Idea
IDEA
AS ARTIFACT: Interview with an Idea
This exercise
comprised tracking an idea as an artifact, from its initial inception and over
the course of a few weeks, its transformation and journey through life. As a method for thinking from the point of
view of the artifact, I "interviewed" the artifact with ethnographic
interview techniques to gain a unique perspective.
Q:
Mr. Idea, could you tell us a bit about yourself, how you got started in life?
A: Well, I guess you could say that the seed of
me, as an idea, started before I was born.
A team of video ethnographers captured some observations of a family
shopping experience as part of their research project. This video tape eventually found its way back
to a design research company, where a project manager and a designer viewed the
tapes.
Q:
So, when were you born exactly?
A:
That's kind of hard to say, but I believe I came into the world as the
project manager and the designer were coding the video--looking for bytes of
information in the observation data. It
may have happened simultaneously, but I do recall showing up in at least two
forms in the beginning: as a thought in
the project manager's head, and also in the designer's imagination.
Q: What did you look like at the time?
A: Well,
I didn't actually have physical form yet, at least not until I felt myself
being expressed as some handwritten notes in a notebook, and then soon after, I
also took the form of a quick sketch on a small, square piece of paper that had
a semi-sticky surface on the back. Very
soon after, I remember that I also took form as words in a discussion about me
between the designer and project manager.
Q: That sounds pretty exciting, could you
describe your journey from there?
A:
Sure. I sat there in the notebook
and on that square note pad for a while, then I remember someone else coming in
the room and documenting me as words on another sticky note--I think they
called them post-its. I was part of a
general discussion for a while.
The designer took me
and kind of repositioned the post-it note that I was on, kind of forming the
notes into a grid--so I guess I was sitting on the table alongside another
bunch of ideas. I'm pretty sure there
were some relatives of mine, related ideas who were residing in the notebook
and also on adjacent post-its.
Then the designer took
the post-its and placed me on a big wall surface, and started moving us around
in relation to one another. There were a
few other people in the room who stared at me, made comments, and sometimes
suggested that perhaps I be moved to another location.
Q: Did you stay there on the wall for long?
A: Not
really. After the meeting was over, the
part of me on the notebook was carried to the project manager's desk, where a
bunch of stuff was piled on top of the notebook (with me inside). The part of me on the post-it note was
carried by the designer back to their team area, where I was transferred to
another wall. I think I remember seeing
a bunch of other pictures, print outs, schedules also on the wall.
Q: Could you describe what happened next at the
project manager's desk?
A: Well,
eventually the project manager opened up the notebook and looked at me
again--but this time he started to scribble some additional notes in the
margins and he also started typing me into his laptop computer--so I really
transformed again, this time into bits in computer word processing
program. I'm not sure I remember all the
places I traveled, because I was starting to exist in so many places all at the
same time. I do recall being sent off as
bits in a digital file to be saved in a centralized computer server.
Q: How about the activities as the post-it
board?
A: After
the designer posted me up there, he just kind of left and didn't really take
much notice of me for awhile. In fact,
no one really noticed me again for a few days--it was pretty interesting
though, as there was a constant influx of new pieces of information being
posted, and new ideas were being generated all the time. Well, except between the hours of 9pm and
about 8:30am--though once I think I popped up as a part of another thought,
linked together with another idea in the designer's imagination--he may have
been home at the time.
Q: Any other exciting activities?
A: Well,
I guess I was pretty excited when one day I popped out on an 8-1/2x11 sheet of
paper--turns out the project manager printed me out as part of a
storyboard. Then I was posted alongside
other print outs in the project team space.
Eventually, I was
included with some other ideas into a digital slideshow and was projected on a
wall. Designers, researchers, and some
other folks sat around and made comments about me--some were nice, some were not
so nice. In fact, some folks didn't
think I should exist at all! I did see
some other ideas rejected and thrown away--that was scary. I guess I was lucky that the project manager
and the designer felt I still played a role in the overall project.
Q: So far, what's been the highlight of your
life as an idea?
A: I
guess I'd have to say I'm most proud of the role I played as part of a
presentation to a group of about a dozen clients. I was formatted nicely, accompanied by some
great looking pictures, and the project manager talked about me in very
positive ways--that was fun, especially when the clients seemed to appreciate
me for what I believe I am, a great idea.
Q:
What happened after the meeting?
A: Well,
it was back to the project space again.
This time I got moved around on the post-it sheet a bit. New ideas joined in as well. I think somebody even scrawled some
additional information on me with a thick black pen.
Q: Thanks so much. Is there anything else that you'd like to
tell us? Did we forget to ask about
anything important?
A: I
think we've covered it pretty well. I
would say that it's pretty exciting and yet sometimes frustrating to be an
idea. I think it's particularly hard to
have to be part of so many people's thoughts, taking so many forms, and even
sometimes getting lost in with a bunch of other (bad) ideas. Anyway, it's fun being an idea, especially in
this environment, where ideas are accepted, nurtured, and developed.
Thinking about ideas from multiple points of view, it's what we do at Labs--Douglas Look, Senior Strategic Designer, Autodesk Labs.
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