Grouping notes through nodes: The functions of Post-It notes in design team cognition. (July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dove, Graham; Abildgaard, Sille Julie; Biskjaer, Michael Mose; Hansen, Nicolai Brodersen; Christensen, Bo T.; Halskov, Kim
• Is Part Of: Design studies. Volume 57(2018)
• Page Start: 112
• Page End: 134
• Publication Date: 2018-07
• Subjects: Post-it notes -- design cognition -- design tools -- collaborative design; Design -- Periodicals; 745.405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.destud.2018.03.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-694X

Abstract

Abstract : We investigate the way Post-It notes support creative design team practice, focusing on how they function as cognitive externalisations that, through grouping activities, support categorisation qualities associated with semantic long-term memory. We use a multimodal approach, drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, which places gestures and interactions with Post-It notes on a similar footing to speech and text. This highlights the role of these interactions in the situational context, as the design team shape and are shaped by them. Following Dix and Gongora (2011), we identify four overlapping functions: informational, formational, transformational and transcendental . We then examine the emergence of concepts and themes through grouping individual Post-It notes, showing how they might be considered nodes in an emerging semantic network. Highlights: An analysis of how Post-It notes function as externalisations of design ideas. Evidence of informational, formational, transformational and transcendental functions. Grouping and positioning individual Post-It notes supports emerging semantic network.