Artifacts - Human-Centered Framework for Growing Ideas - Bachelor’s Thesis

Sep 12, 2026

Artifacts presents a human-centered digital framework for developing and growing ideas over longer periods. Grounded in the notion of documents as units of meaning rather than units of data, the framework supports collecting information, expressing and refining thoughts, connecting ideas, and enabling collaboration and sharing with others. It is designed to match how humans think and to augment creative cognition, aligning interaction, structure, and navigation for seamless work across time and teams.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages98

Reading Time34 min

AccessFree to download

Table of Contents

State of Science and Practice

Models of the Process of Ideation in Context

Interviews

Supporting Creativity

Synthesis

Design Sprint

Design Values

Basis of the Framework

Concept

Documents as Units of Meaning

Open and Unrestricted Organization

Contextful Working with Documents

Tightly Integrated Collaboration

Execution

Introduction

Whiteboard Wireframing

Interaction Model

Interface Iterations

Final User Interface

Appendix

Statement of Authorship

Reference List

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Impressum

Nikolas Klein Christoph Labacher Florian Ludwig Artifacts is a human-centered framework for growing ideas. It is built around documents that are units of meaning rather than units of data, enabling the expression of thoughts grounded in the way humans think. It organizes these documents loosely enough to aid the making of associations while retaining enough structure for users to navigate their collections seamlessly. It is built for humans to continuously develop ideas over longer periods of time and emphasizes collaboration as part of the system . Nikolas Klein Christoph Labacher Florian Ludwig Artifacts is a human-centered framework for growing ideas. Hochschule für Gestaltung Schwäbisch Gmünd Bachelor’s Thesis Interactiondesign Summer Semester 2017 Prof. David Oswald Florian Geiselhart 3 Table of Contents 7 State of Science and Practice 9 Models of the Process of Ideationin Context 25 Interviews 37 Supporting Creativity 57 Synthesis 59 Design Sprint 73 Design Values 77 Basis of the Framework 87 Concept 89 Documents as Units of Meaning 99 Open and Unrestricted Organization 107 Contextful Working with Documents 113 Tightly Integrated Collaboration 117 Execution 119 Introduction 123 Whiteboard Wireframing 127 Interaction Model 131 Interface Iterations 147 Final User Interface 173 Appendix 175 Statement of Authorship 176 Reference List 182 List of Figures 189 Acknowledgements 191 Impressum 5 Introduction »The snap judgements of intuition […] are rarities in the history of world-changing ideas. Most hunches that turn into important innovations unfold over much longer time frames. They start with a vague, hard-to-describe sense that there’s an interesting solution to a problem that hasn’t yet been proposed, and they linger in the shadows of the mind, sometimes for decades, assembling new connections and gaining strength. And then one day they emerge into the light of day: sometimes jolted out by some newly discovered trove of information, or by another hunch lingering in another mind, or by some internal association that ﬁnally completes the thought.« The objective of this project is to devise a digital framework that supports the process of developing ideas: From collecting information, expressing thoughts, developing them further, putting them into connection with each other, to collaborating on them and finally sharing them with other people. The framework is to be designed in a human-centered way, putting the way humans think and their creative process first, rather than being rooted in technical limitations or the legacy of previous computer systems. Digital tools can have a great impact on the way humans think. Based on Douglas Engelbart’s vision of »Augmenting Human Intellect« (ENGELBART, 1962) the goal is to offer humans a tool that augments their mental capabilities by opening up new ways of thinking and enables them to solve more and more complex problems, which they could not have solved before. JOHNSON, 2013 , P. 75 Part 01 01 Models of the Process of Ideation in Context 02 Interviews 03 Supporting Creativity State of Science and Practice Through literature research and interviews we got an overview of the current research into the creative process, how practitioners understand and perceive this process, as well as what can be done to support it. Chapter 01 Models of the Process of Ideation in Context The creative process is complex and non-linear. It includes several phases and possible barriers . While there is no agreed-upon definition of the process, we looked at different scientific models and combined them into one overarching model that covers all phases . 10 Dr. Klaus Linneweh (1942 – 2013) was a German psychologist and founder of the »Institut für Systematische Innovation« . Alex F. Osborn (1888 – 1966) created the »Brainstorming« technique and wrote the book »Applied Imagination« . State of Scienc

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the Artifacts framework?

Artifacts is designed to support the end-to-end process of developing ideas—from collecting information and expressing thoughts to connecting ideas, collaborating, and sharing.

How does Artifacts define documents within the system?

Documents function as units of meaning rather than units of data, helping people express thoughts grounded in human ways of thinking.

Which aspects of the ideation process does the thesis cover?

The thesis reviews the state of science and practice, presents models of ideation in context, reports interviews, and synthesizes concepts including supporting creativity, collaboration, and execution through the final interface.

Sep 12, 2026

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