Abstract
More-than-human approaches to design are one of the ways in which the design community is rethinking itself in the face of sustainability challenges. These approaches most often decenter humans from being the sole focus, stakeholder, or actant in design processes. However, currently, there is a shortage of more-than-human methods and tools that would be applicable in day-to-day design practice. In this paper, we, as one of the academic partners in a transdisciplinary consortium project, report results from our preliminary work and early insights towards developing a design methodological framework that would support the mediation of human and nonhuman needs in design. We view the concept of needs as a boundary object and, through semi-structured interviews with the consortium members, explore perspectives on ‘needs’ within the consortium. Then, we discuss five areas of complexity that our team needs to consider and further learn about while developing the design methodological framework.
Keywords
more-than-human design, design for sustainability, multispecies design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.524
Citation
Veselova, E., Gaziulusoy, I., and Lohmann, J. (2022) Mediating the needs of human and natural nonhuman stakeholders: Towards a design methodological framework, in Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.524
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Conference Track
Research Paper
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Mediating the needs of human and natural nonhuman stakeholders: Towards a design methodological framework
More-than-human approaches to design are one of the ways in which the design community is rethinking itself in the face of sustainability challenges. These approaches most often decenter humans from being the sole focus, stakeholder, or actant in design processes. However, currently, there is a shortage of more-than-human methods and tools that would be applicable in day-to-day design practice. In this paper, we, as one of the academic partners in a transdisciplinary consortium project, report results from our preliminary work and early insights towards developing a design methodological framework that would support the mediation of human and nonhuman needs in design. We view the concept of needs as a boundary object and, through semi-structured interviews with the consortium members, explore perspectives on ‘needs’ within the consortium. Then, we discuss five areas of complexity that our team needs to consider and further learn about while developing the design methodological framework.