Design Roulette: A Close Examination of Collaborative Decision-Making in Design from the Perspective of Framing

This paper uses the concept of framing as a means of examining design process. It explores in detail interactions between a small design team as they collaborate to design a workshop which forms part of a larger project. Elements of framing practice, namely, moving, reflecting and reframing are used to draw attention the decision-making constructed as a failure to benefit from frame discipline. Set in the context of a substantial data set documenting a design project taking place within contemporary industrial design practice, analysis of this specific episode is used to discuss frame discipline as a characteristic of design expertise.