Abstract
Amid the widely misunderstood textile waste crisis, this study explores how to raise awareness through accessible, play-based learning. During iterative workshops guided by the Stanford Design Thinking framework, participants designed educational board games, such as Aftermath, that positioned players as everyday stakeholders navigating real-world sustainability challenges. As the games evolved, so did their participants – shifting from passive learners to active co-creators in cycles of play, learning, empowerment. The collaborative design journey prompted critical reflection on individual roles within larger systems, leading to increased awareness and noticeable shifts in daily consumption habits. Aftermath and the other co-created games ultimately became more than games; they became catalysts for behavioral change and environmental responsibility. This work demonstrates how design thinking can extend beyond problem-solving to foster imagination, agency, and collective action. Through play, participants gained not only knowledge, but the tools to reimagine and reshape their own communities for a more sustainable future.
Keywords
Design Thinking; Textile Waste; Educational Game Design; Play-Based Learning
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.864
Citation
DeVoy, J., Cheng, Q., Pedley, N., Ferrone, S., Frato-Sweeney, C., Cresti, M.,and O'Brien, M.(2025) Aftermath: Playful Design for a Sustainable Future, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.864
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 2 - Design Futuring
Aftermath: Playful Design for a Sustainable Future
Amid the widely misunderstood textile waste crisis, this study explores how to raise awareness through accessible, play-based learning. During iterative workshops guided by the Stanford Design Thinking framework, participants designed educational board games, such as Aftermath, that positioned players as everyday stakeholders navigating real-world sustainability challenges. As the games evolved, so did their participants – shifting from passive learners to active co-creators in cycles of play, learning, empowerment. The collaborative design journey prompted critical reflection on individual roles within larger systems, leading to increased awareness and noticeable shifts in daily consumption habits. Aftermath and the other co-created games ultimately became more than games; they became catalysts for behavioral change and environmental responsibility. This work demonstrates how design thinking can extend beyond problem-solving to foster imagination, agency, and collective action. Through play, participants gained not only knowledge, but the tools to reimagine and reshape their own communities for a more sustainable future.