This paper analyses how interaction designers act and think in two different studio settings in order to understand what potential each setting presents for the development of digital design competence. We first observed interaction design students working in a design studio and then in a computer augmented interactive space. In the studio, the students oscillated continuously between individual and cooperative work, while in the interactive space, the work was focused on shared displays. The results describe how students collaborate to develop digital design competence, which not only includes competence in using digital media, but also competence in envisioning and articulating someone else’s future use of digital media.