The Workbook

This workbook aims to guide reflective practitioners on their journey towards a more effective way of working. It contains three chapters: explore, evaluate and experiment.

.

In the first chapter, you will get acquainted to some established design practices and further explore the practices of your choice by conducting case studies. Exercises in this chapter are: E1: Map, E2: Research, and E3: Connect. The latter uses the Little Book of Designer Friends as a tool for connecting to likeminded designers.

.

In the second chapter, you will look at the gathered insights from a more critical perspective. By filling in Case Evaluations you locate problematic mechanisms and ineffective aspects. This helps you describe common pitfalls, things you would like to avoid in your own work. Exercises in this chapter are: E4: Contemplate, E5: Reflect and E6: Compare.

.

In the third chapter, you will translate the gathered insights and reflections to concrete ideas and the blueprints for new, hybrid practices. At the very end of the workbook, you will also think about what this new way of working says about you as a designer, and write a short positioning text. Exercises in this chapter are: E7: Compensate, E8: Ideate and E9: Communicate.

.

The three-step process I suggest in the workbook could be iterated endlessly. By repeating the cycle of analysis, evaluation and experimentation, one can keep refining their hybrid practice over the course of years. Ultimately, one would appropriate the process by creating their own, personalised tools. From reflection on action to reflection in action.