Abstract
This paper considers designers’ embodied engagements while designing for play from the lens of “care.” We consider such engagements as socio-material rela-tions of care, following recent theorizations of care within care studies. Relying on observations from a variety of activities undertaken by students during a two-week design workshop on embodied play design, we present a theoretical model that identifies two orders of care in design activities: First order, “care through,” indexes the immediate objects that designers attend to in the here-and-now while implementing procedures, practices and tools provided by diverse design methods. Second order, “care forward,” indicates the future beneficiaries of de-signed things, who are typically, though not necessarily, the projected users of design. The paper contributes to design literature by providing a model for in-vestigating the affective and practical relations of care in design practice, with implications for how specific design activities and methods frame care.
Keywords
play; design process; care; body
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.776
Citation
Kathrine Hammeleff Jørgensen, I., and Kaygan, H. (2024) “Feelings about the other body:” caring through and forward In design for play, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.776
Creative Commons License
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
“Feelings about the other body:” caring through and forward In design for play
This paper considers designers’ embodied engagements while designing for play from the lens of “care.” We consider such engagements as socio-material rela-tions of care, following recent theorizations of care within care studies. Relying on observations from a variety of activities undertaken by students during a two-week design workshop on embodied play design, we present a theoretical model that identifies two orders of care in design activities: First order, “care through,” indexes the immediate objects that designers attend to in the here-and-now while implementing procedures, practices and tools provided by diverse design methods. Second order, “care forward,” indicates the future beneficiaries of de-signed things, who are typically, though not necessarily, the projected users of design. The paper contributes to design literature by providing a model for in-vestigating the affective and practical relations of care in design practice, with implications for how specific design activities and methods frame care.