The Role of 3D Printed Objects Facilitating the Process of Mutual Communication and Collective Idea Generation Between Non-designers and Designers

Despite the remarkable technological improvements in 3D printing technology, there are diverse challenges that small scientific laboratories encounter when using such equipment to develop customized lab equipment. A major challenge is successfully transferring and incorporating the scientists' ideas during the design process due to their limited experience in design practices. This paper explores the role of 3D printers in the ideation process of design specifically in the context of Co-design environments with scientists. It is argued that 3D printed objects can support ideation by allowing enhanced engagement between participants, helping uncover important insights and increasing the team's idea generation process while enhancing the clarity of communicating these design ideas. A workshop was conducted to test this hypothesis at the University of Ottawa Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Medicine with to demonstrate that the 3D printer could support non-designers in the ideation process by enabling different domain-specific types of interactions