Mapping the conceptual design activity of interdisciplinary teams

The conceptual design phase of any project is, by its very nature, a vibrant, creative and dynamic period. It can also be disorganised with much backtracking accompanying the exchange of information between design team members. The transfer of information, ideas and opinion is critical to the development of concepts and as such, rather than being recognised as merely a component of conceptual design activity, it needs to be understood and, ultimately, managed. This paper describes an experimental workshop involving fifteen design professionals in which conceptual design activity was tracked, and subsequently mapped, in order to test and validate a tentative design framework (phase and activity model). The nature of the design progression of the various teams is captured and analysed, allowing a number of conclusions to be drawn regarding both the iterative nature of this phase of design and how teams of professionals actually design together.