La contribution des usagères dans un atelier de co‑idéation : une médiation sociotechnique pour l’exploration des niveaux épistémiques d’un projet

This study focuses on the activity of “co-ideation” during an interior design project. By co-ideation, we mean the active involvement of users at the front-end of the design process, characterized by the generation of design proposals. This approach aims to make (current and projected) use activity explicit, by directly engaging users with a representation system in the real space. As they are not trained in design, their contribution requires sociotechnical mediation. In this study, three groups of users collaborate with professional designers who are responsible for stimulating idea generation and facilitating the use of the representation system. We therefore seek to analyze participants’ contributions (users and mediators) through the nature of the knowledge mobilized and constructed, which we structure into seven “epistemic levels”, ranging from abstract to concrete. We analyze whether the epistemic treatment differs according to the mobilization of the representation system, the category of participants and mediation tactics. The study shows that all epistemic levels are explored with less emphasis on values and concrete technical decisions. How the groups are positioned in the real space influences both their proposals and the most explored level. We identified several mediation tactics: coherence requirement, and impetus for vertical and lateral movements. An example of mediation tactic shows the dynamics of the support provided. This study establishes an operational theoretical framework for co-ideation training and mediation. Finally, this study opens up new avenues of research.