Designing Together: The collaboration and conflict management handbook for creative professionals

Designing Together: The collaboration and conflict management handbook for creative professionals

by Daniel M. Brown
Released June 2013
Publisher(s): New Riders
ISBN: 9780133390957

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Book description

WHAT IS THE ONE THING not taught in design school, but is an essential survival skill for practicing designers? Working with other people. And yet, in every project, collaboration with other people is often the most difficult part.

The increasing complexity of design projects, the greater reliance on remote team members, and the evolution of design techniques demands professionals who can cooperate effectively. Designing Together is a book for cultivating collaborative behaviors and dealing with the inevitable difficult conversations.

Designing Together features:

  • 28 collaboration techniques

  • 46 conflict management techniques

  • 31 difficult situation diagnoses

  • 17 designer personality traits

    • This book is for designers:

  • On teams large or small

  • Co-located, remote, or both

  • Working in multidisciplinary groups

  • Within an organization or consulting from outside

    • You’ll also find sidebar contributions from David Belman (Threespot), Mandy Brown (Editorially, A Book Apart), Erika Hall (Mule Design Studio), Denise Jacobs (author), Jonathan Knoll (InfinityPlusOne), Marc Rettig (Fit Associates), and Jeanine Turner (Georgetown University).

    Table of contents

    1. Dedication
    2. Table of Contens
    3. Acknowledgments
    4. Conflict, Collaboration, and Creativity
      1. What’s in This Book
      2. This Book Builds Stronger Teams
      3. Design Depends on Conflict and Collaboration
      4. Five Central Ideas
      5. Surviving Design Projects, The Game
      6. Thank You
    5. Part I: The Fundamentals
      1. 1. Designer as Contributor
        1. Elements of a Design Team
        2. The Glue of a Design Team
        3. The Contributing Designer
        4. Evaluating Designers as Contributors
        5. TL;DR
      2. 2. The Designer Mindset
        1. Mindset Defined
        2. The Best Mindset for Designers
        3. Changing One’s Mindset
        4. TL;DR
      3. 3. Listening: The Essential Skill
        1. The Good Listener’s Checklist
        2. Obstacles to Listening
        3. TL;DR
    6. Part II: The Theory
      1. 4. The Role of Conflict in Design
        1. The Value of Conflict
        2. Healthy vs. Unhealthy Conflict
        3. The Nature of Resolution
        4. TL;DR
      2. 5. Assessing Conflict: What’s Really Wrong
        1. What Causes Conflict?
        2. Internal Sources of Conflict
        3. External Sources of Conflict
        4. Examples of Conflict
        5. TL;DR
      3. 6. The Model of Conflict: Patterns, Situations, and Traits
        1. The Model of Conflict
        2. Situations
        3. Patterns
        4. Traits
        5. Mutual Impact
        6. The Model in Action
        7. TL;DR
      4. 7. How Collaboration Works
        1. A Definition of Collaboration
        2. Misconceptions about Collaboration
        3. The Aspects of Collaboration
        4. TL;DR
      5. 8. The Four Virtues of Collaboration
        1. The Virtues
        2. Embodying Collaboration
        3. TL;DR
    7. Part III: Reference
      1. 9. Situations: Circumstances and Scenarios Common to Design Projects
        1. How to Use Situations
        2. About the Situations
        3. The Situations
      2. 10. Traits: Evaluating Yourself and Your Colleagues
        1. The Traits
        2. Why Not Myers-Briggs?
        3. How to Use These Traits
      3. 11. Conflict Patterns: Behaviors for Reaching Resolutions
        1. How to Use the Patterns
        2. The Patterns
      4. 12. Collaboration Behaviors: Embodying the Virtues
        1. How to Use These Behaviors
        2. The Behaviors
    8. Bibliography/References [This content is currently in development.]

    Product information

    • Title: Designing Together: The collaboration and conflict management handbook for creative professionals
    • Author(s): Daniel M. Brown
    • Release date: June 2013
    • Publisher(s): New Riders
    • ISBN: 9780133390957