Leveraging Collective Intelligence from Crowdsourcing to Co-creation in Field Studies

Abstract

The paper explores the advantages and forms of harnessing collective intelligence (CI) that can support cognition, coordination, and collaboration in architectural education. These forms focus on various design tasks by enhancing groups' performance, bringing together diverse actors within a distributed network, and strengthening the process through informed and inclusive decisions. Specifically, we propose a co-creation strategy to comprehensively map place values and rapidly scan the field. By incorporating the technical requirements and contextual constraints of various fields, we conducted iterative workshops within the action research circle. The results show that the CI approach yields significantly positive impacts, justifying its application through a functional triple structure that replaces individually challenging and frustrating fieldwork. This structure involves: (1) definition of parameters and tasks for groups based on objectives, (2) the collection and extraction of values from the field, and (3) the creation of collective cartographies. Additionally, our research makes a valuable contribution by providing a theoretical framework for diverse forms of CI, highlighting the advantages of crowdsourcing-based platforms in both urban and rural contexts, and evaluating the usability of tested mobile apps. We conclude the paper by discussing the limitations, adaptabilities, and potentials for the broader use of CI in the field studies of students.