From Interface To Intuition: Rethinking Design Ontologies In The Age Of Ambient Intelligence,
2026
istituto Marangoni, Italy
From Interface To Intuition: Rethinking Design Ontologies In The Age Of Ambient Intelligence, Sergio Nava
DRS Biennial Conference Series
As artificial intelligence evolves into ambient, distributed systems, design faces an ontological transformation. The traditional interface, once the visible boundary between humans and machines, is dissolving, giving rise to new modes of intuitive, sensory, and relational interaction. This paper argues for a shift from interface to intuition, where design no longer mediates through visual representation but orchestrates subtle ecologies of perception and awareness. Drawing on design philosophy and posthuman theory, it explores how AI redefines core categories of form, presence, and authorship, suggesting that meaning now emerges through attunement rather than control. In this post-visual paradigm, designers act as mediators …
Expanding Curriculum And Pedagogical Strategies In Architecture Education With Developments On Additive Manufacturing And Wood Composites,
2026
University of Idaho, United States of America
Expanding Curriculum And Pedagogical Strategies In Architecture Education With Developments On Additive Manufacturing And Wood Composites, Carolina Manrique Hoyos, Randall Teal, Michael R. Maughan
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Faculty and students in our Architecture Department have been engaged as one of the four research teams in an interdisciplinary and interjurisdictional collaboration funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The overall goal of this research is to develop the science, technology, design, and educational frameworks focused on the utilization of wood waste to make 100% bio-based materials for the Advanced Housing Manufacturing Industry of the Future. The Architecture Cradle-to-Cradle Design Team (C2C) focused on: 1- developing design speculations and scenarios for wood composites and additive manufacturing architectural applications (research-by-design); 2- developing a customized assessment toolbox for determining performance benchmarks …
From Mindset To Measurement: Developing Scales For Inclusive And Reflective Design Practice,
2026
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
From Mindset To Measurement: Developing Scales For Inclusive And Reflective Design Practice, Akrimar Tongkaew, Carina Lomberg, Dagný Valgeirsdóttir, Maria Funk
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Design practitioners and educators play an important role in advancing inclusive societies. However, the impact of educational initiatives aimed at cultivating inclusive thinking and behaviour among designers remains underexamined. We address this gap by reporting phase 1 of a scale-development study to measure inclusive mindset, knowledge, and behaviour in design and engineering education. Building on the Inclusive Mindset Model, the study operationalises inclusivity into three scales and presents the initial item pool developed through item generation and content validation. Following established scale-development procedures, items were refined through feedback from six expert judges and eight engineering students, resulting in an initial …
Surfacing Design Requirements. A Conceptual Framework For Entity Identification In Smart Product-Service Systems,
2026
University of Bath, United Kingdom
Surfacing Design Requirements. A Conceptual Framework For Entity Identification In Smart Product-Service Systems, Elena M. Dumitrana, Vimal Dhokia, Bryan, C. C. Clift, Debbie J. Janson
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Smart Product-Service Systems (SPSS) design recognises the need to engage diverse stakeholders, yet traditional design approaches often overlook entities critical in the operationalisation of a SPSS - contextual users, regulators, AI entities - until late implementation stages. This paper argues that entity identification in SPSS design requires interrogating underlying assumptions about which entities matter and why. Drawing from systems thinking and human-centred design, the paper proposes a multi-dimensional framework for reconceptualising entities that warrant design consideration. Rather than presenting a neutral taxonomy, the framework provides structure for examining how design assumptions determine which perspectives are centred and which are overlooked …
Enhancing Social Connections Through Co-Illustration Workshops Among Solo-Living Young Adults,
2026
School of Arts, Lancaster University, United Kingdom
Enhancing Social Connections Through Co-Illustration Workshops Among Solo-Living Young Adults, Jueshuang Wang, Emma Rose, Mirian Calvo
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The rising prevalence of social loneliness among solo-living young adults indicates an urgent need for support. However, research addressing this issue, especially in Asia, is limited. This study aims to bridge this gap by introducing co-illustration workshops as a novel method to enhance social connections and wellbeing in this demographic. Employing a participatory action research (PAR) methodology, the study engages participants in five iterative co-design cycles to enhance social connections. The findings suggest that temporary co-illustration workshops serve as a conduit for conversation and facilitate the formation of high-quality weak ties, thereby alleviating social loneliness. This paper provides guidance and …
Menopause Technologies Beyond Ableism And Normativity,
2026
University of Salzburg, Austria;
Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Salzburg, Austria
Menopause Technologies Beyond Ableism And Normativity, Omleila Mohammadi, Sabine Thayer, Bernhard Maurer, Verena Fuchsberger
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Many technologies are available that address menopause, yet more or less exclusively reflect and reinforce dominant narratives of ableism and normativity. To uncover untold stories of the menopause journey and add perspective to the pluralistic menopause experience, we conducted two workshop sessions with cis women and gender-diverse individuals who have experienced menopause. Through feminist and reflexive methodology and using critical disability studies (CDS) as an analytical lens, we present how menopause experiences are shaped through bodily transformations and relational social practices. Finally, we discuss possible future design directions for shaping the menopause experience beyond its conventional notion. We call for …
Design As Strategic Competence For The Evolving Energy Industry,
2026
Tongji University, China, People's Republic of
Design As Strategic Competence For The Evolving Energy Industry, Qing Tian, Xiangyang Xin
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Responding to the evolving changes in the energy industry—from government-led infrastructure development to business-driven energy solutions, and nowadays to energy products and services created by householders—this paper explores how design can contribute to this transition and create value across multiple frontlines. The paper begins by outlining the dynamics of the energy industry’s transformation and the reasons behind it, followed by a case study conducted in collaboration with an internationally recognized renewable energy technology company. The case study traces the evolution of design from a peripheral function to a central driver of corporate strategy. It identifies a triple-mechanism model through which …
Positioning Wearable Design: Research-Practice Gaps And A Practice-Informed Model,
2026
Monash University, Australia
Positioning Wearable Design: Research-Practice Gaps And A Practice-Informed Model, Jialu Hou, Rowan Page, Chuan Khoo
DRS Biennial Conference Series
With the emergence of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, wearable design is gathering renewed interest. Although design has an obvious role to play in developing wearables for user acceptance, the understanding of the role of design in wearables is fragmented and poorly understood. Through a scoping review, we highlight the fragmentation of the wearable research field and the lack of design-led approaches to developing wearable devices. To augment this lack of design literature, we analyze six design cases. The result reveals a key tension: wearable practice is rapidly expanding into interdisciplinary, speculative domains, blurring evaluative boundaries. To bridge this gap, we …
Telling Stories, Making Hanzi: Ai-Assisted Co-Creation With Elderly Migrants In Urban China,
2026
Hunan University, China, People's Republic of
Telling Stories, Making Hanzi: Ai-Assisted Co-Creation With Elderly Migrants In Urban China, Yunfei Chen, Wen Zhan, Peiyue Lin, Ziqun Hua, Ying Hu
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper explores how older migrants in urban China can record stories that everyday language and design often miss. We ran two co-creation workshops with 10 elders. Activities combined oral storytelling, facilitator-mediated AI assistance, and hand making. Large language models proposed candidate glyphs through a facilitator. Participants crafted new Hanzi to hold their stories. The resulting characters served as memory anchors for later sharing and retelling. Our interpretive analysis shows heterogeneity and adaptive capacity among participants. Participants experienced AI as a creative initiator that lowered barriers to expression and making, especially for those with lower digital literacy. The work challenges …
Environmentality's Integrated Design: Iso Standards As Infrastructural Semiotics,
2026
EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Switzerland
Environmentality's Integrated Design: Iso Standards As Infrastructural Semiotics, Lucia Jalon Oyarzun
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Tracing the emergence of neoliberalism, Michel Foucault introduced the concept of environmentality to describe a form of power in which control is exercised through the design of an increasingly technologically mediated environment to ensure economic circulation. Decades in, environmentality has reshaped how our habitats are conceptualized, designed, and perceived. In many levels, design has stopped being an independent autonomous task to be integrated and automated within the operative nature of our milieux. This integrated design operates through infrastructural semiotics, i.e. texts, codes, guidelines, indicators, benchmarks and protocols as well as other ecologies of biological, social and machinic signs like notifications …
Situated Practices In Digital Jewellery Research: The Collective Voices Of The New Generation Of Jewellers,
2026
Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom
Situated Practices In Digital Jewellery Research: The Collective Voices Of The New Generation Of Jewellers, Nantia Koulidou, Mette Laier Henriksen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Digital jewellery is an emerging field of research and practice that combines jewellery practices with microelectronics and employs methodologies from art, craft, design and Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). This interdisciplinary approach offers exciting possibilities for designing innovative digital devices on the body. However, the field of digital jewellery remains loosely defined and underdeveloped. It is timely to give voice to jewellers and to lead them to shape the many ways in which digital technology can be meaningful to the wearer. This paper synthesises insights from the past five years of digital jewellery research conducted in two jewellery education programs in the UK …
An Autoethnographic Account Of Noticing In Practice, Through A More-Than-Human Centred Lens.,
2026
Cardiff Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
An Autoethnographic Account Of Noticing In Practice, Through A More-Than-Human Centred Lens., Dr Carol Breen, Kirsten Stevens-Wood
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper investigates what it means to notice in practice. Carrying out field research situated on the edge of the River Taff, Cardiff, we interrogate what it means to notice through a more-than-human centred lens. We arrive at ‘noticing’ as a method from two different perspectives: ethnography and design. Utilising concepts from assemblage theory, deep time thinking and technological entanglement theory, we extend upon scholarly interpretations of noticing through autoethnographic accounts. Our choice of non-human participant (i.e. a river) forces us to consider more-than-human temporalities, geological time and the longue durée. We think about the ways in which technology disrupts …
Affective Materialities And Textile Agency: The Apron As A Device Of Gender And Class,
2026
Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
Affective Materialities And Textile Agency: The Apron As A Device Of Gender And Class, Camila Andrea Rios Erazo
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This article analyses textiles as living materials endowed with their own agency. In addition to the emotions and memories they evoke, textiles are imbued with vitality. When they occupy an intimate and private space, such as a home, they act as a kind of soft architecture, absorbing the words, gestures, smells, memories and relationships that emerge within that environment. Steeped in everyday aesthetics and imbued with feminine care, these materials face a society with clear and visible power structures as they cross the threshold into the public sphere. This is accentuated when these textiles cover a body, revealing social hierarchies …
An Early-Stage Framework: Exploring Narrative And Co-Design Methods In The Social Care Decision-Making Process For Older People,
2026
Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom
An Early-Stage Framework: Exploring Narrative And Co-Design Methods In The Social Care Decision-Making Process For Older People, Shuzhong Wang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In Scotland’s social care system, decisions about support and care transitions are often shaped by professional and policy discourses, leaving older people and their families with limited involvement in key decisions. Although policy frameworks emphasise “choice and control,” communication remains dominated by professional language, and lived experiences are rarely used to inform care processes. This paper proposes an early-stage conceptual framework that considers how narrative theory and scenario-based co-design may contribute to a more user-centred understanding of decision-making for older people. Within this framework, a by-proxy approach is proposed, in which family carers are positioned to represent aspects of older …
Infographics As A Tool For Communicating And Promoting Public Policies For Women,
2026
University of Brasilia, Brazil
Infographics As A Tool For Communicating And Promoting Public Policies For Women, Virginia Tiradentes Souto, Daniela Fávaro Garrossini, Symone Rodrigues Jardim, Wilson Henrique Veneziano, Bianca Novais Queiroz, Neily Baeza Manteiga
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Infographics are an important tool for governments to provide public information to citizens. Digital infographics can present information in various ways within a coherent whole, enabling different types of information, with varying levels of complexity, to reach the population. This study aims to assess the potential of infographics as a tool to support communication and the promotion of public policies aimed at women. To this end, infographics on public policies for women were created and tested. The design of the infographics was based on a literature review, analysis of existing infographics, and feminist principles. The empirical tests included participants from …
Exploring Co-Design With People With Disabilities In Digital Museums: A Systematic Review And Outlook,
2026
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Exploring Co-Design With People With Disabilities In Digital Museums: A Systematic Review And Outlook, Yuqian Xie, Wendy Zhang, Thammathip Piumsomboon, Hongyao Li, Die Hu
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The digital transformation of museums is reshaping how culture and knowledge are shared, but it also risks creating new accessibility barriers, deepening the digital divide for people with disabilities. Co-design has emerged as a promising approach to embed inclusive participation and mitigate these risks. However, research on its application within this context remains fragmented, needing to address different disability groups and assistive technologies equally. To synthesise knowledge and learn from current practices, this study systematically reviews co-design research within the broader cultural heritage (GLAMs) context. The review maps co-design processes, tools, and technologies, analysing the key benefits and challenges for …
Hybrid Craft Practices For Sustainable Materialities And Narratives Through Digital Fabrication,
2026
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, Canada
Hybrid Craft Practices For Sustainable Materialities And Narratives Through Digital Fabrication, Alessia Romani, Philip Gurrey, Imogen Clendinning, Junyu Ke, Joshua Pearce
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Hybrid craft can help envision more sustainable futures, recognizing the human-nature-technology interdependence in ecological making practices. Beyond industrial and research applications, digital fabrication offers new aesthetic and formal possibilities to designers, artists, and practitioners, exploring new materialities and narratives to foster sustainable discourses through hybrid craft and reflective making. This paper explores how hybrid craft and digital fabrication can foster sustainable materialities and narratives to reflect on human-nature-technology relationships and advance sustainability discourses through Janus, a collaborative case study combining local natural elements with 3D printing and crafts. By showcasing a corn stalk alongside its 3D scanned and 3D printed …
Strategies For Successful Collaborative Engagement: Navigating Organizational Dynamics,
2026
Tata Consultancy Services, India
Strategies For Successful Collaborative Engagement: Navigating Organizational Dynamics, Sylvan Lobo, Ravi Mahamuni
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Typical organizations are characterized by complexity, comprising individuals working in isolated groups with competing priorities. Structural and cultural factors often hinder effective collaboration, despite organizational efforts. This paper examines collaboration dynamics in organizations through the lens of behaviour-change. It introduces the CraftChange framework for behaviour-change for promoting collaborative participation, demonstrating the approach through an analysis of two real-world organizational projects. The paper argues that genuine participatory engagement cannot be achieved solely through top-down directives or establishment of support units like innovation labs, design thinking or prototyping teams. Instead, there is a need to focus on bringing behaviour-change through a stagewise …
The Future Of Designers: A Study On The Transition Of Designer Occupations And Corresponding Strategic Responses,
2026
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), Republic of Korea;
Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST), Republic of Korea
The Future Of Designers: A Study On The Transition Of Designer Occupations And Corresponding Strategic Responses, Yeonghun Kim, Chajoong Kim, Sangyeol Kim
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The design industry is experiencing significant occupational shifts driven by rapid technological advancements, evolving market demands, and other pressures. Traditional roles like 2D rendering, mock-up production, and market research are declining. This research systematically explores these declining roles through comprehensive desk research, expert focus group interview, and in-depth interviews. The study identifies a clear trend: manual, routine processes are being replaced by digital tools, automation (like generative AI and 3D visualization), and multifunctional roles. Societal shifts toward digital content, economic imperatives, and policy frameworks accelerate these changes. To address these transformations, the study proposes a strategic framework: individual designers should …
Small Ai: A Degrowth Imaginary For Designing With/For Artificial Intelligence,
2026
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Small Ai: A Degrowth Imaginary For Designing With/For Artificial Intelligence, Roy Bendor, Dave Murray-Rust, Rainer Rehak
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper presents Small AI as a conceptual lever for designers to resist the ‘bigger is better’ trend in the discourse and development of Generative AI. We explore different types of Small AI: initially in relation to the size of models, as smaller models require less computational resources for both training and inference, thus implying a smaller ecological footprint. However, we extend the meaning of smallness to apply to political, epistemic and cultural domains as well. In this vein, the paper posits Small AI as an imaginary-in-the-making, and a rallying concept for an alternative innovation agenda that holds, in the …
