Search

Over the last 10 years we have seen a growing number of researchers integrating design experiments in their research inquiries. Initially, this work borrowed heavily from neighboring fields, employing a dual strategy in which design experiments and their evaluation were largely treated as separate processes that were often carried out by different people. More recently, design researchers have developed several approaches that integrate design-specific work methods into research. This paper takes a methodological look at three such established approaches that the authors call Lab, Field, and Gallery. They are described and their similarities and differences analyzed. In conclusion, whether design research today needs foundations based on the standards established for other disciplines is discussed.

This article describes the story of pragmatism and its transformation into symbolic interactionism at Carnegie Mellon University and Aalto University. In both universities, design researchers were interested in user experience in interactive systems. John Dewey's pragmatism taught them to study how experience sometimes transforms into an experience and occasionally into stories. Herbert Blumer's interactionism had its roots in Chicago School sociology, and it developed in association with pragmatism. His interactionism gave these researchers tools to study Dewey's concepts empirically. We show in the article how this theoretical connection came about after 2000 and how it has shaped research programs in these two communities since then. We also discuss the relevance of pragmatism and interactionism in our current technological landscape, dominated by social media and artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social structures are increasingly becoming subject matters of design, because considered integral to service design, akin to interfaces, physical elements, and spaces. The paper explores the use of aesthetics to reshape social structures in social innovation. It delves into three social innovation projects in Milan, formulating the concept of ‘convivial aesthetic’, which refers to the design and creation of materials, interactions, social forms, and a sense of community that fosters autonomy, personal interdependence, and positive social change. The analysis of the projects is based on a framework consisting of four elements: material support, social interaction, ordinary social forms, and the sense of community.The latter is a crucial component of convivial aesthetic: by fostering a feeling of belonging and shared purpose, participants become part of a larger social community with collective goals. Designers use symbols, rituals, and events to strengthen this sense of community.The paper acknowledges the limitations of this framework, particularly its focus on smaller communities and the need for further exploration of larger societal structures. However, it highlights the value of convivial aesthetic in shifting the focus of design from physical objects to immaterial interactions and social forms, ultimately promoting positive social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities can be a significant source of well-being. Design literature has recently paid attention to social design and social innovation and has advanced our understanding of designing for communities in many ways. One thing that has been left to the sidelines has been those imageries that shape communities. They are usually seen but unnoticed, but important in their consequences. This paper builds on Garfinkel's ethnomethodology to explicate some of these imageries through a series of four Plant Hotels in Helsinki and one in Stockholm. Inspired by relational art they were meant to explore community-formation with minimal rules. They were treated as breaching experiments that led us to classify the imageries into four main orientations. The paper discusses how these imageries create a web of assumptions that create and maintain communities and make them robust, and how they can be turned into design material that helps us to reimagine communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]