Abstract

Successful communication of design, particularly in project work and teams that are both interdisciplinary, is crucial for common understanding and for motivating project partners, and thus ultimately for the success of the design. However, designers still underestimate the value of language and verbal communication as a core competence, which often leads to unsuccessful presentations and disputes over design and its infrequently quantifiable contents. In our study “Do you Speak Design?”, we examined verbal communication in design processes and identified the following factors for successful verbal communication: the extent of personal vocabulary in describing significance and effects, precise statements using verbal/visual combination as well as applying logical argumentation patterns in communicating design contents. The authors introduce three tools, which can support designers in communicating with process partners during the product development process.