Page 197 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

5. Discussion 185
design disciplines (‘craft designers’). My analysis shows that each subgroup holds different ideas and approaches with regard to ‘what a designer ought to do’. Heterogeneity among these groups especially became clear around interactions with space, time and with clients. For example, while both groups agreed that it is important to work in a creative environment sepa- rate from corporate offices, the business designers emphasized the neces- sity of including the clients in the workspace of designers while the craft designers were proponents of working independent from clients. Further, while both the groups of designers agreed that design processes cannot be planned neatly, the business designers preferred to spend their time on developing ‘good content’ while the craft designer spend a significant amount of their time on making things look ‘beautiful and functioning’. Then, similar to the business designers, the craft designers considered it important to co-create design projects with clients. Yet, the business desig- ners agreed to involve the clients along design processes, while the craft designers preferred to only involve designers at predefined moments (such as presentations). Moreover, while both communities of designers share certain values and perspectives, the ways in which they practice these in their work are different and is likely to result in discussions about what counts as ‘best practice’ in Service Design.
Further, my analysis shows that the communities of designers created temporary settlements to move their work forward despite ambiguity around what constitutes a core practice of designers. For example, desig- ners adapted to each other, made a compromise or developed a new prac- tice. At the same time, however, they continued expressing their discon- tent in ‘backstage environments’, for example after an official meeting commenced and when they were taking lunch. In such settings, designers would make jokes or gossip. Because these temporary settlements did not lead to an overall consensus, the occupational mandate remained ‘under negotiation’ and ambiguity around work tasks persisted. Taken together, this study shows that in emerging and changing occupations it can be difficult to develop an occupational mandate. Instead of clarifying what counts as core work practices, the arrival of new members in occupations can challenge existing perceptions and routines, and increase the already existing ambiguity around the work domain.
5.1.3. Acting like ceremony masters in facilitating liminality for clients
While Chapter 2 and 3 focus mainly on how a subcategory of creatives – designers – organize their own work, Chapter 4 adopts a more external