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Design Research Society

Conference

2022

More-than-human design

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From Explanations To Shared Understandings Of Ai, Iohanna Nicenboim, Elisa Giaccardi, Johan Redström Jun 2022

From Explanations To Shared Understandings Of Ai, Iohanna Nicenboim, Elisa Giaccardi, Johan Redström

DRS Biennial Conference Series

A key challenge in the design of AI systems is how to support people in understanding them. We address this challenge by positioning explanations in everyday life, within ongoing relations between people and artificial agents. By reorienting explainability through more-than-human design, we call for a new approach that considers both people and artificial agents as active participants in constructing understandings. To articulate such an approach, we first review the assumptions underpinning the premise of explaining AI. We then conceptualize a shift from explanations to shared understandings, which we characterize as situated, dynamic, and performative. We conclude by proposing two design …


Why Would I Ever Fry And Eat My Scoby? It Would Be Like Murder! Attuning To Nonhumans Through Kombucha Fermentation Practices, Aybars Senyildiz, Emilija Veselova Jun 2022

Why Would I Ever Fry And Eat My Scoby? It Would Be Like Murder! Attuning To Nonhumans Through Kombucha Fermentation Practices, Aybars Senyildiz, Emilija Veselova

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Kombucha fermentation is a multispecies activity guided by human-microbe interactions. This study investigates kombucha fermentation practices as a platform to recognize relationality with nonhuman microbes. For this, relational theories enable reframing human-microbe relations by focusing on reciprocity and interconnectedness within multispecies relations. The empirical research consists of interviews, a design probing task, and a collective reflection workshop with kombucha brewers. The empirical research delivers insights into the agency of microbes, sensory experiences, and embodied knowledge in kombucha fermentation practices. Findings investigate how humans attune to the needs of microbes, and the role of embeddedness in ethical doings. In this way, …


User Research To Design A More-Than-Human Food Commons, Justin Sacks Jun 2022

User Research To Design A More-Than-Human Food Commons, Justin Sacks

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The way humans approach food systems not only affects our survival but also creates or destroys futures for humans and nonhuman species alike. Rooted in a rights-based approach, food as a commons offers an important and robust economic alternative to food as a commodity. The commons literature also struggles with anthropocentrism, however, particularly the recognized analytical frameworks used by scholars that classify nonhuman nature as inputs. How can user research tools support communities to create a more-than-human food commons that treats nonhuman nature as equal actants? This paper responds to this question by adapting two user research tools to support …


Mediating The Needs Of Human And Natural Nonhuman Stakeholders: Towards A Design Methodological Framework, Emilija Veselova, Idil Gaziulusoy, Julia Lohmann Jun 2022

Mediating The Needs Of Human And Natural Nonhuman Stakeholders: Towards A Design Methodological Framework, Emilija Veselova, Idil Gaziulusoy, Julia Lohmann

DRS Biennial Conference Series

More-than-human approaches to design are one of the ways in which the design community is rethinking itself in the face of sustainability challenges. These approaches most often decenter humans from being the sole focus, stakeholder, or actant in design processes. However, currently, there is a shortage of more-than-human methods and tools that would be applicable in day-to-day design practice. In this paper, we, as one of the academic partners in a transdisciplinary consortium project, report results from our preliminary work and early insights towards developing a design methodological framework that would support the mediation of human and nonhuman needs in …


Birds, Bees And Bats: Exploring Possibilities For Cohabitation In The More-Than-Human City, Ferne Edwards, Ida Maria Corsepius Melen, Anna Caroline Syse, Ida Nilstad Pettersen Jun 2022

Birds, Bees And Bats: Exploring Possibilities For Cohabitation In The More-Than-Human City, Ferne Edwards, Ida Maria Corsepius Melen, Anna Caroline Syse, Ida Nilstad Pettersen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Urbanization pressures are creating conditions for greater urban density. However, cities are home for both humans and a diversity of nonhuman natures, where heightened proximity between species can cause friction and conflict. This paper explores possibilities for convivial multispecies cohabitation in more-than-human cities. It grounds more-than-human theory through the application of three case studies – birds, bees and bats – based in the city of Trondheim, Norway. Drawing on three related studies, these creatures help illuminate what kind of spaces, needs and considerations are required beyond a human-centric focus in the urban environment. Issues to consider include disease, insecure land …