A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, HCII 2011, LNCS 6778, pp. 219–228, 2011. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 Online Design Discussion Sites: Emerging Resource for Creative Design Moushumi Sharmin and Brian P. Bailey University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Computer Science Urbana, IL, USA {sharmin2,bpbailey}@illinois.edu Abstract. Online design discussion sites are a popular networking platform drawing thousands of designers from all around the globe. These sites show promise as emerging design resource by enabling designers to learn about de- sign techniques and tools, share ideas and to seek (receive) critique to help re- fine their ideas, and to learn from other designers’ experience. In this paper, we report results of a study that aims to understand designers’ experience and ac- tivities in online design discussion site and how they relate to design. We have analyzed member profiles (N=12164), posts submitted by one-time posters (N=2854), and post-contents (N=1004) for a month and conducted follow-up interviews (N=5) to investigate what roles such sites play in supporting design. Our findings reveal that while designers find such sites extremely promising, ineffective representation of ongoing activities, lack of visibility of contribu- tion, and difficulty in finding needed information hinder (even discourage) participation. We propose actionable implications that can lead into better site design. Keywords: Creative Design, Design Community, Online Design Discussion Site, Design Critique. 1 Introduction Online discussion sites provide a place for informal conversation for people with similar experience [1] as well as offer opportunities for building and maintaining relationships. Online discussion sites serve as effective sources of communication [2], information gathering and entertainment [3]. Online design discussion sites (ODDS) are a small but important subset, attracting many designers especially students and freelancers - offering an informal environment for communication and collaboration. Design researchers consider creative design to be a social process [4, 5] and crea- tive outcomes are attributed to the discussion and collaboration among designers as it promotes divergent thinking [6]. ODDS thus show promise in supporting design crea- tivity by allowing designers to share and receive critique on their ideas from a diverse group of designers, making design sociable. For many freelance and student designers who don’t have access to a design team or colleagues to assist in the design process, ODDS are the only source of critique.