Exploring member experiences in choral communities to design a digital platform: A study with research through design approach

Abstract

This thesis examines participation in choral ensembles from an experiential perspective, exploring how participation is formed, incorporated, and sustained within collectively performed practices over time. Participation is approached in this context from a relational, experiential, and contextual standpoint. In this context, static, measurable, or outcome-oriented participation is not discussed. Choral ensembles, by their very nature, are engaged in collective production and simultaneously encompass various roles and responsibilities. Focusing on these ensembles at different levels of participation offers a unique context. In this respect, it focuses not only on musical production but also on organizational and coordination aspects, encompassing implicit practices, communicative and emotional dimensions. This study incorporates an insider's perspective, as the researcher pursuing the thesis is also an active member of a choir community. This position allows the researcher to gain insights that would be difficult for a researcher outside the community to obtain, while also providing opportunities to observe the community, engage in informal dialogues over a broad period, and access unspoken experiences. Limited to a specific community, this study aims to gain in-depth knowledge within a particular context without generalization, and to approach the experience of participation from different angles. The goal is to reach nuanced, established, and experientially acquired knowledge. In this study, design was used as a qualitative data generation method to investigate the experiential aspects of choir participation. Qualitative data were generated through multiple interconnected stages. The process began with an exploratory survey. A series of questions aimed at understanding general patterns, problem areas, and expectations related to the choir was posed to various choir communities. This stage was followed by a self-reflective diary study in which the researcher reflected on their experiences, insights, observations, and ideas throughout the early design explorations. Then, driven by the need to reconnect with his community, the researcher established an online messaging group on a platform already used by the community, to facilitate collective dialogues to reveal the routines and habits they had integrated into their daily lives. This stage was timed to coincide with the community's collaborative production, aiming to connect all points in the participation process, and an application was implemented that allowed participants to provide written reflections in real time. Finally, based on all the data, various design prototypes were created, participants from different roles were invited to semi-structured interviews, and dialogues were established through the designs to deepen understanding. The data converged into distinct patterns, and similar aspects began to emerge, forming several clusters when interpreted and analyzed in the context. This analysis ultimately illustrated five distinct themes related to experiential dimensions. In the first theme, the fragmentation of information across different channels and the resulting scattered resources and structures are explored as to how they affected participants' abilities in orientation, direction-taking, process-following, and self-positioning within the collective. The second theme reflected individuals' adaptations within the collective, their positioning within the collective practice alongside personal preparation processes, and the dynamic structure of this relationship. The third theme highlighted the extent to which participants' contributions, both musically and organizationally, were visible, how this remained visible or invisible within the collective awareness, and how this affected participants' sense of belonging and agency. The fourth theme addressed participants' ability to express themselves in relation to contextual and relational factors, as well as their willingness to ask questions or take initiative, under the headings of emotional security and conditions of expression. The fifth theme described routines, repetitions, and temporal fluctuations that influence the continuity of participation in the formation of collective order as temporal rhythms and sustainable involvement. Experiences often perceived as challenges, such as uncertainty, distance, invisibility, hesitation, or fluctuating participation, do not necessarily mean disengagement or failure. All of these reveal the variable and fluid nature of the involvement as a natural part of the process, functioning as transitional and adjustable conditions. Participation in the choir emerges as a flexible and evolving experience that does not follow a fixed line. This thesis aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of collective practice in choral communities by addressing participation as an experiential and relational phenomenon. It emphasizes the value of internal perspectives in revealing the implicit and latent aspects of participation and demonstrates how design-based research can function as a reflective tool for expressing collective experience. By highlighting the importance of sensitivity to experiential conditions, the study offers insights that can shed light on future design approaches within community-based and creative practice contexts.