Exploring how junior design professionals cope with and learn from value-based conflicts

ABSTRACT

This article explores how junior design professionals cope with value-based conflicts. We interviewed 22 design professionals about past and current value-based conflicts and the coping strategies adopted. Applying a grounded theory approach, we identified 11 types of coping strategies employed by junior design professionals. Our findings allowed us to clarify the nature of the coping process and localise value-based conflicts in the process of collaborative practice. During the coping process, professionals learn how to handle value-based conflicts through emotional release, developing a broader action repertoire, and engaging in timely action. We also identified transitions between specific coping strategies as junior designers learned from past conflicts and developed as a professional.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaboration
• values
• conflict
• coping
• reflection
• learning

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our colleagues from The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Delft University of Technology for their support throughout the research. In particular, we would like to thank Eva Frese and Sebastiaan Goudsmit for their critical feedback that helped us to improve our arguments in the article. Furthermore, we would like to thank the participants for their openness and honesty in sharing conflict experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The coping process with an internal value difference is similar to the process of an external value difference, except it involves a single junior designer who holds two conflicting values.