Reconsidering (Service) Design in View of Systemic Challenges: Insights from a Quantum Theoretical Perspective
Abstract
(Service) designers must increasingly navigate complex and interconnected challenges in their daily work. In response, new design practices are emerging that are more systemic and strategic in their orientation. However, there is insufficient discussion about, or questioning of, the onto-epistemological foundations of design and their appropriateness in the emerging context. This paper aims to support the service design discipline in its transition towards conceiving of and responding to systemic challenges as entangled phenomena. To do so, we draw on quantum mechanics, specifically a Baradian view, which centres on the notion of entanglement and enactment to understand and navigate the world. We propose an alternative theoretical foundation for (service) design that considers ontoepistemological building blocks about the world we live in and its elements, assisting designers to question potentially taken-for-granted, yet limiting assumptions and perspectives.
Keywords
service design; design theory; quantum mechanics; ontologyepistemology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp203092
Citation
Karpen, I.,and Senova, M.(2023) Reconsidering (Service) Design in View of Systemic Challenges: Insights from a Quantum Theoretical Perspective, in Carla Cipolla, Claudia Mont’Alvão, Larissa Farias, Manuela Quaresma (eds.), ServDes 2023: Entanglements & Flows Conference, Service Encounters and Meanings, 11-14th July 2023, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp203092
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Reconsidering (Service) Design in View of Systemic Challenges: Insights from a Quantum Theoretical Perspective
(Service) designers must increasingly navigate complex and interconnected challenges in their daily work. In response, new design practices are emerging that are more systemic and strategic in their orientation. However, there is insufficient discussion about, or questioning of, the onto-epistemological foundations of design and their appropriateness in the emerging context. This paper aims to support the service design discipline in its transition towards conceiving of and responding to systemic challenges as entangled phenomena. To do so, we draw on quantum mechanics, specifically a Baradian view, which centres on the notion of entanglement and enactment to understand and navigate the world. We propose an alternative theoretical foundation for (service) design that considers ontoepistemological building blocks about the world we live in and its elements, assisting designers to question potentially taken-for-granted, yet limiting assumptions and perspectives.