Designing Small Spaces: A Case Study of the Florida International University Digital Writing Studio

Designing For Users

Since the pairing of computers and writing, researchers have been interested in the design of digital media labs and classrooms (Boiarsky, 1990; Myers, 1993; Nagelhout & Rutz, 2004), especially those that enhance collaboration between students and faculty. When developing a model for media lab design, administrators are likely to discover several excellent approaches that focus on designing larger spaces (Sheridan & Inman, 2010; Gresham & Yancey, 2004), developing curriculum (Carter & Dunbar-Odom, 2009), or distributing the workplace (Harrison, Wheeler, & Whitehead, 2004). When thinking about designing media labs, there are certainly other considerations to make depending on the pedagogical goals of the program. For instance, where collaboration is valued, Handa’s (1993) discussion of pods might be useful for thinking about the organization of workstations. Similarly, Bemer, Moeller, and Ball’s (2009) focus on space mobility and collaboration shows that media labs can be flexible spaces and adjust to use. On the other hand, Inman (2010) provides a helpful way to think about designating areas for specific activities through spatial relationships, such as the location of potentially loud audio/video editing stations in a space. He calls this a “zoning approach.”