Mapping activity theory to a design thinking model (ATDT) : a framework to propagate a culture of creative trust

• Main Author: WInstanley, Lisa
• Other Authors: School of Art, Design and Media
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Visual arts and music::General; Social sciences::Communication; Collaboration; Design Thinking
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/146386
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Throughout the world, incidents of hate crime are exponentially increasing and as a result, international media is permeated with accounts of social division and disconnect. It would therefore, be astute to advocate for the need to develop new, positive social connections and thus provide alternatives to this sustained and documented discord. Accordingly, this paper introduces, Tridea, an ongoing, multifaceted, project which facilitates collaborative practice and provides a conduit for design-with-purpose. Tridea invites participants to engage in an international, collaborative form of the Surrealist parlour game, the Exquisite Corpse, however, participation will be undertaken via an online platform; leveraging A.I. to assign virtual teams based on geographic and cultural diversity. It is therefore necessary to consider the inherent needs of participants in order to optimise user experience and facilitate effective engagement. Hence, Tridea implements a Design Thinking model as the fundamental framework for analysis, nevertheless, it also aims to extend beyond the immediate context of practice utilising theory grounded in Social Psychology to underpin Design Thinking strategy. In an attempt to analyse the creative process behind Tridea and provide an analytical tool to ascertain the strategies undertaken, Activity Theory (AT) has been mapped to a Design Thinking (DT) model (ATDT). This paper discusses how the ADTD model has been implemented thus far and reviews how utilising this bifold framework has impacted the creative process at its current stage; also considering how the ATDT framework will be applied as the project progresses and discussing potential applications of the framework for further research.