You wrote--
>I feel that
>a significant problem with many designers is that they really do not
>understand whom they are designing for. What I mean is that the designer
>works off of gut feelings and previous experiences to design a project,
>rather than addressing the current issues relevant to the design. Simply
put,
>does the designer really understand the community of the teachers and
>students;the users of the space.
>
I think this is a good example of what Leigh Star would call "boundary
object" -- the same material (or semiotic, e.g., blueprints) object that two
communities understand differently. For designers, space is a "design"
while for user, the same space is a place to live and use. Both communities
try to transform the "boundary objects": designers by creating blueprints
and actual construction, users by trying make sense how they inhibit the
space. I think the entire situation is created by the phenomenon of
"decontextualization" or "alienation" when two communities of practice try
to use each other without wanting to engage in each other's practices.
Eugene
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Eugene Matusov
Willard Hall#206G
Department of Educational Studies
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716, USA
phone: (302) 831-1266
fax: (302) 831-4445
email: ematusov who-is-at UDel.edu
web: http://www.ematusov.com
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