Knowledge brokers in service design: lessons from organizational studies

1PhD Fellow University of Oslo

Sumit Pandey1, Swati Srivastava1

01Provocations

Provocations01Marc Steen et al., 2011

Co-design methods and practices in

service design projects

Literature

LibraryUX Project, University of Oslo

Practice

Junginger, 2015 Impact of design legacies within

organizations on engagement and

communication facilitated by designers

Developing and disseminating design

thinking tools for the library at the

University of Oslo

Hands on involvement with service design

projects at the library

02Theoretical Background

Service Design Organizational Studies

Theoretical Background02Qin Han (2010) unpacks the complex relationships formed

when service designers work with service stakeholders

into three observed classifications: leading, facilitating and

producing.

Presence of design legacies within organizations impact

the level of engagement and communication facilitated

by designers (and by extension the boundary objects)

( Junginger 2015)

Within service design contexts, co-design is an innovation

process driver where participants collaborate on a shared

problem mediated through shared (designed) tools (Marc

Steen et al., 2011; Sanders and Stappers, 2008)

Organizational communities act and work differently than

social and institutional communities and therefore,

participatory service innovation methods like co-design

need to take this factor into account for these settings

(Wenger, 1999)

The concepts of knowledge brokers (Wenger, 1999) and boundary

objects (Star and Griesemer, 1989) feature prominently within the

organizational studies discourse as channels of engagement and

co-operation along with its impact on innovation (Brown and

Duguid, 1998; Franke and Shah, 2003)

Use of tools in co-design settings and in service design to discuss engaging and

involving users with differing functional expertise (Brandt and Messeter, 2004)

Boundary objects

Knowledge brokersMaking knowledge contextually relevant by scaling, appropriating and disseminating

Mayer (2010)

03Knowledge brokers

“process of translation, co-ordination and

alignment between perspectives. It also

requires the ability to link practices by

facilitating transactions between them.”

Wenger (1999)

“

”Brown and Duguid (1998) apply this concept in an organizational context by

identifying knowledge brokers as people who “participate in the practices of several

communities” and hence open up possibilities of meaningful exchange and

deliberation between them.

Mayer (2010) argues that brokering is a combination of differing practices

including making knowledge contextually relevant by scaling, appropriating and

disseminating.

TypologyBoari and Riboldazzi (2014)

04Cases

Members from the community playing

leadership roles were identified as

brokers

Who

Brokering coordination would act as an

extension of day to day practice of

dealing with inter and intra-team

coordination and management.

Why

The brokers in this scenario were

expected to provoke discussions amongst

participants and translate the design

tools and intent.

What

01Web editor group

Informational services redesign

From the same department

brief

participants

goal To identify possible opportunities and areas of

change in a service redesign exercise for the

information and support services at the

University of Oslo’s academic library.

Ecosystem mapping

gatekeeper to co-ordinator

within same community

translating the design tools and intent

providing contextual analogies

draw from participants’ personal experiences

macro and micro level translations

actively taking notes

02Life Sciences Library

The design of support services

Different departmental disciplines along with

architects

To identify the nature, scope and possible functions

of a support service for a planned building which

would house various disciplines within the life

sciences department of the University of Oslo.

brief

participants

goal

Participants playing cross disciplinary

support functions in their practice -

subject librarians

Who

Day to day interactions with the

disciplinary department members

involved and their natural role in

knowledge support functions for them.

Why

The brokers, in this case, expected to be

playing a translational function, took on a

motivational and demonstrative role as

well

What

Card sorting

gatekeepers help identify cosmopolitan roles

discussing proposed blueprints

translating the design tools and intent

Motivational and demonstrative role

sharing examples of support cases

storyboarding

tools mediated and translated

05In Closing

Learning the existing work practices or design legacies that could potentially

influence the project at hand along with providing access to potential participants

Gatekeepers

Co-shaping the co-design tools and tasks to be used in the workshop, according to

the communities the participants were members of and the overall goals that we

were working towards

appropriation

Translation, demonstration, Motivation

Helping inform and engage participants with the tools and tasks of the workshops

using language and methods they were already familiar with

selectionTransitioning members with natural brokerage roles

risks

Information bias and filtration on the part of the broker, mitigated by clearly

addressing the issue in advance and facilitating a collaborative and open

environment

future work

Effects of repeat and longer term participation in the design process on the brokers

Investigation of other kinds of brokerage roles

Thank You.@sumitpandeySumit Pandey Swati Srivastava

@moominmakes