In DMSP course we talk a lot about tools: Touch Designer, Arduino, projection mapping, sensors. But collaboration itself is a technology. It requires, for example: protocols, debugging, version control, user testing, maintenance. When collaboration fails, the “system” crashes.
Moreover, I am willing to discuss that the course suggests modelling ourselves like a production company. We tested this. We assigned roles: Director, Technical Lead, Media Designer, Sound Designer, Documentation Lead.
Initially, this clarified responsibility. But we noticed something interesting: Roles created ownership, but also territorialism. The media designer began defending visual decisions as if they were intellectual property. The technical lead became gatekeeper of feasibility.
In terms of ‘comparison’,Looking at collective practices like team Lab, their work appears seamless. But interviews reveal a highly structured internal communication system. They don’t just make immersive work.
They engineer collaboration.
In that case, We introduced rotating critique sessions where each role critiques their own domain publicly. This flattened hierarchy.
The result for instance: less ego, more shared language, more integrated design.
In a nutshell, I think collaboration isn’t soft skill. It’s infrastructure.
