Abstract
Systems are shaped by dominant mindsets that constrain which futures can be imagined or made possible. Supporting system transformation requires shifting temporal boundaries and revealing the hidden system logics. This study explores how design can contribute to understanding and reframing sociotechnical system change from within. In an empirical study conducted within a research consortium investigating the electrification of road freight transport, we, as design researchers, entered the system change as participants. Using a practice-oriented lens, we learned from riding in trucks, conducting contextual observations, and interviewing drivers and transport planners whose everyday work sustains the system. What is often portrayed as a tightly controlled, planned system instead revealed itself as held together by human skills. This study uncovered how systems are maintained by workarounds – established practices and improvised actions that expose hidden tensions and logics. We propose that workarounds can be used as potential leverage points for transformative change.
Keywords
transformative design practices, systemic transformation, sociotechnical systems, leverage points
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.727
Citation
Berensson, T., and Hesselgren, M. (2026) Changing systems from within: Workarounds in sociotechnical system transformation, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.727
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Changing systems from within: Workarounds in sociotechnical system transformation
Systems are shaped by dominant mindsets that constrain which futures can be imagined or made possible. Supporting system transformation requires shifting temporal boundaries and revealing the hidden system logics. This study explores how design can contribute to understanding and reframing sociotechnical system change from within. In an empirical study conducted within a research consortium investigating the electrification of road freight transport, we, as design researchers, entered the system change as participants. Using a practice-oriented lens, we learned from riding in trucks, conducting contextual observations, and interviewing drivers and transport planners whose everyday work sustains the system. What is often portrayed as a tightly controlled, planned system instead revealed itself as held together by human skills. This study uncovered how systems are maintained by workarounds – established practices and improvised actions that expose hidden tensions and logics. We propose that workarounds can be used as potential leverage points for transformative change.