Abstract
This article explores how norm-critical design can contribute to the relational turn in design, drawing on a previous study of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. While relational design emphasizes contextualization, interdependencies, and evolving relationships, norm-critical design provides tools to identify, visualize, and challenge embedded norms within these relationships. By transforming survey questions into design concepts, this study demonstrates how norm-critical design materializes implicit assumptions, making them visible for critique and reflection. The findings illustrate that surveys are not neutral data collection tools but performative instruments shaping relationships, self-perceptions, and societal norms. The article argues that norm-critical design expands relational design by offering methodologies to critically examine, understand and engage with the complex networks of relationships that shape human and non-human interactions. This alignment between norm-critical and relational design underscores how design is not merely a problem-solving tool but an intervention into relational dynamics.
Keywords
Norm-critical design, Relational design, HBSC survey
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.53
Citation
Isaksson, A., Ehrnberger, K., Björklund, M.,and Börjesson, E.(2025) Nrm-critical design as a path forward in the relational turn: Examples from a norm-critical exploration of the HBSC survey, in Brandt, E., Markussen, T., Berglund, E., Julier, G., Linde, P. (eds.), Nordes 2025: Relational Design, 6-8 August, Oslo, Norway. https://doi.org/10.21606/nordes.2025.53
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Exploratory Papers
Included in
Nrm-critical design as a path forward in the relational turn: Examples from a norm-critical exploration of the HBSC survey
This article explores how norm-critical design can contribute to the relational turn in design, drawing on a previous study of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. While relational design emphasizes contextualization, interdependencies, and evolving relationships, norm-critical design provides tools to identify, visualize, and challenge embedded norms within these relationships. By transforming survey questions into design concepts, this study demonstrates how norm-critical design materializes implicit assumptions, making them visible for critique and reflection. The findings illustrate that surveys are not neutral data collection tools but performative instruments shaping relationships, self-perceptions, and societal norms. The article argues that norm-critical design expands relational design by offering methodologies to critically examine, understand and engage with the complex networks of relationships that shape human and non-human interactions. This alignment between norm-critical and relational design underscores how design is not merely a problem-solving tool but an intervention into relational dynamics.