Platoniq interviews David Wilcox, from Designing for Civil Society (1)



1. What are the origins of your project? When did it start? What were the main goals?
 
In 2003 I was thinking about starting a blog, and went to a workshop called Designing for Civil Society, at a conference. I suggested we blog the workshop... And afterwards I kept it going.


2. What needs does it address, what sort of problems does it try to solve?

I have worked as a print journalist, and as a consultant in regeneration, community engagement, and partnership organisations. The focus of the blog -and my current work- is on how to mix face-to-face and online communication for collaborations. I continue to work as a consultant, helping people develop processes for collaboration.

 
3. Often, day to day practice and community use can shift or reshape the goals and needs. How has this everyday praxis changed the project since its kickoff?

Yes. I work as a freelance, sometimes on my own and sometimes in teams with others. Our work is shaped by the jobs that we get. I try and write about the work that I do, without compromising clients. Since most of the work is for public bodies or nonprofits, I believe in sharing lessons learned.

 
4. In our experience with the Bank of Common Knowledge, collective games make for perfect setups to spread certain ideas or raise awareness about the user/player's own reality. Can you talk about your intentions with that particular strategy and your own perception of that format as a medium?

The games were originally developed from work done by Drew Mackie, who I have worked with for 25 years. Drew and I found that games workshops were the best ways to help people develop ideas collaboratively. The framework of the game created a common place, and language, for people to get to know each other and explore opportunities.


5. You have been working on these "new" communication tools for decades. What have you learnt from this experience?

• It is helpful to think about four main functions: getting and consuming information; communicating and communing with others; creating content; collaborating.
• People have different preferences for online, offline, phone, text, etc.
• No one method does it all - mix media.
• Some people are collaborative -others are not. Attitude is more important than skill.

 
6. From all the different "useful games" you have tested, is there a type or model that works better than others?

It depends on the situation -and Drew would be better at answering this. However, one format that has consistently worked well is as follows:



7. What makes a game more effective when trying to communicate and spread community
based concepts?

People often come from different sectors and disciplines, and don't necessarily have a common language or framework for talking about projects. The game helps create that -it is a level playing field for everyone.

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