Abstract
Drawing from my experience as a hybrid practitioner-educator, this pedagogical statement examines how we teach the invisible dimensions of transformative design. While traditional design process diagrams and metaphors—from squiggles to diamonds—effectively structure design activities, they fall short in teaching students how to facilitate transformative design processes. I propose braiding as a complementary cross-cultural metaphor that illuminates the concurrent processes woven through design work. I define four fundamental strands that expert practitioners weave into complex design processes: learning (growing capacity), narrative (weaving stories), relationships (growing connections and trust), and change (rehearsing transformation). This framework emerged from my practice of teaching students not just what to design, but how to orchestrate processes that transform products and services, and people and organizations. The metaphor of braiding also emphasizes the facilitative or holding skills design practitioners must develop to guide processes in contexts of crisis or change. This statement offers fellow design educators new language and invitations for teaching the social dimensions of design, particularly crucial for preparing students to work in complex, cross-cultural social contexts.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.178
Citation
Kahl, M.(2025) From Diamonds to Braids: New Metaphors for Teaching Transformative Design, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.178
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Statement of Pedagogy
From Diamonds to Braids: New Metaphors for Teaching Transformative Design
Drawing from my experience as a hybrid practitioner-educator, this pedagogical statement examines how we teach the invisible dimensions of transformative design. While traditional design process diagrams and metaphors—from squiggles to diamonds—effectively structure design activities, they fall short in teaching students how to facilitate transformative design processes. I propose braiding as a complementary cross-cultural metaphor that illuminates the concurrent processes woven through design work. I define four fundamental strands that expert practitioners weave into complex design processes: learning (growing capacity), narrative (weaving stories), relationships (growing connections and trust), and change (rehearsing transformation). This framework emerged from my practice of teaching students not just what to design, but how to orchestrate processes that transform products and services, and people and organizations. The metaphor of braiding also emphasizes the facilitative or holding skills design practitioners must develop to guide processes in contexts of crisis or change. This statement offers fellow design educators new language and invitations for teaching the social dimensions of design, particularly crucial for preparing students to work in complex, cross-cultural social contexts.