Werkbund – Collaboration is The Way Forward

Bit overdue again this week. Managed to present it in the crit session last Thursday, but was too tired to write about it and add the voice over for the presentation. I would like to sound fresh and energetic in the voice over. It needs to match the project’s vibe.

Without any further ado, you can find below the complete presentation for this week’s project. You can also visit previous blog posts where I talked about my research, gamification and the lectures of the week (read on here). Feel free to pause, rewind and playback any slides you like. There is also a transcript following the video.

Transcript

1. Hello, my name is Lindsay and today I am presenting to you my project proposal for this week’s workshop challenge. This week’s theme is Building New Models and Tools for Future Practice, and the challenge is to come up with a collaborative tool or process that helps in making collaborative work better.
2. The outcome of this week is to be the result of the research we did in the previous weeks where we looked at possible ideas of collaboration. In the previous weeks we looked at case studies were studios had offices in different continents, therefore the collaborative tools they used really needed to be efficient. One of the recurring issues was time zones. Another thing that we had to keep in mind is that the outcome we come up with should be relevant for the industry, meaning that we should look into creating something that a typical designer would use.
3. I give you Werkbund.
4. Werkbund is a virtual world aimed at creative professionals where they can meet up, interact and discuss projects. The aim behind Werkbund is to bring together the global creative community in one place in a friendly environment. Everyone is equal in the Werkbund community. Also, unlike many other social media platforms, Werkbund is an immersive platform aimed for a specific industry – in this case, the creative industry – rather than the general public.
5. As a user, you would have your own profile, however it would be in the form of an avatar. You will also have your fully customisable ‘house’. Think of it as a three-dimensional profile, where people can walk around and look at your work and information that you would like to publish. It is a good way to showcase your portfolio. Also, as a user, you can also add ‘friends’ and invite them over to your ‘house’. Friends lists have proven to be popular in many social media platforms through the years.
6. When it comes to the ‘community’ aspect, users will be living in ‘neighbourhoods’. A ‘neighbourhood’ will be made up of users that have similar occupations such as ‘graphic designers’, ‘printers’, ‘tailors’… In turn, neighbourhoods will form a ‘district’. ‘Districts’ can be described as the industry under which a job falls under. Could be ‘visual art’, ‘performance art’, ‘media’ etc. Further down the line, Werkbund will also include an area for professionals outside the creative industry. Although the main target is the creative industry, such an opportunity can help in the community get more connected in other professional fields.
7. As a virtual world, there will also be public places where people can hang out and meet other people who are online and go from one ‘neighbourhood’ to the other. ‘Town squares’ and ‘Cafes’ are common areas where people can hang out. The ‘town square’ is the place to find crowds, join events and take part in activities. A ‘café’ is a narrowed down version of it. At ‘cafes’ users can have ‘friend meet-ups’ and informal meetings. As already mentioned, users can invite people over to their ‘house’, and for more formal meetings, there will be an ‘office hotel’. Just an FYI point… an ‘office hotel’ is a place where you can rent a room that is equipped like a small office where you can work through the day and have all the facilities one would find in a typical office environment.
8. This is a recap and flowchart of the ‘community structure’ so to speak, you would start off by signing up and getting your profile and avatar sorted. The house would be in a ‘neighbourhood’ to which it would be in a district. The public areas are not linked because every user can access them at any point in time at their discretion.
9. This is a mockup of an outdoors area. You have users walking around and you can interact to the environment accordingly….
10. This is an example of an indoors public area… here it is more detailed. One can see that the user’s corresponding avatar is highlighted, and you can also see the dashboard containing various details and notifications. In this case, the user received a message. You can also see that the avatar is ‘checking the phone’.
11. So moving on… that was the “front end” so to speak… when it comes to the backend, there will me moderators and administrative staff that will me monitoring the ‘day-today’ functions of the app. In addition to this, they will take care of ‘public’ meet-ups and events to spark activity within the space. Events can include workshops, ‘goal oriented’ activities and guest talks. Not to mention that there will also be game engineers and tech staff taking care of the functionalities of the app, making sure the users get the best experience.
12. As part of this presentation I thought of including also the concept behind the name itself… Werkbund. Inspired by the Deutscher Werkbund – an association of artists, designers, architects and writers established in 1907. It became an important element in industrial design and modern architecture, particularly in the establishing of the Bauhaus School in 1921. It was made up by architects and business firms. It is also worth noting that it still operational under the new name –  Verband Deutscher Industrie Designer, where it celebrated the 100^th anniversary in 2008.
13. These are some examples of their work.
14. Also, this project was inspired by what I researched in the previous weeks. In the past weeks, I looked at the impact of loneliness and isolation on a person’s life. This problem was on a constant increase for the past 10 years. In the last 6 months, the percentage of people reporting suffering from such feeling increased by approximately 400%. That said, the simplest form of aid in reducing it is speaking out and interacting. For a creative person, this can impact creative flow, which can result in a burn out or a creative block. Through Werkbund, creative people can meet others with similar interests, and this can act as a catalyst to build relationships, make friends as well as get together to work on projects such as this one.
15. Another important element behind this project is the gamification aspect. It makes it much more immersive and interesting. It shifts the whole design of the app from being ‘function focused’ – think of how a factory operates with a series of checklists- more ‘human focused’. ‘human-focused’ design makes the experience itself more rewarding. People do things for a reason, so it important for them to understand what they are doing. This is what makes a product successful.
16. So, that is it. Thank you very much for listening. And until next time, have a good day. Cheers.

In conclusion

As you have seen in the presentation, the idea behind this platform is to make virtual interaction more immersive and yes, fun (why not). Designers from every generation can use Werkbund, however I am targeting this tool towards the younger generations of designers. Freshly graduated designers, and designers starting out in their careers, whether employed or as freelancers. There are similar platforms that are equally immersive, however they are public platforms rather than focused on a specific industry. In the long run, I think that this is a project worth pursuing and take it even further, maybe VR or AR. The latter would be interesting for it would still include the human element in this whole interaction.

The idea behind the whole ‘neighbourhoods’ and ‘districts’ is to add that community element within this app. There are videogames out there that have similar concepts already, and the creators had a positive response. In such times, where we had to isolate ourselves, such apps can fill in bit of the void of having to be alone all the time. Also, it is another way of making new friends and meeting new people. You never know who you might end up meeting? Might be acontact that launches to your design career…