Designing collaborations: Could design probes contribute to better communication between collaborators?

Digital Humanities is an inherently collaborative field of research. The wide range of stakeholders, as well as the ever changing methodologies, hold the potential for innovation but also carry a constant threat of miscommunication. Design is a fixed partner in Digital Humanities and their practices are closely intertwined. However on a practical level, design is most commonly regarded as an implementation technique rather than an equal part of the theoretical framework. 
We propose to utilize design as a research tool by developing a set of Design Probes which are created to address the specific needs and challenges of collaborative research in Digital Humanities. We describe design and technical implementation methods, as well as the theoretical context and the possible outcome of this proposal.