Thesis
Master of Science in Product Design (cand.it)
I have chosen to share my thesis in the portfolio as a demonstration of my skills as a researcher.
Abstract
This picture was taken doing my thesis defense. The pieces of paper were a product of the field research.
I encourage you to read the following abstract to gain an understanding of what the research was about, before proceeding to my reflections and learnings from the research:
“This study sets out to investigate the research interest; Facilitation of virtual collaboration. The research interest is inspired by the researchers' experiences and the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on the facilitation of collaboration. The investigation is done by conducting fieldwork; a case study with five cases of computer -and video-mediated virtual collaboration and two expert interviews regarding the facilitation of virtual collaboration and cybersecurity in virtual collaboration.
The case study and expert interviews are analyzed with a grounded theory approach and compared and the findings from the fieldwork, resulting in the discovery of the presence of fractured ecologies. Fractured ecologies are defined, described, and placed in connection with the fieldwork analysis.
The discovery of fractured ecologies in the context of virtual collaboration gives evidence to the definition of the research question; Which considerations do fractured ecologies require when facilitating virtual collaboration? The findings show that the facilitator must consider aspects associated with; making sense of referential activities, perceiving gaze directions, acquiring eye contact, an undefined culture in the virtual setting, neglect of cybersecurity in virtual collaboration, and making sense of remotely located users’ conduct whilst participating in video-mediated communication.
The findings confirm the influence of fractured ecologies on video-mediated communication due to a narrow visual-spatial frame of reference from one remotely located user's perception of another remotely located user's immediate environment. The study discusses the potentials and designs of products which can; make the fractured ecologies less fractured by enabling an embodiment of the users in a remotely located space in order to conduct referential activities; support users in making sense of gazes and a pamphlet with recommendations for good practice of facilitating virtual collaboration.
The study concludes that fractured ecologies influence video-mediated collaboration negatively; however, facilitators can conduct a series of considerations and actions in order to reduce the influence of fractured ecologies.”
This gallery shows a presentation of my thesis. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Research process
Elaborations
Product Design
Reflections
Methodology
Research
Social science as the research philosophy was chosen due to the fact that the research set out to investigate the society that exists within the culture of virtual collaboration and as such the participants and facilitators interacting with each other and the society.
Induction has been used as the research approach in order to approach the data (case study and expert interviews) without preconceived ideas to test, falsify or validate, but rather let the empirical world of data define which areas of the virtual collaboration that are relevant to investigate further.
Qualitative research was chosen as the methodological choice because it was coherent with the inductive approach as I strove to go into detail and detect small qualities and features within the research interest grounded in the data on hand.
Grounded theory was chosen as the research strategy because it was an inductive, comparative, iterative, interactive, and systematic method to create a theory without any theoretical frame of reference, by inductively creating an empirical-based theory by connecting the facts observed in the data and initially analyzing using a coding method.
Triangulation: The aim was to produce knowledge at different levels and from different perspectives (literature, case studies, expert interviews), achieve a comprehensive understanding of the research interest, and validate the findings of the data. As a result of the triangulation the knowledge achieved went beyond what could have been obtained by using only one approach. One of the key aims of using triangulation is creating validity.
Ethnographic Vignette: The research interest of the thesis had to be recognized as containing an inspirational connection to my experience as a participant and facilitator of Virtual Collaboration. In continuation of that, an ethnographic approach was made in the form of a vignette in order to display my experiences in the field as a user.
Fieldwork
The data for this research were extracted from two sources. A case study of five cases and two expert interviews. This constituted the empirical dataset.
Expert interviews: I carried out two semi-structured expert interviews using the methods from Svend Brinkmann and Steinar Kvale whilst following the strategy of grounded theory. One interview with an expert in Cybersecurity from The Centre for Cyber Security at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service. Another with an expert in the facilitation of virtual collaboration from Implement Consulting Group.
The expert interviews were carried out in the exploratory phase of the research, as an extension of the case study with the purpose to gather empirical data essential to discover and exploring the research interest. Besides the explorable elements, the research was aiming to compare the case study findings with the statements, arguments, and empirical knowledge uncovered in the expert interviews.
Case study: I based the case study on five cases with different properties. All cases were video-documented and consisted of virtual workshops, meetings, and product testing. Each case was carefully reviewed and I extracted every bit of data from the cases as possible. At that time I did not know what I was looking for, so I included everything.
Analysis: Affinity diagramming was chosen as an inductive method used to externalize and meaningfully cluster observations and insights from the case study, keeping me grounded in the data as I proceeded with the analysis. Affinity diagramming is a bottom-up variety chosen relevant for making sense of the data extracted from the cases. The method was chosen as relevant due to the transparency of the method, the coherence of induction, and the bottom-up approach, that it is grounded in the data and agrees with the overall methodology of the research project.
Reflections
As mentioned in the abstract, then this research was inspired by the impact on collaboration caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that it brought. The pandemic struck Denmark while I was still studying and made us all adapt our way of life and occupation. I began to notice a massive inconsistency in how people were coping and managing the virtual collaboration that was forced upon us due to a lockdown. So I decided to investigate the reasons behind that inconsistency. It was a truly challenging and exciting project, because of the potential it held. At the time every insight toward the matter was in high demand and as I initiated collaborations and field research I could feel the desperation from people. Everyone wanted to make virtual collaboration work, but it was all so new and undefined. My main reflection on the research is the amazement at how people can adapt to extraordinary circumstances when needed, including myself. The field research of my thesis was conducted entirely digitally, except for Affinity Diagramming. I had several intriguing workshop designs ready to be implied, which unfortunately turned out to be impossible due to the restrictions at the moment. At one point I really needed to have hands-on and have something tangible from the research, so I decided to do a manual affinity diagramming by printing out an obscene amount of field notes in the form of pictures.
A step in process of making tangible materials for the affinity diagramming.
Learnings
I learned two very valuable insights from this research.
Firstly, virtual collaboration can indeed be facilitated in such a way that it is very beneficial, sustainable, and effective. However, it demands that the facilitator(s) educate themselves on how to do so. I interviewed leading experts in the field and when presented with their knowledge and experience, compared to my findings, I can confidently confirm that virtual collaboration is a great asset and should not be considered a “Plan B”.
Secondly, the research strengthened my skills in being adaptive and creative when carrying out tasks to fit into the reality of the circumstances. To do an entire MSc - Product Design thesis digitally is something I honestly doubted was possible going in. However, I quickly began to see the opportunities and resources in the new reality I found myself in and ended up doing an amazing job. So good that my supervising professor even encouraged me to proceed to do a Ph.D. on the matter.
According to my research then the four most influential factors on how well virtual collaboration is facilitation and executed are; Technical Elements, Collaboration, Human behavior, and Video Feed.
Feel free to click here if you want to read the thesis.