Generalist Designers, Specialist Projects: Forming Multidisciplinary Teams That Work

Abstract

Designing interactive media is a highly dynamic activity with
many projects involving extensive use of technology and collaborating
with information technology experts. Digital media design students
therefore need to be prepared for a volatile technological future and
need to learn to work with others. However, few educators provide a
rationale for managing multidisciplinary teams in undergraduate design
education in terms of size, team building processes or, determination of
skills, abilities and knowledge of students. Multidisciplinary teamwork
can be messy when undergraduate students are thrown into the deep
end of teamwork. It is suggested that collaborations between students
from different disciplines need to be managed not only during the
collaborative design process but also during the formation of teams.
Being satisfied with the placement in a multidisciplinary team would
allow students to focus on the acquisition of new and specialised skills
and apply those skills as part of a functional team to a project. This
research therefore explores what team building strategies will build
effective multidisciplinary teams in undergraduate design education.
Two team building strategies (structured educator-led and semi
structured Speed Dating) were developed and trialled in two digital
media design subjects over a period of three years. Design students have
provided feedback via an online survey. Quantitative and qualitative
data were analysed to explore the degree to which students were
satisfied with team placement and the effectiveness of activities that
were developed to support the team forming process.