Mind Mapping as a Tool, as a Process, as a Problem/solution Space

This paper discusses the use of mind maps by interdisciplinary teams of students during a collaborative design activity. In the context of a Graduate Diploma program aiming to train specialists in eco-design strategy, we seek to offer pedagogical content, delivery methods, and tools that integrate theory and praxis and help students to co-construct new knowledge. A project-based studio was designed as an introduction to the design process and collaborative design. Eleven students from different disciplinary backgrounds teamed up to work on the project in situations where they continually needed to reflect on their dynamic of collaboration, on the design process, and on their actions. At the end of the studio, students received a questionnaire with 14 open-ended questions about the approach and various tools used during the course. Analysis of the answers shows that students consider collaboratively developed mind maps as an essential cross-disciplinary boundary object useful for broadening the team’s horizons, stimulating creativity, structuring thinking process and tackling the complexity of the project. In addition, mind mapping offered a platform for collaborative design: by going through the iterative process of mind mapping students developed a shared view, a common language, a refined understanding of the project, and design criteria which were meaningful and fitted their social, environmental and disciplinary values. Our findings provide evidence that mind mapping can be used to enhance both individual learning, and cross-disciplinary team interactions.