12

The overlapping nature of roles, responsibilities and obligations

felt by individuals within organisations and groups often leads

to a kind of personal triage method being applied to m

anage

competing directions of im

petus. This could becom

e a productive process w

hen undertaken collaboratively rather than just on an individual basis.

Responsibility and E

xpectation

1

Draw

ing Insight is a visual journey through some of the key

observations, insights and ideas generated during the scoping, exploration and reflection phases of Proboscis’ research on groups and group behaviours in the context of the U

niversity of C

ambridge and its institutional I.T. system

s. The project has

been a collaboration between Proboscis, the C

entre for Applied

Research in E

ducation Technologies (C

AR

ET

) and Crucible.

It is one of four books by Proboscis outlining the methods

(Method Stack), approach (Project Account), observations and

insights (Draw

ing Insight) and suggestions for new engagem

ent m

ethods that can inform co-design and user-centred design

practices in software developm

ent for collaboration tools and services (C

atalysing Agency).

The first part of this book is a series of illustrations of nine key

observations and seven insights generated during our research. T

hey lead on to three further illustrations of principles derived from

the ‘disruptive hypotheses’ which Proboscis developed

and tested during the project. These in turn are follow

ed by illustrations of a proposal for a C

atalyst to work alongside

CA

RE

T in brokering new

kinds of ways of engaging w

ith groups and individuals across the university – m

ore fully explored in the com

panion publication, Catalysing Agency.

Throughout this project w

e have employed visual notation,

drawing and m

ark-making as a central processes in engaging

with people, recording ideas, interactions and behaviours, as

well as to analyse the results. M

andy Tang has been the project

artist, acting as both an illustrator of concepts back at the studio and doing live visual notation during brainstorm

ing meetings

and workshops. M

andy’s work has given us a rich seam

of draw

ings to help make sense of the com

plexities of engaging both w

ith individuals and groups in a context such as a university. H

er sketches have helped us reconstruct connections and m

ake sense of ideas that are born and become entangled

in the fluid space of brainstorming, w

orkshopping and group discussions. In an iterative process of reflection and analysis they have been crucial for honing in on the essential.

The book is intended as a guide for others interested in

engaging with their ow

n comm

unities – indicating some of

the comm

on factors, needs and issues they may encounter.

By flow

ing together observations, insights, principles and suggestions in this w

ay, we aim

to demonstrate the value of

engagement as a dynam

ic process itself.

Giles L

ane, Hazem

Tagiuri &

Mandy T

ang

Introduction13

Ope

rati

ng U

nder

the

Rad

ar

‘Ope

ratin

g un

der

the

rada

r’ c

an b

e a

usef

ul ta

ctic

for

orga

nisa

tions

se

ekin

g to

ret

ain

a de

gree

of

latit

ude

in th

eir

activ

ities

that

wid

er

atte

ntio

n to

thei

r w

ork

mig

ht c

onst

rict

. How

ever

, it m

ay a

lso le

ad

to a

deg

ree

of in

sula

rity

thro

ugh

redu

ced

oppo

rtun

ities

for

wid

er

affil

iatio

n an

d th

e co

sine

ss o

f w

orki

ng w

ithin

trus

ted

dom

ains

and

co

mfo

rt z

ones

.

12

3

45

6

2,4,6,8,10,12

made w

ith ww

w.bookleteer.com

from proboscis

22 Catalyst

The C

atalyst should not act purely as a detached envoy but w

ould need to encourage their host organisation and their collaborators to explore unfam

iliar and potentially uncom

fortable ways of w

orking. The C

atalyst should be

able to gather people together and broker relationships, to create new

spaces for dialogue and co-discovery that generate insight and opportunity. T

he role would be to

precipitate active, positive change.

3

Our everyday lives are now

deeply saturated w

ith a diverse array of analogue and digital tools. M

any of these tools blur the distinctions betw

een work, hom

e, professional and private interests. T

here is a grow

ing spectrum of options for

comm

unication and connecting w

ith others, sharing and making,

archiving and analysing, discovering and learning. People now

join com

munities w

ith a rich personal m

edia ecology that may extend

beyond the kinds of tools and services offered by their institutions.

Rich P

ersonal Media E

cologies

2In

divi

dual

Wor

king

and

Lea

rnin

g P

ract

ices

The

gre

at v

arie

ty o

f in

divi

dual

wor

king

and

le

arni

ng p

ract

ices

bec

omes

imm

edia

tely

app

aren

t w

hen

enga

ging

with

any

gro

up o

f pe

ople

. Thi

s un

derl

ines

the

diffi

culty

and

nee

d fo

r se

nsiti

vity

to

diff

eren

t con

text

s w

hen

desi

gnin

g sy

stem

s or

pr

oces

ses

for

colla

bora

tion.

Draw

ing InsightG

iles Lane, Hazem

Tagiuri & M

andy Tang20

11-11-10 &

Creative C

omm

ons BY-N

C-S

A

Published by Proboscis

Agencies of Engagem

ent

A creative thinking and doing tool - four books to inform

and inspire, authored as part of a collaborative research

project by Proboscis, CARET and C

rucible.

proboscis.org.uk

http://bkltr.it/otLl3W

20

collaboration tools require a different developm

ent model placing greater em

phasis on co-creative com

munity facilitation during

the process. This could help site them

within

the wider context of personal online ecologies

to hopefully streamline traditional user

support requirements

Hypothesis : Com

munity Co-D

esign

5

Com

munication m

ethods are also impacting on people’s

behaviours and patterns. Context, m

ood and other factors feed into choices of w

hether to use synchronous or asynchronous m

ethods, as well as com

municating directly

(person to person) or using methods m

ore like broadcasting.

Managing Com

munications

21

Cata

lyst

For

co-d

esig

n to

wor

k w

ithin

a c

ompl

ex a

nd fr

agm

ente

d st

ruct

ure

such

as

a un

iver

sity

, new

eng

agem

ent m

etho

ds

may

nee

d to

be

iden

tified

and

dev

elop

ed. A

n in

term

edia

ry

agen

t, or

Cat

alys

t, lo

cate

d on

the

peri

pher

y of

an

orga

nisa

tion’

s co

re a

ctiv

ity c

ould

act

on

its b

ehal

f,

trav

ellin

g be

twee

n di

ffere

nt g

roup

s, pa

rtne

rs a

nd d

isci

plin

es

to d

isco

ver

new

opp

ortu

nitie

s an

d es

tabl

ish

new

link

s. T

his

agen

t cou

ld a

dditi

onal

ly p

rovi

de a

n ob

ject

ive,

con

text

ual

stan

dpoi

nt fr

om w

hich

to r

evie

w e

xist

ing

met

hods

and

pr

actic

es to

gua

rd a

gain

st s

tagn

atio

n.

4

Des

pite

peo

ple’

s ri

ch m

edia

eco

logi

es b

egin

ning

to

blee

d ac

ross

diff

eren

t fac

ets

of li

fe, p

eopl

e st

ill fe

el th

e

need

to c

ompa

rtm

enta

lise.

Alo

ng w

ith th

e tr

aditi

onal

wor

k /

pers

onal

life

bal

ance

, the

re a

re n

ew fo

rmul

atio

ns

of c

onte

xts,

laye

rs a

nd th

e di

ffere

nt m

odes

, tim

es a

nd

mea

ns in

whi

ch th

ey w

ish

to e

ngag

e w

ith th

em.

Com

part

men

tali

sing

18

consensual models of behaviour driven access to collaboration platform

s (like, for instance C

ARE

T’s C

amTools service) m

ight better reflect the needs and practices of collaboration than the existing top dow

n, hierarchical system

of permissions.

Hypothesis : Consensual B

ehaviour & A

ccess

7

Com

munities and institutions like

Cam

bridge are complex w

ith overlapping and nested relationships, in w

hich individuals them

selves have complex

relationships, interests and feelings of attachm

ent that form part of an intricate

and tangled structure. This presents

considerable problems w

hen trying to engage broadly or design system

s to engage w

hole comm

unities.

Complexity of R

elationships19

Hyp

othe

sis

: Med

ia B

agga

ge

peop

le co

me w

ith d

igita

l med

ia ‘b

agga

ge’,

i.e

. oth

er se

rvice

s and

tool

s with

whi

ch th

ey

are f

amili

ar a

nd co

mfo

rtabl

e, es

pecia

lly w

here

th

ey a

re g

loba

l or u

nive

rsal s

ystem

s (i.e

. not

lim

ited

to

their

rela

tions

hip

to C

ambr

idge

). T

he ‘e

nclo

sed’

na

ture

of

stand

alon

e col

labo

ratio

n to

ols i

sn’t

refle

ctive

of

the f

ree fl

oatin

g na

ture

of

how

peo

ple n

ow sh

are

and

colla

bora

te on

line.

6

Dic

tatin

g w

hich

tool

s an

d se

rvic

es a

re a

ppro

pria

te fo

r w

ork

and

for

the

task

at

han

d, im

pede

s on

indi

vidu

al n

eeds

and

pre

fere

nces

, and

may

lead

to

unfa

mili

arity

and

uns

uita

bilit

y. T

he is

sue

of a

void

ing

top-

dow

n im

posi

tion

in

favo

ur o

f a

mor

e co

llabo

rativ

e ap

proa

ch to

cho

osin

g ap

prop

riat

e to

ols

and

serv

ices

is fr

eque

ntly

hea

rd w

hen

enga

ging

peo

ple.

Dev

elop

ing

proc

esse

s of

ne

gotia

tion

and

sele

ctio

n ca

n be

em

pow

erin

g an

d co

hesi

ve, b

oth

in e

ngag

ing

team

s an

d m

ore

disp

erse

d gr

oups

.

Neg

otia

ting

App

ropr

iate

Too

ls &

Ser

vice

s

16A

ggregation

The evolving and increasing ecology of tools

and services available presents opportunities for system

s that can aggregate across them.

These could help align people, content and

comm

unication methods in tem

porary or dynam

ic formulations that interface betw

een the different choices of individuals, groups or institutions.

9

Reputation M

anagement

Reputation m

anagement is an im

portant factor not just in assessing w

hat risks to undertake, but more

generally across all aspects of how an organisation

operates; who they choose to w

ork with, w

hat kinds of new

ventures they participate in, the degree of perceived innovation or established excellence they offer are all key considerations in negotiating institutional standing and public perception.

17

Cura

tion

The

abi

lity

to a

pply

form

s of

cur

atio

n to

th

e m

ultiv

alen

t sou

rces

, filte

rs a

nd m

eans

of

wor

king

and

com

mun

icat

ing

will

bec

ome

incr

easi

ngly

nec

essa

ry. T

ools

or s

ervi

ces

w

hich

ass

ist i

n he

lpin

g in

divi

dual

s to

cur

ate

thes

e ‘c

hann

els’

cou

ld b

e hi

ghly

des

irab

le.

8

The

pro

ject

hig

hlig

hted

the

impo

rtan

ce

of th

e ro

les

of b

oth

gate

keep

ers

and

cham

pion

s in

suc

cess

ful e

ngag

emen

t: of

ten

mul

tiple

s of

bot

h m

ight

be

need

ed to

acc

ess

broa

d co

mm

uniti

es.

Lac

k of

cer

tain

gat

ekee

pers

and

ch

ampi

ons

can

stym

ie th

e br

eadt

h

of e

ngag

emen

t and

lead

to a

lack

of

bal

ance

.

Gat

ekee

pers

and

Cha

mpi

ons

14

Recognising w

hen your engagement w

ith people outside of your ow

n group or sphere of activity has become overly

narrow and relies on ‘usual suspects’ is vital to avoiding

unrepresentative samples and instrum

entalised results.

Usual Suspects V

ersus Co-Design

11Validation of Individual Choices

An im

portant aspect of building a vibrant and cohesive group dynam

ic is how an individuals choices

of tools, services, practices and places are respected and given validation. T

he self confidence and recognition of their initiative that this brings, in turn helps create m

ore permeable boundaries to the group’s activities.

15

Dis

cove

ry

The

re a

re o

ppor

tuni

ties

for

crea

ting

disc

over

y se

rvic

es d

esig

ned

to in

crea

se a

war

enes

s of

wha

t to

ols

and

serv

ices

are

alr

eady

ava

ilabl

e an

d he

lpin

g pe

ople

mak

e in

form

ed c

hoic

es a

bout

whi

ch o

nes

are

appr

opri

ate

to th

e ta

sk.

10In

sula

rity

and

Wea

k L

ink

s

Hig

hly

focu

sed

grou

ps a

nd

orga

nisa

tions

tend

to h

ave

wea

k lin

ks w

ithin

wid

er

com

mun

ities

they

are

pa

rt o

f. T

hey

can

easi

ly

beco

me

insu

lar,

with

just

a

few

str

ong

links

to r

egul

ar

part

ners

and

col

labo

rato

rs.

Thi

s lim

its th

eir

capa

city

fo

r en

gagi

ng w

ith m

ultip

le

and

less

obv

ious

act

ors

and

can

rein

forc

e a

sens

e of

dis

conn

ectio

n in

bot

h di

rect

ions

.