"...public discussion, workshopping..." and beyond? ;)

[alex-kovac]

Hi, I was reading through the docs, and the following paragraph raised an issue:

We want to develop this missing definition through inclusive and collaborative methods rooted in public discussion, workshopping and sharing different understandings of this field to ensure such a definition will adequately cover all the different meanings and applications of design. (from "Open Design Definition" project introductory text)

The issue, in my opinion, is that this paragraph presents an unexpected amalgam of very diverse concepts of human interaction: "...through inclusive and collaborative methods rooted in public discussion, workshopping and sharing different understandings...". Since I could not discern here the exact message conveyed, I wanted to suggest an improvement. But, I need some help.

To focus:

• "Public discussion"; a well established concept of, let's say, exchange of information.
• "workshopping"; a metaphorical neologism, representing a currently-again-very-popular albeit a very narrow approach to production.
• "Sharing different understandings" here perhaps is redundant, as I believe it is already a part of "public discussion" concept.

The contrast between "Public discussion" and "workshopping" is what strikes me. What do you think?

1. The editors' intent was to achieve a stylistic/rhetoric effect? If so, perhaps the text could read: ...inclusive and collaborative methods ranging from public discussion to workshopping...
2. The editors' intent was to present an exhaustive list of available methods? In that case, it is a very short list ;) and it ignores the beauties of asynchronous and concurrent online collaboration (such as GitHub, for example).

In my opinion, the editors' intent was 1), but I am not sure... Anyone cares to chime in on this?

XL Thanks

[openp2pdesign]

Yes, it was only a rhetoric effect... we started with some workshops, and then moved to GitHub, but there may be even further ways for developing it. Have a look at the meta folder that tries to describe the process. Feel free to suggest more ways! :)