Chapter 7 - A study of a digital sticky note design environment

Abstract

In order to advance our understanding of digital alternatives to analogue sticky notes we have developed a high-fidelity prototype system called Cards & Boards. Its design is informed by a study of the current design practice at a Danish design agency. The Cards & Boards system is a real-time collaborative system that can be accessed from any device with a browser, e.g. phones, tablets, laptops, and large displays, and it allows for drawing on digital whiteboards and creating not only digital sticky notes, but also other generalized kinds of “notes” like image and hyperlink cards. We present a study of Cards & Boards in a design project spanning two weeks, and we identify challenges as well as benefits from using this particular kind of design environment. We observe how this enables to work with content that is persistent and collaboratively accessible both across time and space. We also observe how the system changes the collaborative dynamics of the design meeting.