CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT IN VIRTUAL COLLABORATION: AN EXPERIMENTAL IPD CASE STUDY

The paper introduces an experimental project that was a part of the 1st Integrated Product Development (IPD) International Summer School in 2014 (IPDISS14) announced for doctoral students and doctoral candidates. In this setting and framework two different concept development assignments were given to two groups of participants, out of which one of the projects and its results are presented here. The design task of the team formed by the authors was to develop a solution for flood protection. Since the design problem was extremely superficially defined it was the task of the team to frame and specify the problem, more to create the business model and technical concept, and finally prove the concept; herewith the goal and scope of the project is already been described. Furthermore, the team had to organize itself and set up its communication, management, and collaboration methods, and choose the proper tools to maximize efficiency. The latter was of high significance because the development had to be carried out in virtual collaboration. The two weeks of IPDISS14 took place in two separate locations and were separated also in time by four months. Although the teams were formed locally at the first week, the deadline was set on the second week; in between there was no chance for the team members to meet in person, since they came from all across Europe. The team had to narrow down the design problem to flood protection at high risk (flash) flood urban areas and found that major design problems can be derived from the contradictory requirements of i) fast reaction securing against water, ii) aesthetic look, and iii) the feature of being see-through when not in use. In the paper the development process is described and the final concept is also introduced, as well as the methodology and tools applied in the virtual collaboration are presented. The paper concludes with a reflection of the whole project, highlighting a number of interesting observations and a number of identified pitfalls.