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Ddenso: An Evaluation-Driven Methodology For Information Visualisations, Michele Mauri, Elena Aversa, Anna Cattaneo, María De Los Ángeles Briones Rojas Jun 2026

Ddenso: An Evaluation-Driven Methodology For Information Visualisations, Michele Mauri, Elena Aversa, Anna Cattaneo, María De Los Ángeles Briones Rojas

DRS Biennial Conference Series

When designing Information Visualisations for Media and Information Literacy (MIL) initiatives, a significant challenge lies in ensuring that they effectively transmit and consolidate knowledge, particularly when the Information Visualisation literacy of the audience is unknown. Applying a Research through Design approach, this article describes a meta-process: the reflective and iterative path that led to the definition of DDENSO, a replicable design methodology for creating and evaluating Information Visualisations that allow for knowledge retention. Grounded in prior theoretical and practical experience in Information Design, DDENSO emerged through the development of the artefacts for a MIL exhibition exploring the social implications of …

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Designing Motion Identity: Exploring The Aesthetic Expression Of Brand Style Through System Motion, Xinyi Xie, Yinman Guo, Zican Chen Jun 2026

Designing Motion Identity: Exploring The Aesthetic Expression Of Brand Style Through System Motion, Xinyi Xie, Yinman Guo, Zican Chen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study investigates how system motion enhances aesthetic experience and shapes users’ interpretation of brand style. Using Windows 11, macOS, and HarmonyOS as representative cases, the study analyses four categories of system animations through a motor-level framework comprising temporal, spatial, and transformational attributes. Twelve motion samples were coded, and participants evaluated each sample using perceptual adjectives. The results show that consistent attribute patterns across functional categories lead to stable aesthetic tendencies, while differences emerge from how each system repeatedly applies these attributes. These attribute biases create distinct perceptual profiles, indicating that motion can function as a subtle medium for expressing …

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Interiority As A Pedagogical Approach In Interior Design Studio Education, Selin Aktan Abraham, Fulya Özbey Jun 2026

Interiority As A Pedagogical Approach In Interior Design Studio Education, Selin Aktan Abraham, Fulya Özbey

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As the central platform of design education, interior design studios function as dynamic learning environments that advance creativity and sensitivity to the social and spatial dimensions of design. Although the experiential qualities of space are conceptually acknowledged within studio pedagogy, the notion of ‘interiority’ remains unstudied compared to the emphasis placed on technical requirements. This paper positions interiority as a critical yet underexplored component of interior design pedagogy. Through a literature mapping and thematic synthesis, this paper defines five core dimensions of interiority as (1) spatial, (2) sensory, (3) affective, (4) identity-related, and (5) temporal, then correlates these dimensions in …

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Designing With Care: Proposing An Ethical Canvas For Co-Design With Marginalised Groups, Hilkka Lydén, Soile Juujärvi, Satu Miettinen Jun 2026

Designing With Care: Proposing An Ethical Canvas For Co-Design With Marginalised Groups, Hilkka Lydén, Soile Juujärvi, Satu Miettinen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper addresses gaps in ethical guidance for socially oriented designers engaged in co-design with marginalised groups. It introduces an ethical canvas for planning and evaluating co-design, developed through a collaborative inquiry led by a practitioner-researcher with long experience in community-based design. The canvas was informed by the authoring team’s expertise in service design, ethical decision-making, and socially engaged design research. It makes ethical deliberation visible and actionable, especially where multiple or conflicting values are present. The canvas invites designers to reflect on their stance, engage with participants’ lived realities, and navigate tensions between institutional expectations and situated needs. It …

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Enframing Creativity: Speculations On Design Education's Transformations In The Age Of Generative Ai, Alireza Sharifi, Michael Hohl, Fredrik Skatar Jun 2026

Enframing Creativity: Speculations On Design Education's Transformations In The Age Of Generative Ai, Alireza Sharifi, Michael Hohl, Fredrik Skatar

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The rapid advancement of AI technologies necessitates a shift from reactive adoption to speculative inquiry into long-term consequences for educational systems. Grounded in Martin Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," this research examines the epistemology of AI in design education. Methodologically, it employs speculative futurology, integrating speculative design, critical design, and scenario planning to explore possible futures, culminating in a philosophical mapping framework based on Heidegger's critical stance. The findings reveal a critical temporal mismatch between rapid AI capability growth and slower educational adaptation, creating urgency for human-centered frameworks. The research concludes that design education's future depends on consciously cultivating Critical …

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Reframing Practice: Architectural Design Research And The Expanding Role Of The Architect, Manuela Triggianese, Juan Sádaba, Lee Moreau, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Kees Kaan, Georg Vrachliotis, María Risueño Jun 2026

Reframing Practice: Architectural Design Research And The Expanding Role Of The Architect, Manuela Triggianese, Juan Sádaba, Lee Moreau, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Kees Kaan, Georg Vrachliotis, María Risueño

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Architecture extends far beyond the design of buildings and cities, engaging with environmental, technological, and societal challenges. As practice evolves, so must the research that supports it. This theme track examines architecture’s expanding role in collaboration, communication, and service, positioning it as a research-driven discipline and a tool for inquiry, innovation, and responsiveness to communities and stakeholders. Operating across systems, social processes, and technological infrastructures, architecture is increasingly understood as an interdisciplinary practice. The track strengthens Architectural Design Research by addressing its evolving methodologies and its role in knowledge production. Contributions explore co-creation, artificial intelligence, data as design material, and …

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Design And More-Than-Human: Forming Ecologies Of Practices, Laura Popplow Jun 2026

Design And More-Than-Human: Forming Ecologies Of Practices, Laura Popplow

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This editorial introduces a set of emerging and consolidating practices in more-than-human design, situating them within a shifting landscape where coherence is not yet achieved—and may not be the goal. Rather than stabilizing the field, the contributions gathered in this meta-track move within an “ecology of practice” (Stengers) that remains attentive to frictions, partial connections, and unresolved tensions. Braiding both interrelated but also incoherent experiences, the authors of this panel work through relational agency, somatic literacy, and productive friction: outlining and reconfiguring design beyond human-centered paradigms. Across contexts—from biodesign and biodiverse architecture to embodied experiments with non-human perception—design is approached …

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Unlocking Dormant Products: Systemic Leverage Points And Strategies For Household Circularity, Karin Aasa, Janne Huys, Helena Strömberg, Oskar Rexfelt Jun 2026

Unlocking Dormant Products: Systemic Leverage Points And Strategies For Household Circularity, Karin Aasa, Janne Huys, Helena Strömberg, Oskar Rexfelt

DRS Biennial Conference Series

A functioning circular economy relies on households recirculating products once they are no longer needed. However, households often accumulate products in wardrobes, cupboards, and other storage spaces. While contemporary design practices often reinforce this through encouraging new purchases and attachment, unlocking dormant products for reuse emerges as a new challenge for design. This paper draws on a systems analysis of how products move into, around, and sometimes out of the home, based on household interviews and visits. The analysis reveals how products slip out of use and become forgotten as stored mass, requiring significant effort to recirculate. We identify key …

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Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, And Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene In Ai’S Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Sanita Budihardjo, Kazjon Grace, Josie Young, Yiying Wu Jun 2026

Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, And Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene In Ai’S Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Sanita Budihardjo, Kazjon Grace, Josie Young, Yiying Wu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In recent years, AI has become increasingly entangled with design practice, whether as a tool, a design material, or a collaborator. Alongside these opportunities, it is necessary to recognise AI as a socio-technical system that reproduces existing gender hierarchies. Treating design as a political site of intervention; this paper examines how designers can ground their practice in addressing gender bias in AI. Drawing on a scoping review of gender bias in AI, feminist design perspectives, and existing interventions in design research, we argue that designers occupy a consequential role as critical reflectors, bridge-builders, and sense-makers, uniquely positioned to question how …

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Motivation And Reflective Processes In Service-Learning Design Projects: Insights From A Visual Communication Design Studio, Alejandra Poblete Pérez, Emilio J. Castro-Navarro, Alfredo Mora Briones, Pilar Del Real Westphal, Marcela Cabello Mora Jun 2026

Motivation And Reflective Processes In Service-Learning Design Projects: Insights From A Visual Communication Design Studio, Alejandra Poblete Pérez, Emilio J. Castro-Navarro, Alfredo Mora Briones, Pilar Del Real Westphal, Marcela Cabello Mora

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study examines structured self-reflection as a formative assessment tool within a Visual Communication Design Studio incorporating the service-learning (S-L) methodology, analysing motivational dynamics experienced by twenty undergraduate students. Using Thematic Analysis of 420 weekly responses, the study draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to map reflections on strengths, weaknesses, and intentions against needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The analysis revealed a consistent pattern: strengths centred on competence and relatedness, while weaknesses highlighted motivational tensions and emotional blockages regarding self-regulation and project management. The dominant dynamic was the interplay between autonomy and relatedness, with “teamwork” emerging as the most recurrent …

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Agnes As A Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, And Embodied Expertise, Elisa Cardamone, Taylor Brennan, Sophia Ashebir, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Joseph F. Coughlin Jun 2026

Agnes As A Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, And Embodied Expertise, Elisa Cardamone, Taylor Brennan, Sophia Ashebir, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Joseph F. Coughlin

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design is increasingly engaging with the body through soft systems, wearables, and responsive materials, exploring how material interactions shape experiences of care and inclusion. This paper examines the Age Gain Now Empathy System (AGNES) - a wearable suit simulating the chronic physical conditions and functional changes associated with older age - as a critical, soma-focused design intervention. Drawing on auto-ethnographic reflection and participant observation, we present a theoretical and methodological analysis. We argue that AGNES' critical materiality actively mediates how the ageing body is read and made visible, inviting embodied understanding and supporting co-creation partnerships. We analyse how this wearable …

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Uncovering The Health Impacts Of Extreme Temperatures In Western United States Prisons Through Interdisciplinary Architectural And Epidemiological Methods, Serena Langdon-Dimidjian, Allison Macht, Shawhin Roudbari, Katherine Lemasters, David Ciplet, Elizabeth Corrado, Michael Clifton, Bob Eisman Jun 2026

Uncovering The Health Impacts Of Extreme Temperatures In Western United States Prisons Through Interdisciplinary Architectural And Epidemiological Methods, Serena Langdon-Dimidjian, Allison Macht, Shawhin Roudbari, Katherine Lemasters, David Ciplet, Elizabeth Corrado, Michael Clifton, Bob Eisman

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Mass incarceration is a public health and architectural crisis in the United States. Extreme temperatures present mental and physical health challenges for incarcerated populations, exacerbated by the architectural strategies of carceral spaces. At the intersection of architecture and epidemiology we investigated how participants could leverage architectural drawings to analyze the inhumane temperatures they experienced in state prisons. Through interviews and focus groups with formerly incarcerated people, we found that the method of participatory architectural drawing allowed participants and researchers to spatialize the impact of extreme temperatures on mental and physical health as mediated by architectural space. Through a collaboration between …

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The R’S Have It: Navigating The Playground Of Design For Health Through Design Rationale, Bard Wartena, Derek Kuipers Jun 2026

The R’S Have It: Navigating The Playground Of Design For Health Through Design Rationale, Bard Wartena, Derek Kuipers

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines how systemic designers in health navigate plural perspectives and overlapping quality regimes. We introduce the Playground of Design as four interconnected spaces of problem, design, change, and solution, together with four R’s, Rapidness, Rigour, Relevance, and Resonance, as conversational lenses for articulating design rationale in plural settings. Two Dutch cases illustrate this approach. Bias Blaster, a serious game for adolescents recovering from psychosis, is reread retrospectively to reconstruct systemic design rationale. E-Health Junior, a long-running e-health consortium, is reconstructed through interviews and translated into a pedagogical workshop for perspective-taking. We argue that combining the Playground of Design …

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Co-Living With Agentic Ai: Reframing Design Research For Experiential Trust In Everyday Domestic Life, Jay Moon Jun 2026

Co-Living With Agentic Ai: Reframing Design Research For Experiential Trust In Everyday Domestic Life, Jay Moon

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As artificial intelligence evolves into agentic, adaptive, and generative systems, design research faces an epistemic shift. AI assistants, once reactive interfaces, are increasingly experienced as proactive presences that shape everyday life. This transformation reframes trust, no longer limited to technical reliability, transparency, or explainability, but also emerging as a relational and experiential phenomenon formed through interaction. While industry emphasizes technical trust, including privacy, security, and system reliability, design research must also address experiential trust, a felt confidence grounded in the lived quality of human and AI coexistence. Focusing on the smart home as a case of everyday domestic life, where …

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Visual Thinking With Artificial Intelligence And Augmented And Virtual Reality, Peter Stewart Harkins, Jan Michel Auernhammer Jun 2026

Visual Thinking With Artificial Intelligence And Augmented And Virtual Reality, Peter Stewart Harkins, Jan Michel Auernhammer

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Visual thinking, a foundation of design, is often framed as a reflective conversation between a designer and their medium. Recent advances in generative Artificial Intelligence and immersive technologies, such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, are profoundly reshaping this conversation. This article explores how these digital tools augment the visual design process, moving beyond traditional methods. Through a series of autoethnographic, practice-based examples, we demonstrate several key transformations, particularly: AI-driven dialogues that rapidly iterate within a visual language and translate across languages; embodied, spatial sketching in AR/VR that enables new forms of visuospatial reasoning; and novel methods for perspective-taking and collaboration …

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Ai And Thou: Empathy, Artificial Intelligence And Alterity In Design, Matt Sinclair, Peter Buwert Jun 2026

Ai And Thou: Empathy, Artificial Intelligence And Alterity In Design, Matt Sinclair, Peter Buwert

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Empathy is a key differentiator in Nigel Cross' model of Design as a third discipline, and has become established as a vital component of both research and practice. Yet agreed definitions of empathy in design remain elusive, and the roles it should play have been questioned and problematised. Recent developments in the capabilities of Large Language Models have generated discussion of the possibility of both simulated and actual empathic behaviour by artificial intelligences. In this paper we gather and synthesise relevant philosophical debates on the nature and operation of AI-empathy. Concepts of alterity in the work of Martin Buber and …

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Designing Knowledge Otherwise: The Bembo Officina Editoriale As A Case For Alternative Academic Publishing, Raimonda Riccini, Simone Spagnol, Giampiero Dalai, Stefania D'Eri, Manuel Zanettin, Giovanni Borga, Luciano Perondi Jun 2026

Designing Knowledge Otherwise: The Bembo Officina Editoriale As A Case For Alternative Academic Publishing, Raimonda Riccini, Simone Spagnol, Giampiero Dalai, Stefania D'Eri, Manuel Zanettin, Giovanni Borga, Luciano Perondi

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents Bembo Officina Editoriale (BOE) as a design-research experiment addressing the epistemological, ethical, and technical tensions in contemporary scientific publishing. BOE develops an open-source, automated editorial workflow—based on Markdown–Python pipelines—to generate fully editable InDesign outputs, reducing production costs and enabling accessibility without compromising design quality. Rooted in a non-profit academic framework, the model reclaims editorial autonomy while resisting the inequities of commercial open-access models based on Article Processing Charges. BOE thus proposes an alternative publishing infrastructure where automation sustains pluralism and transparency. The contribution situates this approach within a critical reflection on the historical continuity between typographic rationalization …

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Design For Well-Being: A Preliminary Investigation On Design Interventions In The Context Of Loneliness Economy, Jinxia Liu, Angela Giambattista, Loredana Di Lucchio Jun 2026

Design For Well-Being: A Preliminary Investigation On Design Interventions In The Context Of Loneliness Economy, Jinxia Liu, Angela Giambattista, Loredana Di Lucchio

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Loneliness has become a prominent public health issue that causes negative consequences at both individual and social levels. Concurrently, the market is actively responding and gradually forms the loneliness economy, addressing human emotional needs by offering related products and services. However, the largely implemented digital solutions remain problematic. This paper aims at investigating how design research has addressed the loneliness issue and what roles design plays in addressing loneliness. A mixed methodological approach was adopted, combining analysis of keyword co-occurrence and a meta-narrative review. The results identify the threefold design contributions: building and enhancing social connectedness, creating artificial companions and …

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Mediating Heritage Through Design: Participatory Approaches To Post-Digital Transformation, Lorenzo Barberis, Lorenzo Arena, Vlasios Kasapakis, Viktor Malakuczi, Ioannis Chatziannakis Jun 2026

Mediating Heritage Through Design: Participatory Approaches To Post-Digital Transformation, Lorenzo Barberis, Lorenzo Arena, Vlasios Kasapakis, Viktor Malakuczi, Ioannis Chatziannakis

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research explores how design mediates the digital transformation of cultural heritage through hybrid and multisensory installations in archaeological contexts. Using the Case Romane del Celio in Rome as a pilot site for the European project HeritAdapt, it aims to redistribute visitor flows and promote sustainable tourism by enhancing the intangible value of minor sites. The study contributes to the post-digital museology debate by framing design as a critical, participatory practice operating across physical and virtual dimensions, fostering collaboration among engineering, management and restoration. Combining Service Design, Extended Reality and Artificial Intelligence technologies, qualitative research and iterative prototyping guided the …

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Material Articulation: Toward An Ornamental Thinking In Digital Tectonics, Ali Etemadi Esfarjani, Manuel Kretzer Jun 2026

Material Articulation: Toward An Ornamental Thinking In Digital Tectonics, Ali Etemadi Esfarjani, Manuel Kretzer

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research explores ornament as a form of material intelligence in large-scale additive manufacturing. Through the evolution of two design case studies, this paper investigates how micro-scale design articulation evolves from surface tectonics to the traces of the machine’s toolpath and material behaviour. One reveals itself as an organic, agent-based, data-informed modulation. The other integrates a woven toolpath strategy that transforms 3D printing into a spatial composition. Considering ornament not only as an aesthetic element but as a manifestation of process creates a dialogue between matter, performance, and application. With the help of computational design and data, this intervention expands …

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Code Ecologies: Reclaiming Design As Meaning-Making Within Human–Ecological Systems, Laura Santamaria Jun 2026

Code Ecologies: Reclaiming Design As Meaning-Making Within Human–Ecological Systems, Laura Santamaria

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper reclaims the role of design as a practice of meaning-making within human–ecological systems. While meaning has always been part of design discourse, successive turns – semiotic, experiential, relational – have addressed what meaning is without asking why living systems make meaning at all. Drawing on recent advances in neuroscience, biosemiotics and code biology, it argues that meaning-making is not a cognitive phenomenon unique to humans but a regulatory process intrinsic to living systems. Code Ecologies offers a philosophical framework that reinterprets the biosphere, technosphere and semiosphere as interdependent ecologies of codes, resonant with relational and Indigenous cosmologies. The …

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Support Designer’S Wellbeing: Understanding Resilience In Design Education As A Wicked Challenge, Yilin Quan, Matthew Isherwood, Ji Han Jun 2026

Support Designer’S Wellbeing: Understanding Resilience In Design Education As A Wicked Challenge, Yilin Quan, Matthew Isherwood, Ji Han

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design students are expected to engage with wicked problems as part of their learning. Since these problems have no definitive solutions, the learning process can be challenging and may negatively affect students’ wellbeing. Cultivating resilience becomes critical. Although the conceptualisation of designer resilience has gained attention, it remains underexplored. This paper proposes a new conceptual model of resilience in design education, suggesting two capacity clusters: one emphasising short-term recovery and balance restoration, and the other focusing on long-term sustained engagement. It further frames resilience cultivation in design education as a wicked problem in itself, characterised by the inherent complexity within …

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From Appraisal To Affect: Designing A Playful Activity For Social Emotional Learning Among Children, Jonathan Sawian, Aditi Sharma Jun 2026

From Appraisal To Affect: Designing A Playful Activity For Social Emotional Learning Among Children, Jonathan Sawian, Aditi Sharma

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The National Education Policy of India (2020) states that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is essential towards student’s holistic development. While existing curricula provide structured guidance and learning, they often lack playful and participatory elements to engage children in the learning process. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a non-digital, co-operative and playful activity called Bhavna Chakra (Wheel of Emotions) which aims to teach children about emotional awareness using Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions. The study proposes a design framework based on cognitive appraisal theory, narrative structure and social play. A within-subjects study with 40 students (ages 11–12) from low …

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Exploring Embodiment’S Impact On Autonomy And Agency In Behavioral Design, Ruth Schmidt Jun 2026

Exploring Embodiment’S Impact On Autonomy And Agency In Behavioral Design, Ruth Schmidt

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The field of behavioral design uses insight into humans’ cognitive tendencies to help people make better, more rational choices. Yet individuals’ perceptions of what seems rational—let alone viable, or even conceivable—are not universally shared and are often informed by their embodiment as much as cognition. For example, fear of being scolded can inhibit overweight or obese individuals from seeking preventive healthcare, people with ‘invisible’ disabilities may feel pressured to pass as able-bodied to fit in, and Black individuals may avoid ordinary activities likely to prompt ‘birding while Black’ confrontations. Depicting cognition as the single site of judgment and decision-making therefore …

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Digital Platform To Foster Social Engagement For The Visually Impaired, Mônica Moura, Cristina Portugal, Márcio Guimarães Jun 2026

Digital Platform To Foster Social Engagement For The Visually Impaired, Mônica Moura, Cristina Portugal, Márcio Guimarães

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper details the development and impact of the "Lembrei de Você" (I Remembered You) project, an inclusive design initiative that created a digital platform to combat loneliness and promote autonomy among the visually impaired, especially the elderly, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using participatory methods, the research led to the creation of a platform that manages and distributes audio messages through a solidarity network of readers and listeners. The study describes the design process, from accessibility requirements to implementation using WordPress. Results show the platform successfully optimized project logistics and fostered an inclusive digital environment, enhancing social interaction …

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Designing With Changeability: Material Agency And Theory In Textile Design, Zuzana Šebeková, Petra Vicianová, Zuzana Veselá, Barbora Hank Palatínusová, Zuzana Machatova Jun 2026

Designing With Changeability: Material Agency And Theory In Textile Design, Zuzana Šebeková, Petra Vicianová, Zuzana Veselá, Barbora Hank Palatínusová, Zuzana Machatova

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper investigates how natural dye printing and material agency in textile design can generate theoretical insights for design practice and pedagogy. Textiles are positioned as participants in material processes, where material behaviour, environmental exposure, and user interaction shape design outcomes, moving beyond stability and control toward adaptability, reflectivity, and sustainability. Drawing on critical making and time-based design thinking, impermanence and imperfection become foundational strategies for developing pedagogical and theoretical frameworks. Practice-based experimentation demonstrates how process, relationality, and sensitivity to materials allow theory to emerge directly from making and observing transformation. By embracing changeability, this approach reframes conventional notions of …

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Participatory Design As Third Space: Iterative Ethic In Singapore’S Contemporary Multiculturalism, Cheng Chen Jun 2026

Participatory Design As Third Space: Iterative Ethic In Singapore’S Contemporary Multiculturalism, Cheng Chen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Participatory designers in Singapore work within Bhabha’s “third space,” where identities and practices are continuously negotiated across cultural boundaries. This qualitative study, based on interviews and ethnographic observation with 18 designers addressing social welfare for marginalized communities, examines how designers’ intersectional identities—such as female, queer, Chinese, and gig creatives—shape an ethic of care rooted in Asianised neighbourliness. Designers strategically inhabit in-between spaces, balancing top-down and bottom-up approaches through critical curiosity and cultural competence. Findings identify three interlinked personas: (1) Facilitator—mediating perspectives and trust; (2) Maker—engaging in embodied, situated making; and (3) Reflexive practitioner—cultivating curiosity across demographics. This iterative ethic enables …

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Design For And With Values In Designing For Social Change (Design Ethics Sig), Deger Ozkaramanli, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Sine Celik, Geertje Slingerland, Michael Nagenborg, Natalia Gulbransen-Diaz, Leigh-Anne Hepburn Jun 2026

Design For And With Values In Designing For Social Change (Design Ethics Sig), Deger Ozkaramanli, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Sine Celik, Geertje Slingerland, Michael Nagenborg, Natalia Gulbransen-Diaz, Leigh-Anne Hepburn

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This editorial introduces the theme track ‘Design for and with values in designing for social change’. Building on prior work that frame ethics as an invitation to care, the track focuse on values as a central construct in socially engaged design. It responds to a growing need to move beyond abstract value frameworks toward understanding how values are elicited, surfaced, negotiated, and enacted in practice. Drawing on 24 selected papers, we reveal a strongly interdisciplinary collection where participatory design emerges as a dominant method. The contributions are organized into four overlapping themes revolving around the concepts of power, methods, dignity …

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Ai-Enhanced Chinese Style Furniture Design: Integrating Cnn Cultural Recognition With Latent Diffusion Generation, Yupeng Jiang, Jiayong Zheng, Bingchen Gou, Jie Song, Jianing Kang, Zhaoxian Ren, Ying Liu, Lingwei Lyu, Junyan Lin, Suyao Wei, Weilan An Jun 2026

Ai-Enhanced Chinese Style Furniture Design: Integrating Cnn Cultural Recognition With Latent Diffusion Generation, Yupeng Jiang, Jiayong Zheng, Bingchen Gou, Jie Song, Jianing Kang, Zhaoxian Ren, Ying Liu, Lingwei Lyu, Junyan Lin, Suyao Wei, Weilan An

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the wave of artificial intelligence development, employing computer technology to advance the innovative design of Chinese-style furniture and optimize the intelligent development of cultural products is crucial for revitalizing the industry and strengthening cultural confidence. This study identifies issues of homogenization and cultural dilution in intelligent furniture design and proposes an intelligent design model based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and a latent diffusion model (LDM). CNNs are used to recognize cultural features in Chinese-style furniture, while the LDM generates design schemes, rapidly producing Chinese chairs that meet contemporary aesthetic preferences while retaining traditional cultural attributes. The study enhances …

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Drawn To Think: A Step Toward Decolonising Design Visualcy, Ellen O'Gorman Jun 2026

Drawn To Think: A Step Toward Decolonising Design Visualcy, Ellen O'Gorman

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design students often hesitate to use drawing as a thinking tool, wary of expectations for figurative outcomes and the evaluative traditions that shape the status quo in product design. This study draws on object-oriented ontology (OOO) and vibrant materialism to explore how a drawing tool—specifically the pencil— might act as an agent in rethinking the pedagogy of semiogenic design visualcy. The study proposes micro-camera activities that capture the pencil’s perspective to produce a radically altered visual and auditory encounter with drawing. Tracing the pencil’s entanglements reveals drawing not simply as representation but relation. The line becomes both a mark and …

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