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Tectonic Computation: Crafting Logic Through Material And Geometry, Dimitris Papanikolaou Jun 2026

Tectonic Computation: Crafting Logic Through Material And Geometry, Dimitris Papanikolaou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper reframes computation as a design practice rather than a technological application. Through the construction of mechanical computing artifacts that harness environmental energy and material constraints, it demonstrates how designing can become a form of computational inquiry. The work positions architecture as a discipline capable of foundational contributions to computation by treating material, geometry, and energy as active agents of logic and memory. The study advances two main contributions: 1) It reconceptualizes computation as a physical and architectural phenomenon rather than a symbolic or digital one. 2) It demonstrates, through a pedagogical experiment, that computation can be enacted and …

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Driving Public Service Innovation Through Internal Ecosystem Development: Reconfiguring The Internal Management And Service System Of Nanhai Bus Station, Liwen Zhang, Yiqi Liu, Zheng Wang, Jingya Li, Yuexi Dong Jun 2026

Driving Public Service Innovation Through Internal Ecosystem Development: Reconfiguring The Internal Management And Service System Of Nanhai Bus Station, Liwen Zhang, Yiqi Liu, Zheng Wang, Jingya Li, Yuexi Dong

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As public sectors worldwide increasingly adopt design-driven approaches to address complex public service and management challenges, existing research predominantly focuses on citizen-facing experiences while overlooking the critical importance of internal ecosystems as the core of service delivery. This paper examines the Nanhai Bus Station Design Consultation Project in China as a case study, exploring how systematic design interventions originating from within can drive holistic public service innovation through the internal ecosystem. The research conducted in-depth participatory action research through blended research, co-design, and stakeholder engagement methodologies. Addressing challenges such as fragmented internal workflows, ambiguous division of responsibilities, and outdated service …

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Exploring Intentions And Use Scenarios Behind Geomatic Data Artefacts For Public Health Policies In Québec From A Co-Design Perspective, Angélique Montuwy, Lorenz Herfurth Jun 2026

Exploring Intentions And Use Scenarios Behind Geomatic Data Artefacts For Public Health Policies In Québec From A Co-Design Perspective, Angélique Montuwy, Lorenz Herfurth

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores the production and intended use of publicly available Geomatic Data Artefacts (such as geo-repositories, maps, and dashboards) and their relevance in the context of public health policies. We are an interdisciplinary team of academics with backgrounds in geomatics and design who began discussing the role of accessing and visualizing geographic data to support participation in public healthcare policy. Specifically, this paper examines questions related to stakeholder involvement in the production and development of use scenarios for Geomatic Data Artefacts that inform public health policies. We reviewed existing artefacts, conducted a first round of conversations, and produced an …

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Re-Configuring Body Perception: Colour And Dynamic Pattern Strategies To Challenge Aesthetic Norms, Hongyi Xiao, Dongdong Zhang, Yitong Zheng Jun 2026

Re-Configuring Body Perception: Colour And Dynamic Pattern Strategies To Challenge Aesthetic Norms, Hongyi Xiao, Dongdong Zhang, Yitong Zheng

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research frames colour and print as responsive strategies to challenge entrenched aesthetic norms and empower diverse bodies. It explores how dynamic visual patterns and colour psychology can disrupt static perceptions of body shape, moving beyond the confines of normative ideals. Through an iterative, research-through-design process, the study develops motifs and colourways that foster aesthetic agency, self-confidence, and vitality. By treating surface design as an embodied material interface, dynamic visual elements (such as moiré effects and gradients) are integrated to sustain novelty and reduce aesthetic fatigue. This approach re-frames emotional durability not just as longevity, but as the capacity for …

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Exploring Designing For Dignity In The Context Of Digital Community Platforms, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Katharina Bauer Jun 2026

Exploring Designing For Dignity In The Context Of Digital Community Platforms, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Katharina Bauer

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Digital community platforms have transformed civic participation, enhancing social belonging and shared responsibility. Yet, they intensify the digital divide between people. This can be a risk to their fundamental human value of dignity. This paper explores designing for dignity within digital community platforms through a qualitative study conducted in South Holland, The Netherlands. Twenty citizens participated in semi-structured interviews to investigate their understanding, experiences, frustrations and expectations of dignity in digital interactions. The study confirmed dignity’s multifaceted nature (14 distinct definitions), varied expectations of respectful treatment, and common challenges in using government digital services. Only 30% of participants felt these …

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Narrataive: Using Narrative For Human–Ai Co-Creation In Intelligent Cockpits, Danhua Zhao, Yufei Liu, Yuhao Jiang, Zhongjie Xue Jun 2026

Narrataive: Using Narrative For Human–Ai Co-Creation In Intelligent Cockpits, Danhua Zhao, Yufei Liu, Yuhao Jiang, Zhongjie Xue

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As intelligent cockpits transition toward experience-centered scenario design, designers must organize increasingly complex relationships among users, behaviors, and system responses. While Generative AI (GenAI) accelerates early-stage exploration, it often struggles to interpret designers’ intentions, resulting in semantic drift and inconsistencies. This study proposes NarratAIve, a structured narrative–driven framework for human–AI co-creation in intelligent cockpit design. The framework encodes users, actions, contexts, and feedback into computable narrative units that serve as clear semantic inputs for cross-modal AI generation. Through two workshops with 24 participants (including graduate students and industry experts), six cockpit concepts were produced, demonstrating how narrative acts as a …

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Bridging The Community-Institution Divide: Multi-Level Community-Based Participatory Design For Migrant Health In China, Linfu Zhang, Emmanuel Tsekleves, David Pérez Ojeda, Zhangfeng Chen, Jingyuan Tan Jun 2026

Bridging The Community-Institution Divide: Multi-Level Community-Based Participatory Design For Migrant Health In China, Linfu Zhang, Emmanuel Tsekleves, David Pérez Ojeda, Zhangfeng Chen, Jingyuan Tan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Co-design with marginalised communities in developing settings —and their experiential knowledge—often collides with expert rationalities and hierarchical logics in public health institutions, undermining power-sharing, sustained participation, and institutionalisation. This paper explores how co-design mediates these competing logics to bring structurally produced health injustices back into the formal institutional field of vision. Based on seven months of immersive fieldwork in Shenzhen, China’s largest migrant city, the paper analyses a social design case addressing rural–urban migrants’ psychological well-being in an informal settlement. It integrates community-based participatory research (CBPR) and co-design to initiate the process of returning public health concerns to the institutional …

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Design For Care-Full Inclusion: Foregrounding The Voices Of Vulnerable Communities Through Vignettes In Co-Design, Daniel Campos-Muñiz, Yiming Yao, Tse Pei Ng, Celeste Seah, Givson Ong, Janghee Cho, Jung-Joo Lee Jun 2026

Design For Care-Full Inclusion: Foregrounding The Voices Of Vulnerable Communities Through Vignettes In Co-Design, Daniel Campos-Muñiz, Yiming Yao, Tse Pei Ng, Celeste Seah, Givson Ong, Janghee Cho, Jung-Joo Lee

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Foregrounding the voices of vulnerable communities in future-oriented co-design workshops is a growing concern in design. Yet, their participation in multi-stakeholder settings may be limited by factors such as power imbalances, cultural differences, low self-efficacy or limited availability. In this paper, we present a case where a care-oriented approach to vignette making and use was adopted to foreground the voices of migrant care workers (MCWs) in a multi-stakeholder co-design workshop. Through this approach, vignettes (1) fostered our critical reflection and affective understanding, (2) supported the articulation of MCWs’ lived experiences, and (3) provided a medium to highlight the interconnectedness and …

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Situated Knowledge In Rural Craft Practices: A Context-Sensitive Approach To Craft–Design Collaboration In Fife, Scotland, Peining Sheng, Ayaan Ahmed Jun 2026

Situated Knowledge In Rural Craft Practices: A Context-Sensitive Approach To Craft–Design Collaboration In Fife, Scotland, Peining Sheng, Ayaan Ahmed

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores how craft, as an unselfconscious design practice and embodied knowledge, contributes to situated design research, based on an ethnographic field study in Fife, Scotland, and a co-creation workshop in Edinburgh. The study points out that existing studies and practices promoting craft–design collaboration tend to focus on urban contexts and designer-led methods, often resulting in a lack of context-sensitive consideration and the presence of imbalanced relationships. Thus, this study underscores that understanding the local knowledge of rural-based craft practitioners and the distinct attributes of rural settings can respond to the challenges of rural craft practices and the barriers …

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The Didactic Body: Interdisciplinary Design Pedagogy In 1970s Denmark, Christine Bjerke Jun 2026

The Didactic Body: Interdisciplinary Design Pedagogy In 1970s Denmark, Christine Bjerke

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores alternative pedagogical approaches that centred the relationship between the human body and design in 1970s Denmark. Initiated by lecturers at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – School of Architecture (today Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation), a series of interdisciplinary ergonomics seminars (1974–78) at Institute 3C2 brought together more than a hundred students and lecturers from architecture, design, dance, and the medical and social sciences. Through archival research and oral history, I analyse these overlooked teaching practices and situate them within broader societal changes. Informed by disability studies, I examine how the seminars negotiated …

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Translating Industry: The Reception And Evolution Of Industrial Thought In Early Modern, Chaolu Wang, Ruping Cao Jun 2026

Translating Industry: The Reception And Evolution Of Industrial Thought In Early Modern, Chaolu Wang, Ruping Cao

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper investigates how the concept of "industry" was received, interpreted, and localized in early modern China from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. Drawing on historical accounts from the Self-Strengthening Movement to the New Culture Movement, it reveals how industrial ideas, initially tied to military and technological modernization, gradually evolved into a broader discourse on national progress and social reform. The study argues that this intellectual translation of "industry" laid the groundwork for the emergence of modern Chinese design consciousness. By examining the intersections between industrial policy, low-level industrialization, and cultural transformation, the paper situates China's …

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Plundergeist: Exploring Generative Ai Through Vibe Coding As Reflective Design Practice, Christian Nold Jun 2026

Plundergeist: Exploring Generative Ai Through Vibe Coding As Reflective Design Practice, Christian Nold

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Generative AI (GenAI) has sparked intense media debate, yet design research has often echoed these narratives rather than examining how GenAI reshapes everyday design practices. This paper presents a year-long auto-ethnographic study involving 34 games and apps created through vibe coding, a GenAI-native approach that uses natural-language prompts to generate code. The study reveals distinct qualities that unsettle design processes: playful intervention, creative forgetting, spectral echoes, inventive excess, and fragile limits. Two key insights emerge: designing with GenAI requires deliberate engagement with cultural archetypes and treating AI as an unruly collaborator. Drawing on John Oswald’s 1985 concept of ‘plunderphonics’, the …

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Making Futures With Textiles: Boundaries, Practice, Sustainability, Martin John Bonney Jun 2026

Making Futures With Textiles: Boundaries, Practice, Sustainability, Martin John Bonney

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores craft as a site of making and thinking, asking how practice-based ethnography can extend design theory amid ecological and social uncertainty. Drawing on apprenticeship-style fieldwork (2024-2025) with craft communities in London (UK) and Yogyakarta (Indonesia), the study engages practitioners working across textiles, silver, gold, stone, wax-resist batik, wool, and silk. While textiles provide a methodological thread, the research examines how diverse materials shape knowledge through constraints, resistances, and affordances. Grounded in design anthropology and practice-based interpretations of posthuman and new materialist thought, material agency is understood as the capacity of matter and process to influence decisions and …

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Acknowledging The Blind Men And The Elephant In The Room, Arvind Lodaya Jun 2026

Acknowledging The Blind Men And The Elephant In The Room, Arvind Lodaya

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Systemic design addresses complex, transdisciplinary challenges by integrating systems thinking and design methods. Yet, academic discourse remains limited to formal research and institutional methods, “invisibilizing” the rich, plural, and grounded practices of grassroots non-designer practitioners such as social workers, indigenous knowledge practitioners, and community facilitators. This paper challenges that narrow epistemology, and advocates restoring practice-centricity and incorporating plurality & pluriversality as essential ethical and political commitments to advancing the field. Mashing up the metaphors of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” and “The Elephant in the Room”, it highlights the need to proactively accommodate multiple perspectives for better reflexivity. The …

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Bodies In Play: Queering Ai, Sport, And Medicine Through Design, Felix Kosok Jun 2026

Bodies In Play: Queering Ai, Sport, And Medicine Through Design, Felix Kosok

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Queerness in design often operates from the margins, yet to remain transformative it must also confront the heteronormative hegemonies embedded in central societal infrastructures. This paper examines how queer design intervenes in the fields of artificial intelligence, sport, and healthcare, identifying three strategies through which design can challenge normative systems: disruption, subversion, and circumvention. Through a comparative analysis of three case studies – Christensen and Conradi’s AI/IA experiments with queer artificial intelligence, Gabriel Fontana’s sport design projects Multiform and Sidelined, and the queer-led digital health platform Every Health – the paper explores how design practices reconfigure infrastructures that regulate bodies, …

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Función-Nepantla: The “Other” Functionality Inspired By Mexican Philosophy For Rethinking Industrial Design In Mexico, José De La O Jun 2026

Función-Nepantla: The “Other” Functionality Inspired By Mexican Philosophy For Rethinking Industrial Design In Mexico, José De La O

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design in Mexico, often disconnected from the local industry value chain, has long relied on arte popular as a self-referential cultural narrative to add value, establish identity, and find its “substance.” While this practice stems from a genuine search for rootedness and authenticity, it frequently leads to stagnation, raises concerns about cultural appropriation, neo-colonial dynamics between designers and craftspeople, neglect of functionality, and lack of innovation. This paper critiques this and proposes a framework for defining functionality, rooted in Mexican philosophy as an alternative value system. Drawing on thinkers such as Emilio Uranga and Grupo Hiperión’s work, it identifies parallels …

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Symbiotic Behaviors And Strategic Design: A Situated Participatory Framework For Organizations Led By/For Older Adults, Juliana Gómez, Mariana González, Tala Pedraza, Laura Sofía Riveros Jun 2026

Symbiotic Behaviors And Strategic Design: A Situated Participatory Framework For Organizations Led By/For Older Adults, Juliana Gómez, Mariana González, Tala Pedraza, Laura Sofía Riveros

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Café Séneca, the largest affinity chapter of the Uniandinos Alumni Association in Colombia, is dedicated to the wellbeing of older adults and led by retired members. Despite its popularity, the chapter lacked a strategic design structure, relying on inertia to shape its activities and limiting its ability to evolve sustainably. This paper presents a reflective case study of SenSilver, a situated participatory strategic design framework developed for organizations led by and for older adults. Combining business, positive, and empowerment-oriented design with biological, social, and psychological dimensions of aging, the framework was applied through a research-consultancy process with Café Séneca. The …

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Promoting The Development Of Critical Thinking Among Design Novices In Aigc-Aided Design Processes, Peiyuan Ge, Fei Fan* Jun 2026

Promoting The Development Of Critical Thinking Among Design Novices In Aigc-Aided Design Processes, Peiyuan Ge, Fei Fan*

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The use of AIGC to assist in design is increasingly common in industry and classrooms. Designers delegate critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making to AI, leading to mental inertia and blind obedience, making learners’ critical thinking crucial. This study explores how AIGC-aided E6 design thinking affects beginner designers’ critical thinking via controlled experiments. Beginners conducted "future travel products" concept design, generating sketches on LiblibAI, with the E6 design thinking scale as an intervention. Data were collected via repeated generation, retesting, and interviews. Results: 58.82% of the scale items showed improved critical thinking, 71.43% of the works were rated better by experts, …

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Tracing Oppression Through Things: Facilitating A Slow Critique In Post-Anthropocene Design, Thanussayan Karunakaran, Dilina Nawarathne Jun 2026

Tracing Oppression Through Things: Facilitating A Slow Critique In Post-Anthropocene Design, Thanussayan Karunakaran, Dilina Nawarathne

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper reconsiders what it means to be critical in design studies under Post-Anthropocene conditions. It proposes slow relational critique as an orientation. In doing so, it stays with the fragile entanglements through which oppression is enacted by both human and more-than-human entities. Drawing on Actor–Network Theory, the paper revisits a case of a cradle in a caste-oppressed community in Sri Lanka to show how power and inequality are relationally produced through mundane associations of “things.” The analysis demonstrates how critique can remain empirical and attentive to objects while resisting the purification of problems into grand Anthropocene social explanations. Rather …

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Sketch-Based Ai: How Ai-Influence Levels Shape Perceived Authorship And Creativity In The Design Process, Byungsoo Kim, Haeyoung Kim Jun 2026

Sketch-Based Ai: How Ai-Influence Levels Shape Perceived Authorship And Creativity In The Design Process, Byungsoo Kim, Haeyoung Kim

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Understanding perceived authorship and creativity is critical for novice designers to improve efficiency and engagement in human-AI collaboration. This study explores how different AI influence levels (100% = high human-drawing influence, 0% = low drawing influence) affect perceived authorship and creativity, and how these levels relate to design intents that shape authorship and support the process-oriented nature of creativity. Vizcom workshop post-surveys measured perceived authorship and creativity (N=45). Regarding authorship, when high AI influence (low authorship threshold), basic resemblance to the sketch was enough; when low AI influence, participants expected signature cues and minimal AI changes. Regarding perceived creativity, high …

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The Hauntology Of Generative Ai In Design, Michael Heron, Klara Aune, Mafalda Gamboa, Sofia Thunberg, Negin Hashmati, Pauline Belford Jun 2026

The Hauntology Of Generative Ai In Design, Michael Heron, Klara Aune, Mafalda Gamboa, Sofia Thunberg, Negin Hashmati, Pauline Belford

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is a fundamentally hauntological technology. This paper interrogates that character of contemporary AI systems and explores why this feature undermines the goals of design research. We argue the need for an exorcism of GenAI, or at least a constructive rebellion against the ghosts it systematically produces. GenAI is convergence-driven and nuance-averse. It aims for reasonableness as a first-order output. Its training data reflects a profound anthropocentrism that extinguishes plurality. As a result, GenAI accelerates the foreclosure of possible worlds by preferentially reproducing that which is statistically probable and culturally dominant. By contrast, design relies upon idiosyncrasy, …

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Generative Ai In Digital Cultural Heritage Design Workflows: A Systematic Literature Review, Yuyao Zhang, Tuotuo Yang, Meng Li, Yun Wang Jun 2026

Generative Ai In Digital Cultural Heritage Design Workflows: A Systematic Literature Review, Yuyao Zhang, Tuotuo Yang, Meng Li, Yun Wang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Generative AI is increasingly shaping the workflows of digital cultural heritage design practice, introducing new approaches to creative production, interpretation, and collaboration. Existing research has examined how generative AI influences general design workflows and supports creative practices in different domains. However, limited attention has been given to how these technologies participate in the design workflows of digital cultural heritage. Compared with other design contexts, digital cultural heritage design requires balancing creative exploration with the accurate transmission of heritage knowledge, which makes its workflows more complex. To address this gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review to examine how generative …

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Designing For Generativity And Wellbeing: Insights From Visitors At The Hong Kong Space Museum, Cerella Yueru Chen, Amy Law, Jiarui Cao, Xun Li Jun 2026

Designing For Generativity And Wellbeing: Insights From Visitors At The Hong Kong Space Museum, Cerella Yueru Chen, Amy Law, Jiarui Cao, Xun Li

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper investigates how generativity, understood as showing care and contributing to the next generation's lives, shapes visitors’ engagement, experience, and psychological wellbeing in the Hong Kong Space Museum. We conducted fifteen semi-structured interviews to explore how generativity unfolds in museum interactions. Building on Fan and Luo (2022), we extend the generativity model by introducing bidirectional and recursive relationships among generativity, engagement, and experience. Our findings show that generativity can be understood as a designable, relational and temporal pathway to wellbeing. Thematic analysis further reveals that different types of installations scaffold generativity and wellbeing through distinct design features such as …

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Evaluating Visual Accessibility Of Ai-Generated Interfaces, Mutong Rao, Jody Watts Jun 2026

Evaluating Visual Accessibility Of Ai-Generated Interfaces, Mutong Rao, Jody Watts

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Large Language Models are increasingly integrated into UX design. However, their effectiveness in meeting visual accessibility requirements is under-explored. This research evaluates ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to generate visually accessible interfaces using a Research through Design methodology. First, an accessibility scoring system was created from the Apple, WCAG 2.2, and Microsoft accessibility guidelines. Second, design experiments were conducted using ChatGPT and Copilot, and the outputs were evaluated using the new scoring system. Findings indicate ChatGPT and Copilot can respond effectively to well-structured prompts, but they demonstrate low competence in executing visually accessible interfaces. This research makes two valuable contributions to …

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Beyond Binaries Of Reconciliation: Working Across Knowledge Systems At The Cultural Interface, Georgina Nolan, Nicola St John Jun 2026

Beyond Binaries Of Reconciliation: Working Across Knowledge Systems At The Cultural Interface, Georgina Nolan, Nicola St John

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Designing and researching across multiple knowledge systems requires vigilant negotiation, reflexivity and care. These dynamics are heightened on the lands now called Australia, where settler-colonial researchers (such as the authors) engage with diverse Indigenous knowledge systems. We examine how our own ways of being and knowing come into relation with others, surfacing tensions that shape the role of pluriversal design within our situated practices. We critique reconciliation narratives that risk reaffirming colonial hierarchies by positioning reconciliation as a destination, or a reconciling between binaries of Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledges. We argue, instead, for embracing generative tensions as openings for dialogue. …

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Redesigning Transition Arenas For Power-Sensitive Participation, Tomi Rantanen, Tatu Marttila, Idil Gaziulusoy Jun 2026

Redesigning Transition Arenas For Power-Sensitive Participation, Tomi Rantanen, Tatu Marttila, Idil Gaziulusoy

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Transition arenas are organised to facilitate and guide sociotechnical system change. The organisers invite identified stakeholders in the set problem area to design desirable futures and develop transition pathways. Typically, a transition arena is organised by a transition team who wield power and authority in the transition context. Our broader research project develops transition arenas to facilitate a transition towards gender-equal futures in the Finnish music industry. This research-through-design study investigates how transition arenas can be organised in alignment with intersectional feminist values, specifically focusing on the establishment phase of the process. Through workshops with industry stakeholders, we explore avenues …

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Integrating Attachment And Social Identity Theories In The Co-Design Of A Hokkien Nursery Rhymes App, Kaiqing Chen Jun 2026

Integrating Attachment And Social Identity Theories In The Co-Design Of A Hokkien Nursery Rhymes App, Kaiqing Chen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study presents the co-design of Hokkien Nursery Rhymes, an educational app supporting intergenerational language learning and cultural transmission. Grounded in Attachment Theory, the design promotes parent–child co-use to strengthen emotional bonds and create a secure, trusting learning atmosphere. Social Identity Theory informs the app’s cultural framing, reinforcing children’s sense of belonging to their linguistic and cultural heritage. Using participatory methods creative workshops with children and interviews with families from diverse sociocultural backgrounds—the study translated insights into tangible design features: emotionally responsive virtual companions, collaborative parent–child tasks, culturally meaningful narratives, reward mechanisms, and personalized audio from caregivers. These elements foster …

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A Study On The Transfer Signage System In The Seoul Subway Network: Focusing On Persons With Reduced Mobility (Prm), Kyulim Kim, Injeong Kim, Yujin Bae, Younjoon Lee Jun 2026

A Study On The Transfer Signage System In The Seoul Subway Network: Focusing On Persons With Reduced Mobility (Prm), Kyulim Kim, Injeong Kim, Yujin Bae, Younjoon Lee

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study addresses the inadequate wayfinding signage system in the Seoul subway, which causes significant delays for people with reduced mobility (PRM), particularly wheelchair users, during transfers. We examined the information structure and visual accessibility of transfer signage from the PRM perspective. Using a shadowing method, we observed the movement of 30 unfamiliar wheelchair users across 10 transfer stations. The evaluation focused on information continuity, visual accessibility, location identifiability, and information hierarchy. Results indicated frequent information gaps and unrecognised signage due to structural obstructions and visual clutter. Crucially, inconsistencies and confusion surrounding lift locations were repeatedly observed. Based on these …

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Designing For The Working Body: Challenges In The Development Of Occupational Exoskeletons, Emese Papp-Schmitt, Christian Wölfel, Torben Söker, Jens Krzywinski Jun 2026

Designing For The Working Body: Challenges In The Development Of Occupational Exoskeletons, Emese Papp-Schmitt, Christian Wölfel, Torben Söker, Jens Krzywinski

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Exoskeletons exemplify intimate body-technology entanglements, where user experience is inherently corporeal. Despite their increasing presence in industrial and emerging consumer markets, current development methods often neglect the embodied dimensions of these devices. This paper explores what it means to design for the working body in the context of occupational exoskeletons. Drawing from our design practice and qualitative interviews in automotive and logistics, we identify tensions across three areas: (1) user and context research, inclusive and (2) body-sensitive development processes, and (3) the semiotics and social meaning of exoskeletons. We highlight challenges such as normalized risk and harm, limited attention to …

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Designing Social Inclusion In Circular Transitions: A Participatory Study Of Repair Initiatives In Germany, Antje Burckhardt, Lenard Opeskin, Andrea Augsten Jun 2026

Designing Social Inclusion In Circular Transitions: A Participatory Study Of Repair Initiatives In Germany, Antje Burckhardt, Lenard Opeskin, Andrea Augsten

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Repair initiatives are promoted as policy instruments to foster sustainable consumption practices within circular economy agendas. However, recent studies question their ability to achieve broader societal impact, noting that social inclusion remains limited. The study addresses this challenge by employing a participatory design approach to actively explore fields of action to enhance social inclusion in repair initiatives in Germany. Drawing on a literature review, we first conducted five expert interviews with repair initiative representatives, as well as 53 short interviews with visitors and people who had not previously visited a repair initiative, identifying barriers and opportunities for improvement. Second, we …

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