Reorienting Design Futures With Hope,
2026
Politecnico di Milano, Design Department
Reorienting Design Futures With Hope, Manuela Celi, Victoria Rodriguez Schon
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper reorients Design Futures through hope as a situated, anticipatory, and actionable practice for working within postnormal conditions marked by uncertainty, systemic crisis, and defuturing. Bringing together futures studies, feminist epistemologies, and decolonial perspectives, it argues that design can help imagine and enact alternatives through situated interventions. The paper develops a conceptual and reflexive methodology that synthesizes three strands of literature; hope, hope and design, and hope and futures, and formulates three tactics for operationalizing hope in design practice: hoping as present-tense praxis, hoping otherwise, and projectual hope. Together, these frame hope as an ethical and political orientation that …
Beyond The Gallery: Neurodivergent Digital Access In Australian Museums,
2026
RMIT University;
National Museum of Australia
Beyond The Gallery: Neurodivergent Digital Access In Australian Museums, Jorge E. Arreola Rosendo
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Australian museums invest heavily in hybrid and immersive gallery technologies yet treat their websites, where many neurodiverse visitors seek essential planning information, as static brochures. As 15 to 20 percent of the global population is neurodivergent, this oversight affects a significant audience. This study presents the first Australian audit of neurodivergent accessibility across 43 museums, revealing major disconnects: 86% offer minimal digital experiences despite their accessibility potential, and 35% provide no neurodivergent resources. While many claim consultation, neurodivergent voices remain absent from digital design. Shared digital infrastructure across museum networks creates sector-wide intervention points, since improving centralised systems could enhance …
The Culture Communications Model: Visual Sensemaking And The Everyday In Design Practice,
2026
Design, Luleå Tekniska Universitet, Sweden
The Culture Communications Model: Visual Sensemaking And The Everyday In Design Practice, Patrick Sundqvist, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson, Lennart Pettersson
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The Culture Communications Model (CCM) provides a framework for structured sensemaking grounded in everyday visual culture. It assists designers and non-designers in navigating complex contexts through four interrelated domains – physical, social, commercial and media – each examined via interpretive filters such as norms, gender, class, power and capital. Through iterative processes of finding, understanding and synthesizing, the CCM structures visual inquiry as an embodied and dialogical practice. By translating observations through these filters and reconfiguring them with conceptual tools, users can reveal hidden relationships, challenge assumptions and generate new perspectives on context and identity. The model transforms diffuse contextual …
When Grief Takes Shape: Codesigning Creative Modalities In Grief Support Groups For Children,
2026
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
When Grief Takes Shape: Codesigning Creative Modalities In Grief Support Groups For Children, Kirstine Neimann Skov, Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Research highlights the positive impact of creative modalities, such as drawings and images, in grief practice for children. However, more knowledge is needed to guide grief practitioners regarding the effects and contributions of these modalities to children’s coping strategies and wellbeing. This paper investigates the use of creative modalities in Danish grief support groups for children through a study involving participatory design research. The study provides a comprehensive overview of how creative modalities can support grieving processes and lay new ground for future work in codesigning creative modalities for and with practitioners and children. The concept of grief as an …
Speculative Woolgathering: Using Design Approaches To Explore Values In The Uk Wool Supply Chain To Enable Digital Good,
2026
Lancaster Univiersity, United Kingdom
Speculative Woolgathering: Using Design Approaches To Explore Values In The Uk Wool Supply Chain To Enable Digital Good, Naomi Jacobs, Emily Birch, Peter Craigon, Katherine Drury, Anabel Gutierrez Mendoza, Louise Manning, David Perez
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper presents an interdisciplinary project using speculative design to explore the intersections of sustainability and technology in the UK Wool industry. Through a process of value mapping, worldbuilding, design fiction, and card development, the project involved stakeholders across the wool supply chain who contributed their perspectives and priorities. This process revealed how value is created in the wool industry, and how relationships and systems are mediated by hidden, often contrasting values. Findings highlight the importance of these values in shaping sustainable and equitable futures for the sector. We present a conceptual framework of valuation, revaluation and evaluation as a …
Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design,
2026
Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design, Jaana Päeva
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This article explores how material properties and sustainability awareness shape aesthetic perception in leather handbag design. Drawing on practice-based research, the study combines memory collection, collaborative designer-led prototyping and user feedback to examine designer and consumer experiences. Findings show that designers focus on structural and tactile qualities—stiffness, thickness, and texture—while aesthetic attributes such as colour and surface finish support conceptual and stylistic intentions. Sustainable tanning methods and innovative leathers introduce new challenges, requiring adaptive strategies. For users, long-term interaction with leather fosters appreciation for durability, patina, and cultural meaning, shifting aesthetic evaluation from immediate visual appeal to qualities signalling longevity …
Re-Voicing Identity: Care Ethics And The Politics Of Unsilencing After Total Laryngectomy,
2026
Virginia Tech, United States of America
Re-Voicing Identity: Care Ethics And The Politics Of Unsilencing After Total Laryngectomy, Gala Lucia Gonzalez Barrios
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Voice loss after total laryngectomy disrupts identity and quality of life yet current assistive technologies reproduce techno-ableist assumptions, prioritizing speech mimicry over identity restoration while systematic marginalization excludes laryngectomees from research and innovation. This paper presents a care-centred participatory design agenda bridging a propositional approach “Singing Without a Larynx”, a vowel-based vocal interface for singing, with cross-cultural photovoice research in the United States and Argentina. Grounded in care ethics, we operationalize attentiveness, responsibility, and relational accountability, positioning participants as co-designers whose embodied knowledge shapes technological imaginaries, and community challenges and assets. We propose: (1) a critical framework integrating care ethics, …
Material Driven Design Education: Exploring Circularity And Regeneration Through Waste-Based Experimentation,
2026
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Material Driven Design Education: Exploring Circularity And Regeneration Through Waste-Based Experimentation, Ziqian Yu, Chengjun Li, Mei Yang, Hongwei Li, Valentina Rognoli
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In light of the escalating climate and resource crises, design education must reconsider its role in shaping circular and regenerative futures, particularly with regard to emerging materials from waste. This paper presents the results of a pedagogical study conducted at the Joint School of Design and Innovation of Xi’an Jiaotong University and Politecnico di Milano. In this study, 120 students transformed local food and textile waste into new materials through hands-on experimentation, based on the Material Driven Design (MDD) approach, in a Chinese educational context. A comparative analysis of six student projects across toy and accessory applications reveals a synergy …
Queering Portobello Promenade: Testing ‘Queer’ Inclusive Spatial Design And Thinking.,
2026
Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom
Queering Portobello Promenade: Testing ‘Queer’ Inclusive Spatial Design And Thinking., Kirsty Watt, Anna Reid
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The intersection of queerness and spatial practice has often been framed through the presence of queer individuals rather than queerness as a spatial principle that can shape and create opportunities within the built environment. While individual identity remains important, this paper argues that applying a queer-informed spatial approach to architecture and landscape architecture introduces broader inclusive design considerations often absent in binary or heteronormative practice. The paper examines this through situating current theory and practice; and then testing these ideas in a speculative design proposal for Portobello Promenade. Through themes including adaptability, queer ecologies, accessibility, safety and visibility, the project …
Breaking The Cycle: Understanding Self-Experimentation As A Health Behavior Change Approach For Young Adults With Adhd,
2026
Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
Breaking The Cycle: Understanding Self-Experimentation As A Health Behavior Change Approach For Young Adults With Adhd, Çağla Şen, Jaap Daalhuizen, Jos J. Kraal
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by executive dysfunctions that disrupt the initiation and maintenance of everyday behaviors, making habit formation challenging. As a result, many individuals with ADHD struggle to sustain healthy routines. Conventional behavior change approaches overlook the complexity and variability of ADHD, highlighting the need for adaptive and personalized methods such as Self-Experimentation (SE). This study explores the potential of SE in supporting individuals with ADHD to change health behaviors. Using a Research through Design approach, stakeholders were involved across three iterative phases. The process resulted in two prototypes that facilitated SE while generating insights on how individuals …
Service Design-Driven Formation Of Dynamic Capabilities For International Service Innovation: A Case Study Of A Chinese Nev Firm,
2026
School of Design, Hunan University, China
Service Design-Driven Formation Of Dynamic Capabilities For International Service Innovation: A Case Study Of A Chinese Nev Firm, Chengbo Li, Jun Zhang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Amidst the acceleration of internationalization, service innovation has emerged as a critical pathway for New Energy Vehicle (NEV) firms to attain sustainable growth. Adopting a dynamic capability view (DCV), this paper investigates how service design contributes to the development of service innovation dynamic capabilities (SIDCs) within firms undergoing internationalization. Drawing upon a case study of the BYD New Energy Vehicle firm, the findings indicate that the functional, systemic, and iterative characteristics of service design facilitate the construction of micro-foundations for SIDCs. This is achieved through the integration of user insights, the fostering of cross departmental collaboration, and the reconfiguration of …
Deep Materialities - Investigating The Complex Socio-Technical Entanglements Of Materials Towards The Designing Of Resilient Futures,
2026
ENS PARIS SACLAY, France
Deep Materialities - Investigating The Complex Socio-Technical Entanglements Of Materials Towards The Designing Of Resilient Futures, Emile De Visscher, James Auger
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Each material production entails an ecosystem of interrelations linking geopolitical, economic, technological, cultural, social and sanitary dimensions, sometimes on a global scale. As designers, we are rarely conscious of these realities, and limit our actions to material selection at the scale of the artefact in constrained industrial and cultural settings. However, at a time of ecological crisis, tracking, revealing and understanding these complex systems is becoming an imperative if we are to transition towards resilient futures rooted in socio-economic realities. This article will present a pedagogical approach developed with Design Research MA students, where investigation and speculation stem from a …
Exploring Everyday Heritage Futures: Co-Creating Urban Narratives Through Cultural Probes,
2026
Loughborough University, United Kingdom
Exploring Everyday Heritage Futures: Co-Creating Urban Narratives Through Cultural Probes, Guo Chen, Robert G. Harland, Michael Wilson
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Narrative has long been used in cultural heritage for interpretation and communication, primarily within institutions and historic sites. Everyday heritage, however, foregrounds seemingly modest places and is constituted through routine interactions and practices, emphasising a continuing narrative between place and everyday life. Ubiquitous digital technologies make multi-layered narratives possible and bring underrepresented stories to light in situ. This pilot study in Loughborough’s Market Place, UK, explores narratives rooted in lived experiences that convey cultural-heritage significance. We designed and deployed cultural probes (a set of creative and speculative tasks) to prompt and record place-based stories. The analysis identified four themes: spatiality, …
From Participatory Processes To Systemic Transformation: A Service Design Perspective On Four Italian Case Studies,
2026
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy;
ISIA Florence - Higher Institute of Artistic Industries, Italy
From Participatory Processes To Systemic Transformation: A Service Design Perspective On Four Italian Case Studies, Rachele Gracci, Alexandra Coutsoucos, Sonia Belhaj, Irene Patria, Marco Tognetti, Valentina Gianfrate
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Participatory Processes (PPs) are increasingly fostering broader civic engagement, strengthening dialogue and collaboration between citizens, the third sector and public institutions. However, a gap persists between participatory aspirations and their implementation, limiting the capacity of processes to generate durable transformations in local governance structures and public service innovation. Employing a qualitative-comparative methodology, based on stakeholder mapping and service-ecosystem lens, the study analyses four novel cases involving green and peri-urban transformations across diverse Italian regions. By operating under diverse administrative frameworks, they present fertile ground for illustrating complementary and mutually reinforcing PPs. Through a Service Design lens, recurring patterns and mechanisms …
Designing For Emotion: A Scoping Review Of Phygital Emotional Experience Design In Historical Museums,
2026
College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University
Designing For Emotion: A Scoping Review Of Phygital Emotional Experience Design In Historical Museums, Linlin Wang, Jiarui Wu*, Yi Zhang, Sai Ma, Yingji Wang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Abstract: As digital technology becomes an integral part of museum services and strategies, visitor experiences have evolved from physical to phygital experiences. Phygital emphasizes the fusion of digital and physical environments, constructing complex emotional scenarios that bridge those realms across different exhibition phases—from entry and immersion to extended experiences—thus distinguishing itself from traditional, object-led historical museums. This scoping review employs a hybrid deductive-inductive coding method to analyse 54 publications from databases including WOS, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, PubMed, and PsycInfo. It proposes a DES emotional experience framework for historical museums and identifies corresponding technological interventions and design directions. The study advocates …
The Intrusive Sounds Of Resilence.,
2026
Casa Paganini-InfoMus Research Center, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
The Intrusive Sounds Of Resilence., Andrea Cera, Georgios Loupas, Eleftheria Lagiokapa, Nefeli Valeria Georgakopoulou, Sotiris Diplaris, Stefanos Vrochidis, Eleonora Ceccaldi, Nicola Corbellini, Simone Ghisio, Antonio Camurri
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In a ReSilence (S+T+Arts) residency dedicated to the consequences of urban soundscapes on human movement, 36 sound-files and their spectral analyses were considered as examples of auditory intrusiveness (intended as a pre-conscious effect, anticipating conscious behaviors). These 36 sounds were used in three modules: a pilot experiment to study the influence of auditory intrusiveness on human movement; an installation, where the sound-files were triggered by the participants' movement qualities – moreover, their spectral analyses served as prompts to an image-generating GAN network; in the design of a smartphone app, where the 36 analyses allowed to study the spectral features to …
Beyond Situated Ethics: Towards A Practice-Based Understanding Of How Designers Do Ethics,
2026
The Open University, United Kingdom
Beyond Situated Ethics: Towards A Practice-Based Understanding Of How Designers Do Ethics, Samantha Osys
DRS Biennial Conference Series
As discussions about AI and its societal impacts grow, questions about how to practise design responsibly and ethically have become more prominent. This paper examines how designers do ethics in practice, focusing on the relationship between universal frameworks and situated, lived experiences. Conversations with design practitioners reveal that while universal ethical frameworks provide consistency, they often overlook the everyday negotiations designers face in the workplace. Practitioners report that current governance systems, influenced by external regulations, are overly ‘top-down’ and narrowly focused on specific technologies. This approach leaves designers to identify and fill ethical gaps themselves, often through subtle, even covert, …
Desiring Production: Design As An Ethical Action,
2026
Tongji University, China
Desiring Production: Design As An Ethical Action, Yihui Yang, Li Zhang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Contemporary design theory and practice have long taken user need-oriented as the core principle. Need has become the ethical and practical foundation of design. It has suppressed the creativity and initiative of both users and designers in the name of functionality. Tracing the origin and evolution of need in design history, this paper points out its inadaptability to complex contemporary design scenarios and diverse demands. On this basis, it introduces the Desiring Production theory of Deleuze and Guattari, reinterprets desire as a more productive and relational life power than need, and explores the feasible path for the ethical intervention of …
Navigating Lca In Circular Design: Methodological Barriers When Applying Life Cycle Assessment To Industrial Waste Upcycling Design Decisions,
2026
Aalborg University, Denmark
Navigating Lca In Circular Design: Methodological Barriers When Applying Life Cycle Assessment To Industrial Waste Upcycling Design Decisions, Seidpooyan Ghafoori, Linda Nhu Laursen, Christian Tollestrup
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Industrial designers increasingly valorise pre-consumer waste through upcycling; yet face methodological ambiguities when applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for design decision-making. This paper critically examines barriers in using LCA to evaluate circular design strategies for industrial waste metals, plastics, and wood. Through focused literature review of LCA studies and guidelines, this research identifies key methodological tensions: allocation approaches produce contradictory conclusions about upcycling benefits; system boundary definitions inconsistently classify upcycling activities; functional unit choices fundamentally alter comparative results; guideline selection (ISO, GHG Protocol, PEF) creates large variation in results; performance metrics remain application-dependent rather than operational. Findings reveal when LCA …
Preserving Material Integrity: Designing For Value Retention In Imperfect, Discarded Materials,
2026
Aalborg University, Denmark
Preserving Material Integrity: Designing For Value Retention In Imperfect, Discarded Materials, Nikoline Sander, Linda Nhu Laursen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper examines how designers can contribute to the sustainable transition by retaining intrinsic value in imperfect, discarded materials from manufacturing. With European manufacturing generating over 230 million tons of waste annually, potential lies in using such materials at their processing stage as substitutes for virgin materials into new products. Drawing on a Danish research project with 22 material discards, the study categorises and characterises the materials into offcuts, rejected materials, rejected objects, process waste, and excess materials, each varying in imperfection parameters, predictability, variability, and data availability. The analysis examines how designers retain intrinsic value embedded in prior processing …
