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When a collaboration is not a collaboration
Prisoner’s dilemma in digital product design.
Collaborating on digital product design with engineers or managers follows the same principles as the prisoner’s dilemma — both of you can either cooperate or defect. In more modern language, suited to the design industry, you can either collaborate by building on each other’s ideas or make the most common beginner’s mistake:
falling in love with your own design.
In real life, the difference isn’t always as clear as in theory when it comes to whether the other party is truly collaborating or subtly competing by pushing their own ideas. From the outside, it might look like people are working together — sharing opinions, discussing pros and cons, using various mind-mapping techniques — but beneath all that, the good old competition gene might still be lurking, even if unconsciously.
So how can this “defecting collaboration” be noticed and mitigated before it derails the work, especially when the defecting party isn’t even aware they’re doing it?
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Why can it happen?
Uncovering the blindspots
In any scenario, designing a digital product demands cross-functional collaboration, as all stakeholders…