19 / The Significance of Contributive Design

As organizations move inexorably to a team-based, agile methodology, how do individual contributors effectively demonstrate what they’re working on or what they’ve accomplished? If performance is measured based solely on the team’s deliverables, how do team leaders appropriately acknowledge each member’s contribution or target their professional development? Enter the notion of contributive design, as explained by Miguel Cardona. Contributive design fosters an environment in which team members collaborate as one, but also where they’re not necessarily dependent on others for their own outcomes. The involvement of each individual in the project is distinguishable, but not distinct.

In this episode of ITX’s Product Momentum Podcast, hosts Sean and Paul welcome Miguel Cardona. He is a professor of design at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and an artist. He is also the keynote speaker at ITX’s 2^nd annual ITX UX 2019: Beyond the Pixels design conference. Miguel introduces us to the notion of contributive design and its far-reaching impact. In the classroom, contributive tools help him evaluate the performance of project teams while isolating the contributions of each student. Contributive design applies with equal significance in the workplace as we consider the modular nature of teams, design systems, and the user experience.