{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129542"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/129542","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"A tool for process, a process for design tools: Surfacing design narratives via version-controlled creation","abstract":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","abstract_html":"Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Chen, Andrew"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sterman, Sarah"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-04-21","date_published":"2025-04-21","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z","subjects":["design tools","version control","documentation","design process"],"languages":["en","eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Andrew Chen"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129542","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sterman, Sarah"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Chen, Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-04-21","2025-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["design tools","version control","documentation","design process"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Andrew Chen"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129542"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","The student, Andrew Chen, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-19 at 03:26.","The student, Andrew Chen, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-04-19 at 03:37.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-04-21 at 09:20.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21827 on 2025-10-19 at 19:15:04","Creative design work is often nonlinear, exploratory, and difficult to document. While version control systems have transformed software development, they fall short in supporting the ambiguity, visual complexity, and rationale-rich workflows that characterize creative practice. This thesis introduces the concept of process-aware version control for design systems and presents the iterative process of building such tools that embody this approach. Grounded in studies of documentation practices in physical computing education and interviews with creative professionals, we identify key tensions between making and documenting, exploration and explanation, as well as automation and authorship. Through a research-through-design methodology, we developed two systems: SnapLog, a lightweight snapshot-based annotation tool, and SnapExplain, a fully integrated vector-based design environment with embedded version control, whose findings informed the design of SnapExplain, which incorporates structured versioning, AI-assisted annotations, and interactive branching to make the design process more visible, reflective, and communicable. An evaluation study with seven professional designers shows how SnapExplain scaffolds both personal reflection and communicative storytelling, enabling users to track process midpoints, construct design narratives, and balance creative flow with communicative clarity. These findings call for a rethinking of design system—not just as containers for outcomes, but as active participants in capturing, shaping, and communicating the evolution of creative ideas."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A tool for process, a process for design tools: Surfacing design narratives via version-controlled creation"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sterman, Sarah"],"dc:creator":["Chen, Andrew"],"dc:date":["2025-04-21","2025-05"],"dc:description":["Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2027-05-01","The student, Andrew Chen, accepted the attached license on 2025-04-19 at 03:26.","The student, Andrew Chen, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-04-19 at 03:37.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-04-21 at 09:20.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21827 on 2025-10-19 at 19:15:04","Creative design work is often nonlinear, exploratory, and difficult to document. While version control systems have transformed software development, they fall short in supporting the ambiguity, visual complexity, and rationale-rich workflows that characterize creative practice. This thesis introduces the concept of process-aware version control for design systems and presents the iterative process of building such tools that embody this approach. Grounded in studies of documentation practices in physical computing education and interviews with creative professionals, we identify key tensions between making and documenting, exploration and explanation, as well as automation and authorship. Through a research-through-design methodology, we developed two systems: SnapLog, a lightweight snapshot-based annotation tool, and SnapExplain, a fully integrated vector-based design environment with embedded version control, whose findings informed the design of SnapExplain, which incorporates structured versioning, AI-assisted annotations, and interactive branching to make the design process more visible, reflective, and communicable. An evaluation study with seven professional designers shows how SnapExplain scaffolds both personal reflection and communicative storytelling, enabling users to track process midpoints, construct design narratives, and balance creative flow with communicative clarity. These findings call for a rethinking of design system—not just as containers for outcomes, but as active participants in capturing, shaping, and communicating the evolution of creative ideas."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129542"],"dc:language":["en","eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Andrew Chen"],"dc:subject":["design tools","version control","documentation","design process"],"dc:title":["A tool for process, a process for design tools: Surfacing design narratives via version-controlled creation"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:05Z"}