Collaborative Design - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 211

Data collection and interpretation required
frequent face-to-face communication between
university librarians and student researchers
throughout iterative design processes. This on-
going dialogue served to advance mutual 'sense
making' during decision making and 'action
taking' designed to improve user experiences,
During these discussions, librarians obtained
valuable 'voiced' insights into user constituency
perspectives which corroborated the wisdom of
applying relational information literacy tenets
to advance both domain mastery and informa-
tion proficiencies. Continuing relationships with
supervising faculty also ensured opportunities to
study different aspects of particularly perplexing
problems in subsequent academic quarters.
To sum up, this user-centric project resulted
from participatory and collaborative systems
thinking activities. It demonstrates that the evolv-
ing SSM-enabled collaborative design (co-design)
approach reflects both a philosophy and a process
in which the needs, wants and limitations of end
users play a central role at each stage of the de-
sign process (Somerville & Brar, 2008). While
quantitative methods are sometimes included in
these approaches, a key feature of all these design
methodologies is the integral and extensive use
of qualitative data collection and analysis meth-
odologies, including dialogue-based appreciative
inquiry. Finally, interaction and collaboration
produce the shared vision, mutual empathy, and
committed focus to sustain continuous dialogue-
based relationships with system beneficiaries
and other campus stakeholders (Somerville
& Nino, 2007). The action orientation further
encourages quick prototype problem solutions
as well as library service improvements and
other organizational changes. As evidence of its
transferability, co-design now informs creation
of virtual and physical 'learning commons' at a
university library in California's Silicon Valley
(Somerville & Collins, 2008).

orgAnizAtionAl system
re-design

The leader and the consultant next decided to
expand participation and include library support
staff. These paraprofessional staff carry out day-
to-day operational tasks, which free librarians
for more high level, subject specific responsi-
bilities. Having observed from afar the benefits
of a user-centered design approach, staff were
eager to rethink 'in house' information systems.
Encouraged by the results of the student gener-
ated projects reported in previous sections, they
began the 'finding out' phase by establishing and
analyzing a transaction log at the reference desk.
Preliminary findings were then extended through
examination of assignments provided by librar-
ians, who acquired the documents from faculty
in advance of delivering information competence
instruction sessions. Results informed the design
of an information capture and exchange system
to support problem solving at the reference desk
(Somerville & Vazquez, 2004), for which staff
had assumed responsibility as one result of an
SSM-guided organizational redesign (Somerville,
Huston, et al ., 2005). Over time, through ap-
plication of the iterative SSM process of finding
out, modeling, comparison, and taking action,
library support staff experienced empowerment
and efficacy, anchored in common understand-
ings and interactive relationships, as reflected in
Figure 3.
This figure illustrates library support staff
members' conceptions of the interaction between
themselves, now termed 'information and in-
structional service support staff', and university
librarians, termed 'information specialists'. The
interaction is formalized in a proposed Research
and Information Service and Education (RISE)
workplace learning system. The change in termi-
nology is significant—as it replaces the traditional
word 'reference desk' which connotes esoteric
scholarly consultation on bibliographic refer-
ences at a single physical service point within