Reused Earthenware In The Wall: Learning From Vernacular Dwellings As A Source Of Tacit Knowledge For Material Circularity,
2026
Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Turkiye
Reused Earthenware In The Wall: Learning From Vernacular Dwellings As A Source Of Tacit Knowledge For Material Circularity, Hale Gonul, Esin Hasgul
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper seeks to explore the material transitions in vernacular dwellings to explore how local knowledge can inform future construction practices rooted in material circularity. Behramkale village in northwestern Türkiye harbours traditional dwellings where reused earthenware from pots to roof tiles are integrated into masonry for durability and ornamentation. This unique and site-specific construction technique reflects the resourcefulness of local craftsmanship. Under the methodology titled “tracing the earthenware,” the study maps the distribution and uses of these elements throughout the village, interpreting them not as passive remnants but as active agents which can help envision future pathways for material circularity, …
Measuring The ‘In-Between’: From Spatial Grammar To Brand Re-Contextualisation And Localisation. A Case Study Approach In East Asian Fashion Flagships,
2026
Design, Monash University Faculty of Art Design and Architecture, Caulfield East, Australia
Measuring The ‘In-Between’: From Spatial Grammar To Brand Re-Contextualisation And Localisation. A Case Study Approach In East Asian Fashion Flagships, Ziqi Cao
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper examines experiential retail strategies in high-end fashion through two global flagships stores in East Asia: Lemaire Ebisu in Tokyo and Loewe Gaozhai Chengdu (Taikoo Li). Prior scholarship traced spatial storytelling in high-end flagships to connect brand identity with local environments, frameworks that render the narratology of ‘in-between’ as a design tool bridging localisation with customer experience remain underdeveloped. This study positions flagships as ‘in-between’ interfaces linking space, local culture, and brand to generate place-specific experiences. Through an exploratory qualitative approach comprising document analysis, store observation, and spatial-typological analysis, this research develops the ‘in-between’ as a conceptual framework that …
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 …
Decoding The Visual Language Of Embroidery: Making, Knowing, And Recontextualising,
2026
University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Decoding The Visual Language Of Embroidery: Making, Knowing, And Recontextualising, Minshu Chen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper positions textile-making as a way of understanding the world through embodied engagement with materials, processes and relationships. Drawing on Xiang embroidery traditions and the Chinese philosophical concept of Qi-Yun (vital force and resonant rhythm). Through participatory workshops with local communities in Hunan, China, it explores how tacit knowledge emerges in a specific context through inner perception, observation, collaboration and dialogue surrounding material interaction and the accumulation of experience. A triangular methodology is developed to analyse multiple standpoints (traditional practitioners, technical collaborators and spectators) and articulate how different standpoints participate in meaning-making within textile practice. This approach theorises embroidery …
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 …
Negotiating Authenticity, Vividness, And Engagement: A Design Framework For Genai In Heritage Co-Creation,
2026
School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Negotiating Authenticity, Vividness, And Engagement: A Design Framework For Genai In Heritage Co-Creation, Zijing Song, Sifan Chen, Chihiro Sato, Christian Wagner
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The adoption of generative AI in heritage storytelling has revealed hidden tensions among stakeholders due to competing values. To investigate how design research can negotiate values differences, we conducted a three-session qualitative study surrounding the “Kawagoe Festival” in a bottom-up, three stakeholder-group setting. Session 1 used photo-elicitation to ground memories; Session 2 adopted human–AI image co-creation to explore past representations and speculative futures; while Session 3 facilitated reflective discussion. Grounded theory analysis identifies three values shaping GenAI-mediated co-creation: authenticity as a symbolic baseline, vividness as the enrichment of remembered details, and engagement as enabler of iterative, playful participation. Stakeholders balanced …
Three Lenses, One Wicked Problem: Navigating Pluralism To Address Consumer Confusion In Australia,
2026
School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Building 9, Level 4, 124 Latrobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001 Australia;End Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, Wine Innovation Central Building, Level 1, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, South Australia, 5064 Australia
Three Lenses, One Wicked Problem: Navigating Pluralism To Address Consumer Confusion In Australia, Brian Rodrigo Llagas, Linda Brennan, Simon Lockrey
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Food waste presents a significant global environmental and economic challenge. Australian households are responsible for 40% of discarded food, with unclear date labelling and storage advice creating consumer confusion, contributing to the problem. This research employed systems thinking and pluralism to address consumer confusion. A multi-level analytical framework integrating visual grammar, symbolic interactionism, and activity theory examined semiotic dimensions, interactions, and system behaviours within the food packaging system. Micro-level prototyping generated design concepts for date labels and storage advice. Meso-level collective intelligence-participatory design techniques evaluated the designs and brainstormed solutions. Scenario planning at the macro level used morphological analysis to …
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 …
Mapping The Opportunity For Circularity In Fashion Retail Design And Fit-Out,
2026
University of the Arts London, United Kingdom
Mapping The Opportunity For Circularity In Fashion Retail Design And Fit-Out, Bethan Alexander, Rosemary Varley
DRS Biennial Conference Series
While the fashion industry has accepted, conceptually at least, the benefits of circularity in the context of products and supply chains, little has been written about circularity within the wider context of fashion store design and fit-out. Yet, these aspects of planning and operating retail outlets are central to an industry sector which significantly contributes to local and global economies. This paper comprises an integrated review of academic and industry literature to form themes for future research development. The review revealed four key knowledge gaps: a paucity of data to understand how circularity is implemented in fashion retail design practice; …
Designing For Food System Transformation: Navigating Cultural Complexity In Cross-Regional Platform Design,
2026
EPFL+ECAL LAB, EPFL, Switzerland
Designing For Food System Transformation: Navigating Cultural Complexity In Cross-Regional Platform Design, Margherita Motta, Sebastian Baez-Lugo, Luis Rodriguez Aguayo, Laura Deschl, Nicolas Henchoz, Emily Groves
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper examines the design of a digital platform supporting sustainable food transformation across six European regional Hubs. Through multi-phase participatory evaluation involving contextual inquiry across culturally diverse contexts, responsive redesign, and formal usability testing, we identify a fundamental tension between technical standardization and cultural adaptation. While formal metrics demonstrated strong usability and aesthetic appeal of our platform design, Hub-based evaluation revealed that participants' requests for regional adaptation such as representing traditional production methods, biodiversity, and place-specific sustainability logics challenged fundamental platform assumptions about capturing food knowledge in standardized structures. We articulate emergent design principles including minimizing barriers while maintaining …
Problem–Solution Co-Evolution Research In The Drs Conference Community (2001-2025),
2026
Department of Digital Design and Information Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Problem–Solution Co-Evolution Research In The Drs Conference Community (2001-2025), Michael Mose Biskjaer, Kim Halskov, Alwin De Rooij
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The problem–solution co-evolution model proposed by Dorst and Cross (2001) remains highly influential for understanding design processes. This paper contributes a scoping review of DRS conference proceedings (2001–2025) revealing how the model has been adopted, developed, and critiqued. A thematic synthesis of a corpus of sixteen DRS papers shows how the model has been used to frame, connect, and extend foundational design theories by pointing to the crucial role of mutual adaptation of problem and solution. We find that problem and solution spaces are considered distinct and interdependent. Co-evolution is conceptualized and studied through several conceptual lenses, e.g., cognitive, social, …
In Kinship With Harakeke Phormium Tenax: How One Plant And Its Materials Facilitate Transitional Knowledge Through Inter-Indigenous And Inter-Cultural Exchange.,
2026
Toi Rauwhārangi (College of Creative Arts), Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa (Massey University)
In Kinship With Harakeke Phormium Tenax: How One Plant And Its Materials Facilitate Transitional Knowledge Through Inter-Indigenous And Inter-Cultural Exchange., Angela Kilford, Sonya Withers, Faith Kane, Huhana Smith
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Abstract: This paper considers how one plant, harakeke (phormium tenax), native to Aotearoa New Zealand embodies the natural attributes to mitigate climate change and support transition to more sustainable and equitable material futures. Through interaction and collaboration, harakeke demonstrates how circular and regenerative textile design systems are manifested. In the interest of learning from harakeke the authors, working from multiple perspectives, position the plant as tohunga (knowledge expert) and themselves as tauira (learners) to share and reflect upon their engagements with the plant and its fibre. From harakeke we learn about familial relationships to whenua (land) and to each other, …
Hacking As A Queering Design Practice. Insights From A Visual Analysis Of Product Hacking Scenes In Movies.,
2026
Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC), Spain
Hacking As A Queering Design Practice. Insights From A Visual Analysis Of Product Hacking Scenes In Movies., Julia Carrasco Parodi, Massimo Menichinelli, Guim Espelt Estopà
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This article examines hacking, understood as the alteration of an object’s function, as a queer and feminist design practice that disrupts normative relations between bodies and things. Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s concept of the feminist snap as a moment of rupture and reconfiguration, we define hacking as an embodied act of refusal that reconfigures everyday things. Through "Función Rota", an audiovisual research project that gathers product hacking scenes in movies, we identify hacking as a form of both critique and speculation: it reveals the normative logics embedded in things, while opening up the possibility of re-prototyping from below. Through feminist …
Introducing Systems Thinking In Design Education: Exploring Systems Through Breakfast,
2026
Deutscher Werkbund Sachsen-Anhalt;
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences
Introducing Systems Thinking In Design Education: Exploring Systems Through Breakfast, Michael Hohl
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Teaching and learning systems-thinking can often be abstract and, for new students, difficult to grasp. In our first-year Bachelor of Arts design theory seminar our goal was to connect systems theory to practice and thus allow for systems to become more tangible and visible. We asked ourselves: How might systems thinking become more concrete through doing, researching, reflecting, and discussing, therefore leading to a deeper understanding? In this text we present and discuss 'breakfast as a system', an evolving step-by-step and enquiry-based approach to learning. It involves background research, giga-mapping, and how researching and presenting information can lead to more …
Metatrain：A Metacognitive Framework–Based Gamified Executive Function Training For Children With Adhd,
2026
ZheJiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Metatrain：A Metacognitive Framework–Based Gamified Executive Function Training For Children With Adhd, Ningfeng Tang, Yang Yin, Haoran Wei, Beijia Hu, Chunlei Chai, Xiyuan Zhang
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Nowadays, parents and educators are paying more attention to the intervention of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Children with ADHD typically exhibit deficits in executive functions (EF), and metacognition is crucial for enhancing these functions. However, existing interventions mostly focus on specific training of EF and lack effective strategies to promote overall improvement through higher-level metacognitive processes. Therefore, this study integrates the metacognitive theoretical framework into EF training and designs a gamified intervention program for children with ADHD. Subsequently, we conducted an experiment with 16 children with ADHD and analyzed the changes in their EF levels before and …
Public Participation Infrastructuring For Sustainability Transitions,
2026
Department of Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway
Public Participation Infrastructuring For Sustainability Transitions, Maria Andrea Valladares, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Martina Maria Keitsch
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Public participation plays a central role in sustainability transitions and addressing complex environmental challenges. However, governments face multiple challenges in enabling meaningful public participation and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Such processes tend to be constrained by legal frameworks, institutional rigidity, fragmented infrastructures, and limited capacity to facilitate multi-stakeholder dynamics. Drawing on insights from literature on transition governance and public participation, this article explores how public participation systems and infrastructures can be shifted towards what is needed in the context of transitions. The concept of infrastructuring is proposed as an analytical and design-orienting tool. Infrastructuring, here understood as an ongoing process of building …
Within The Dialogue Box: Exploring Designer Activities And Linguistic Features In Collaboration With Textual Genai,
2026
School of Design, Hunan University, Changsha, China
Within The Dialogue Box: Exploring Designer Activities And Linguistic Features In Collaboration With Textual Genai, Yulu Song, Ying Hu, Zihan Zhou, Wentao Deng, Xing Du, Yiming Bai
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Language functions as both a core element and the cognitive framework that supports the entire design process. However, the deep integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) is shifting the creative process from self- or human-to-human dialogue to human-AI conversation, requiring a careful examination of this emerging form of collaborative language. This study conducted an experiment on designer-AI collaboration. The goal was to explore the relationship between their collaborative activities, linguistic features, and co-creativity. By carefully coding activities and using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) method, we identified conversational features linked to different levels of creativity. These findings not …
