The nature of design activity is often fluid and dynamic and quite difficult to define as a particular pattern or formulae but there might be generic aspects which could be described as immersive – mostly concerned with getting started. In attempting to find a more specific instance, we both identified writing – either as part of a recording process or one which is designed to inspire and engage others to respond to a design brief.

Q2 What were the particular characteristics of the situation that engaged you in an immersive way.

Having discussed the nature of our particular roles – design teaching and design research – we tended to agree that immersion occurs when, by virtue of engagement with a subject or group of themes, one is unaware of adjacent activity, the passage of time and sometimes overall themes or objectives. Some will refer to this as flow and many will have experienced the occasional need to come up for air or, as my colleague also describes, re-entering the atmosphere. This is often due to an interruption from the parallel universe inhabited by other life forms that we’d left prior to immersion.

Such periods of immersion are then sought during the sifting and sorting of thoughts, observations, reflections as we search for the nub of the issue we’re wrestling with; the essence or core concept. Using ‘post-its’ is a commonly used technique that facilitates the re-ordering of thoughts and helps to break away from linear thinking.  

In my case this will be due to imploring my students to start anywhere – a process by which we encourage them to overcome the problem of creative block by acknowledging that by checking against a set of criteria, it is possible to put forward a number of starting points or search for a breadth of inspiration without needing to adhere to a linear progression; indeed the creative process can be enhanced by dismissing linear processes and re-formatting or expressing them differently. So often, it is necessary to ‘unlearn’ processes that have been employed in the past in order to address a particular curriculum, whereby some students find it very difficult to ‘start anywhere’.

Q3 What forms of learning / personal development / change emerged from the situation?

We found ourselves likening the experience to walking into the supermarket to buy teabags. By virtue of the successful application of the psychology of retail seduction, the teabags are completely lost from the quest and a host of other goodies find their way into the basket. None of these items were intended and, usually, only on arriving home and boiling the kettle, are we confronted with the failure of original mission. However, the potential for a great unexpected meal is in the offing.

Serendipity often results in finding answers to alternative problems but is also often the distraction that is needed to solve, reframe or even dismiss the original problem – (until I also run out of coffee…..)

Q4 What words/concepts/feelings would you use to describe the immersive experience? What did being immersed mean to you?

To re-use some earlier points – we tended to agree that immersion occurs when, by virtue of engagement with a subject or group of themes, one is unaware of adjacent activity, the passage of time and sometimes overall themes or objectives. Some will refer to this as flow and many will have experienced the occasional need to come up for air or, as my colleague also describes, re-entering the atmosphere. This is often due to an interruption from the parallel universe inhabited by other life forms that we’d left prior to immersion.

Q5 What principles or lessons can be drawn from this story?  For example, how could this story inform designs and enrich opportunities for learning through immersive experience in higher education?

All too often, the structure of everyday life prevents creative disengagement, serendipitous discoveries and revelations that enrich our practice, so the key to much of this would appear to lie in finding and sharing appropriate distractions. The value of such techniques are often viewed skeptically – for example, my colleague’s worry that her practice of standing at the sink washing up while mentally wrestling with writing a paper was ‘wasting time’ only to have it confirmed by a fellow researcher as a legitimate activity in the research arena - so part of the challenge could be seen to bring them into mainstream activity – to legitimise them, thus allowing the creative juices to flow.