We often use metaphors when talking about collaboration—they can be a way to bridge disciplinary boundaries, assumptions, and worldviews, grow the capacity for inter- and transdisciplinarity, and (hopefully) ensure people from different backgrounds are ‘on the same page’. The word project itself hides a metaphor: it derives from the Latin proicere, to throw forward. It is common to use metaphors such as ‘milestones’, ‘building blocks’, ‘goals’, ‘horizons’, ‘work packages’, and ‘missions’ in projects, just as we use ‘fields’ and ‘areas’ to discuss disciplines or types of work. Metaphors have lots of advantages as a form of shared vocabulary. However, metaphors are a form of model, and the models used can trap us in particular ways of thinking and working, reproducing assumptions and structures, and often lacking representation of some of the most important parts of collaboration: forming inter- and transdisciplinary teams, building relationships, co-creation, and integrating diverse knowledge.
Materialising (through physical artefacts) and expanding the variety of metaphors available to teams, and doing so via a playful-yet-meaningful process, offers the potential for exploration of new ways of thinking and working, putting knowledge into the world (Kirsh, 2010; Tversky, 2015) as a form of tangible ‘visual prosthesis’ (Jonassen and Cho, 2008). The concept of maps as metaphorical spaces, which serve as contexts for related metaphors to be used and explored together (rather than in isolation), adds the possibility of explicitly treating these spaces as a form of boundary object (Star & Griesemer, 1989) into which collaborators from different backgrounds in inter- and transdisciplinary teams can enter and together explore, navigate, and experience. Equally, a co-creative process of creating—and debating—new metaphors (Bateson, 2000; Lockton et al, 2019a) together can be part of a team integrating their collective knowledge and expectations.
In this workshop at ITD 24, we introduce Unbox, a game-like tangible toolkit which allows teams to ‘open’ the ‘black box’ of collaborative processes, through supporting participants in examining, discussing, and refining issues they encounter in the course of collaborations. The overall aim of knowledge (and expectation) integration through tangible experience together aligns well with the theme of growing the capacity for inter- and transdisciplinarity; Unbox specifically aims to be helpful for inter- and transdisciplinary teams.
Unbox comprises elements that materialise metaphors (from elephants-in-the-room to sea monsters, wormholes to lighthouses) within metaphorical spaces, to visualise and probe emerging assumptions and create a reflexive dialogue among participants from different backgrounds, so they can quickly understand (dis)agreements, align expectations, and learn about collaborative process design. Unbox aims to support flexible and reflexive approaches for (dis)assembling existing and prospective collaboration processes, especially in research projects but also with application in education, facilitation, and other contexts.
Workshop participants will explore applying Unbox to their own existing or potential future projects, to open up thinking about the roles of metaphors in collaborations, as well as providing direct inspiration for how games (Andreotti et al, 2020), maps (Student et al, 2020), and tangible thinking tools (Rygh & Clatworthy, 2019; Merl et al, 2023; Lockton et al 2019b) could be used in their projects, in research, education, and knowledge exchange contexts.
**Our development process**
Our project has engaged with participants in ‘unusual collaborations’ supported by the Centre for Unusual Collaborations in Utrecht, an initiative of an alliance between four universities, as well as making use of the experience of our team. We are an unusual yet cohesive group, with a shared interest in understanding and supporting collaborative research processes. Our experiences range from inter- and transdisciplinary research, design, games, and creative facilitation methods, albeit from different disciplinary starting points (Transitions Studies, Tourism, Governance, Farming Systems Ecology, Industrial Design), and with two professional designers and strategic visualisers as part of the team. We have all engaged with innovating in research methods, processes, and mindsets for bridging across disciplines, stakeholder groups, and societal issues.
Through the development of Unbox, including reflexive application to our projects, and working with other teams funded through the Centre for Unusual Collaborations’ initiatives, we arrived at a series of insights and propositions, including:
- Collaborations often inherit outdated/unspecific assumptions and language, hindering their effectiveness (e.g., assuming they are projects with milestones).
- Materialised metaphors can operate as boundary objects, pulling participants in and triggering genuine dialogue about individuals’ perspectives and what is collectively at stake.
- ‘Metaphorical spaces’, i.e., maps evoking particular metaphors, can also operate as boundary objects themselves, and deepen these conversations (e.g., a ‘treasure island’ map engages with discussion around goals, expectations (what is expected to be discovered?), routes to the goal, risks and surprises along the way, challenges to leadership, and so on.
- Representing decisions about collaborations with physical objects facilitates ‘materialising social learning.’
- A playful-yet-serious environment allows teams to discuss fraught issues while fostering cohesiveness and trust. By entering the ‘magic circle’ (Huizinga, 1949’ Salen and Zimmerman, 2003) there can be suspension of some mundane concerns, and the opening up of imagination, while still retaining connections to the real world.
The metaphorical spaces maps are used in conjunction with ‘quests’—cards prompting specific questions for a team to consider as they explore the map. For example, an ‘outer space’ map enables quests around how a project ‘ventures into the unknown’, through questions of priorities (with limited resources), exploration versus exploitation, uncertainties about the future, existential risks, critical junctures, and points of no return. A ‘forest’ map may engage quests around paths (how did we get here? how do we get out of the woods?), wider ecosystems of projects, patterns of light and shade within a project, shelter and clearings, and so on. A team can progress through a series of different spaces as their collaboration progresses—arriving ultimately at a reflective ‘crystal palace’—or create their own spaces. One emergent feature of Unbox is that teams will co-create often unexpected (to an outside observer) new metaphors together with associations that make sense for their shared context, but would have been unlikely to have been arrived at without having gone through the process of playing together. For example, in one of our own workshops, we arrived at seeing our own skills as being propellers for the project, after boat metaphors led to discussions of sailing (and what winds, favourable or otherwise, we experienced) versus powered propulsion.
While our Unbox game is currently being developed and tested, by November it will be in a more mature form, and we would see ITD 24 as an event where we can get feedback and insight from the wider community studying and working within inter- and transdisciplinarity, and share ideas within this community of practice.
**Workshop outline**
Our proposal for a 90-minute workshop comprises:
- An introductory ‘metaphorical gift’ exercise or ritual in which participants use objects to get to know each other
- A short (10-minute) introductory presentation on metaphors and metaphorical spaces, processes, and the Unbox project and activity
- Working in small groups, participants will try out the Unbox game, applying it to their own contexts or imagining new trans- or interdisciplinary collaborations. The process involves using ‘metaphorical space’ game boards as canvases or maps and selecting physical artefacts from a selection provided to tell stories and respond to quests around different challenges that collaborative projects can face.
- The workshop is aimed at all ITD participants—they do not need to know each other, or have existing collaborations.
- We would aim for participants to try out at least two different metaphorical spaces in the time available
- A closing discussion where participants can share their experiences, and broader implications, insights, and opportunities can be explored.
The balance of plenary and small-group discussions and exercises will depend on the number of participants. The workshop will be facilitated by a subset of the authors.
