Students' feedbacks on the international collaboration

The following texts are a short selection of transcripts from video interviews we conducted with students who participated in one or more workshops organized as part of the DTCC project. Our choice was focused on stories that clearly demonstrate some of the issues arising from the convergence of our three approaches to design and pedagogy. Each workshop, in its unique way, served as a stage in the collaborative learning process.

Ones and Zeros, Over-Humanizing, New Perspectives

Natsumi Nonaka (EKA)

What are the most interesting aspects of this cooperation between three countries?

The best part for me about this project was that I had the opportunity to participate in these five-day workshops with students from France and Germany. I usually study design in Estonia, and I was surprised to see that German and French students approach design in a very different way from how we do it in Estonia. At first, it wasn't always easy for me to adapt to their approaches. But as we worked together, I started to realize that there was a lot that I could learn from them. And in the end, I became grateful for our differences and was able to open up to trying new things. And I also think that this experience has helped me grow, and I am happy that we have been able to build such a good relationship between students from these three countries through this project. Overall, I really appreciated the workshops.

Do you have an anecdote of something you experienced during the project that stuck in your mind?

I have a moment that stuck in my mind, which was during the workshop in Germany. It's about the words of my team-mate from France. When we were designing a mouse pointer at the workshop, me and another team-mate, and first we were trying to make it look like a living thing, so that people would feel more affection for "their" mouse pointer. But the French girl told us: "I don't like humanizing the computer so much." Her words really struck me. She said that the computer is just a combination of ones and zeros, and that there is a risk of "over-humanizing" it. For example, smart home devices are so familiar to us that we take it for granted that they are in our homes. But in fact, a lot of personal information is collected by them without us noticing and companies are using that data to make more money. Honestly, I had never really thought about it. I only focused on designing things that are easy to use and pleasing to their users. So, her critical attitude was quite eye-opening for me. I am grateful for her role in changing my perspective. That's why I strongly remember that moment.

What did you learn from the other partner schools and their approach to design?

I have learned a lot from the French and German students. Esadse, HfG and EKA each have very different approaches to design. I believe that French students prefer an organic approach. They follow their intuition rather than strict adherence to theories and enhance their understanding through hands-on activities. In contrast, I believe that the German students possess a strong understanding of design thinking and its methodology, and they strive to incorporate this knowledge into their projects. They are also quite good at time management. I think EKA's approach is somewhat similar to the German one. We usually proceed step by step based on the double diamond design process. The approach of French students was totally different from ours, so, at first, it wasn't easy for me to follow their way of working. But since I trusted their process and worked with them, I gained new perspectives. This experience meant a lot to me. I think it has also influenced my attitude towards design. And, of course, I learned a lot from the German students as well. Their project management abilities are exceptional, and I believe this is crucial for success in the real world. And I am also grateful for learning documentation and time management skills from the German students.

Intuition, Sketches, Reflections

Viki Schmidt (HfG)

What have you learned from our partner schools and their approach to design?

So, in general it was really exciting for me to see how people have a quite different mentality in France and that they have less structure, but it still works, and that this actually helped me in the end. Because at HfG in particular the way of working is much more analytical. And sometimes it is difficult to make decisions intuitively. And I think the trip to France reminded me of listening to my gut feeling again from time to time.

How did you students adjust to each other during this short workshop week?

Well, we were actually a group of two, so it was maybe a bit easier. But it was quite satisfying because we always sketched lots of things in order to come to a common understanding of what we both meant in that situation. So, in the end we had a big poster on which we had made lots of little sketches to communicate about small games that everybody knows but that may have different meanings or different names in the respective country. And yes, we adjusted a lot through sketches actually. I found that inspiring, because it demonstrated that if you visualize something, you can come to a common understanding much better, in communication in general and especially as a designer..

So drawing was a universal communication channel that worked for you?

Yes, and also as a starting point to share new thoughts.

Neutrality, Reappropriation, End in itself

Mathias Hû (Esadse)

What did you learn or observe in this project that you will take away for your professional or personal life?

I was able to do all three workshops, so I could have a different experience on each of them. That allowed me, mainly the first workshop allowed me to gain a lot of self-confidence in the sense that I had several times... How can I put it? In fact, it taught me to stand up for myself when I felt there were things that went against my principles. It also allowed me to dare to speak a lot more. And I know that since this workshop, I am more likely to stop letting things pass when they rush me or bother me or don't go well in a project. So that really did something for me in that sense. And I also learned a lot about methods, [specific] methods that were used [then].

Have you been able to combine different working methods in your group or did one method take over?

No, we haven't. Overall, it worked rather poorly, I think. Is it good or bad that it didn't work? I don't know that, but I have the impression that I have also learned that methods are not neutral in themselves and tools are also not neutral. And in fact, I realized that the tools that we are using, and the methods, they strongly shape our way of thinking and our way of working. We cannot separate the tools and methods we use from the way we use them. I could see and feel that strongly because [during the workshop], many methods were, well, not imposed on us, but suggested and from the moment we use them, they are very difficult to reappropriate. Because the methods have an influence on the rythm of the work, they prevent us a bit from getting out of a well-defined, straight line, like a train on rails. And it's true that as a result, it was a great opportunity for me to look into how these [design] methods work. Why do they make sure that other methods become obsolete, or in any case prevent us from deploying other methods? What strategies can be adopted to manage to distort them, to transform them? So that was a bit like the personal approach I had in there. And yes, on the collaborative aspect, I don't think it's necessarily a failure, because it would be like putting a good or bad label on it, but it did not necessarily work as we might have hoped. But at the same time, I say to myself that collaboration is not an end in itself. It is rather a way of proceeding to achieve a project. As a result, I know that now I am a little more wary of people who want to collaborate at all costs before making good projects. That's it.

Equality, Differences, Progress

Sigmund Abou Chrouch (EKA)

What are the most interesting aspects of this cooperation between three countries?

My initial observation is that the students from all three schools hold a particular perspective or inclination [towards design]. Regarding the French students, I observed that they uphold the principle of equality for all. Everyone needs to be considered. Moreover, during our workshop encounter, I learned from them that design or design thinking does not always work as intended. At times, we may need to delve deeper into imagination, while at other times, we need to be more grounded in humanity. The students from Germany employ a linear design process, following a structured approach from A to Z, in a very organized way. Thus, from them, I gained insights into being well-organized, while from the French students, I learned about the importance of imagination and the value of taking a human approach instead of always following the crowd. The German students taught me to work in an organized manner and also to think in an organized way. From my friends at EKA I learned the importance of being receptive "like a sponge", as they communicate and gather insights from everyone. They taught me to actively listen and strive to understand before taking any subsequent actions.

Can you describe the best and the worst moments during these workshops?

Why was it [workshop in Tallinn] the best and worst moment? Because we all had diverse backgrounds and varied approaches to reasoning. I believe that the students from EKA and Germany share a similar way of thinking, but we were already in the middle of our semester project and we started designing and putting ideas together. We noticed that the students from France seemed somewhat detached and hesitant towards our approach to work. This resulted in an unstructured and sometimes immature discussion, with arguments being presented in a random and chaotic manner, causing our voices to raise, and highlighting the differences in our perspectives. However, despite our differences, we were able to eventually converge on a single idea. We were able to do this by actively listening to each other adjusting our thoughts and identifying the positive aspects and opportunities in each other's perspectives, which allowed us to work collaboratively towards a common goal. We were able to leverage our collective strengths and generate more interaction, all in line with the theme of our overall subject, which is Digital Collaboration.

Contribution, Complications, Perspectives

Alféa Morelli (Esadse)

Can you describe the best and/or the worst moments during this workshop or any workshop?

During the first workshop, there was a pretty cool moment when we formed our teams and where we introduced ourselves and the expectations we had for the workshop. And to realize that there were other people that, especially the person with whom I later worked, who was from Estonia, who really wanted to work on the same things as me, but with a very different point of view. [He wanted] to do it because it was a workshop and he wanted to do things a little less as usual, he was curious to experiment. And instantly, we both had the feeling to be able to contribute something to the work of the respective other person. And that was really cool. On the more complicated moments, those were more about ways of working since we are used to super different processes, especially during the second workshop where we were in a group with two persons from my school and two from the German school and they would work (on the project) according to protocol in a very method-based way, with a very defined process, whereas we felt the need, to discuss things more freely, and that was painful for them to discuss freely because they were so used to their methodical protocol. So, there was a day when we really struggled to just get along and succeed to produce something that suited everyone. That was the most complicated.

What was interesting for you about collaborating with someone who works in a very different way?

I found it very interesting that, even during times when it was super complicated because working methods were incompatible on certain points, it pushed us to do things that we really were not used to and we had to get out of our comfort zone, even when that meant to do things that do not put us in a very creative position and where we will not get to produce something that we actually like, to just change our point of view on how we work. And that was super fun in the end, even if at the time it was difficult, in hindsight. I really feel that I have reevaluated my own way of thinking and working. And it is satisfying to have succeeded in doing so and that was quite productive from this point of view: I now reconsider things in a different way and, even if i don't apply the methods that I have seen during the workshop in Germany, I have reached a broader perspective on different ways of working.