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Agreements For Collective Real-Time Sketching Practice In Design Research, Mafalda Gamboa, Elvia Vasconcelos Jun 2026

Agreements For Collective Real-Time Sketching Practice In Design Research, Mafalda Gamboa, Elvia Vasconcelos

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Designers often converse without speech, for example, through sketches and artifacts. These conversations transverse across layers through gestures, time, and materialities. In this paper, we report on a demonstration at a design conference, where we brought together the practices of two designers, into a collaborative real-time sketching environment. Through this unfolding exchange, we explore how sketching can move beyond individual expression to become a collective emergent record of thought and relation. The demo drew together digital and physical media while listening to a theoretical prompt, in a shared conversation with the audience. From this process and its tensions, we derive …

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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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The Studio Model - Creating Space For Continuous Change, Kees Dorst Jun 2026

The Studio Model - Creating Space For Continuous Change, Kees Dorst

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Problems are not what they used to be. The complexity and scale of today’s challenges require a fundamentally different response from organisations. In this paper we will argue that they effectively need to move from ’problem-solving’ to a design approach. And that they need to move away from a ’one-off’ approach to innovation to creating interventions that move complex system to a better state. This requires a space and infrastructure for continuous innovation. For a model on how to achieve this, we turn to the practices of directors of creative agencies, as they shape environments for ongoing creation. The dynamics …

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Co-Designing Equitable Engagement - Home Health Assessment In Healthcare Practice In Scotland, Sonja Oliveira, Laura Maclean, Gráinne Mcgill, Carolina Recart Jun 2026

Co-Designing Equitable Engagement - Home Health Assessment In Healthcare Practice In Scotland, Sonja Oliveira, Laura Maclean, Gráinne Mcgill, Carolina Recart

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper reflects upon the research process of co-designing equitable engagement within the healthcare sector. The research considers approaches to co-design as rooted within researchers sharing decision-making and shifting power not from themselves to participants, but amongst the research team itself. Co-design is mostly discussed as a process of academics and non-academics sharing the research design journey through participatory, inclusive and dialogical methods. This study considers how this process evolves within the research team itself, whereby known research project roles, responsibilities and remit are put to one side allowing difference, conflict and disagreement to be explored using design research methods. …

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Touchbox: A Research Toolkit Of Haptic Textile Cubes For Experiencing, Evaluating, And Co-Designing Tangible Remote Communication, Hannah Friederike Fischer, Hanns-Peter Horn, Emil Woop Jun 2026

Touchbox: A Research Toolkit Of Haptic Textile Cubes For Experiencing, Evaluating, And Co-Designing Tangible Remote Communication, Hannah Friederike Fischer, Hanns-Peter Horn, Emil Woop

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The novel nature of tangible communication technologies and users’ lack of prior experience pose a significant challenge for engaging stakeholders in participative activities for non-verbal, tangible remote-communication devices. To address this gap, we developed a research toolkit consisting of wirelessly connected textile cubes capable of transmitting haptic signals such as motion, warmth, shape change, heartbeat, vibration and visual cues. This paper examines the potential of the toolkit as a methodological tool for identifying suitable input-output modalities and capturing user perceptions in the early stages of device development. Applied within a recent research project, the toolkit enabled participants to engage with …

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Experiencing The More-Than-Human Through Human Augmentation, Botao 'Amber' Hu, Danlin Huang Jun 2026

Experiencing The More-Than-Human Through Human Augmentation, Botao 'Amber' Hu, Danlin Huang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The recent more-than-human turn in design calls for attentiveness to nonhuman beings. Yet—as Thomas Nagel's famous "What is it like to be a bat?" thought experiment highlights—human experience is constrained by our own sensorium and an irreducible gap in phenomenal access to nonhuman Umwelten. Grounded in eco-phenomenology and eco-somatics, this paper proposes Experiencing the More-than-Human through Human Augmentation (MtHtHA, or ">HtH+"), a design approach that repurposes human augmentation technologies—typically aimed at enhancing human capabilities for human optimization—to create temporary, embodied, first-person experiences that modulate the human sensorium to approximate nonhuman sensory experiences, cultivating ecological awareness, empathy, and care across …

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Designing For Transversal Play: Experience, Materiality And Connection, Kim Holflod Jun 2026

Designing For Transversal Play: Experience, Materiality And Connection, Kim Holflod

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper introduces transversal play as a material, experiential, and relational mode of playful inquiry and connection that traverses disciplinary, institutional, and cultural worlds in pedagogy and education. Drawing on design philosophical, posthumanist, and play theoretical perspectives, transversal play is framed as a situated, collaborative, and world-travelling practice of interbeing, where difference becomes a generative site for collective experimentation, care, and transformation. Through four design-based research examples, the paper explores how transversal play emerges in tangible engagements with materials, experiences, and agencies. These examples illustrate how transversal play can reconfigure roles, soften boundaries, and support speculative, caring, and ethical pedagogical …

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Reimagining Cultural Heritage: Designing Game Jams As Learning Spaces, Kim Holflod, Eva Eriksson Jun 2026

Reimagining Cultural Heritage: Designing Game Jams As Learning Spaces, Kim Holflod, Eva Eriksson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Game jams have increasingly been adopted as innovative learning approaches to explore and address complex cultural and societal challenges across formal (e.g., university) and informal (e.g., GLAM) educational contexts. However, there remains a lack of pedagogical models and materials that align learning goals, activities, and assessments constructively for such events. Based on an analysis of four cultural game jams (2024-2025) involving 168 young people (aged 14-32) held in an art museum, this paper proposes a pedagogical design model grounded in systematisation and adaptability as core design principles. The model promotes hybrid and inclusive participation that connects young people, museum professionals, …

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Countering Tokenism In E-Participation: Potentials Of Participatory Design In Democratic Policymaking, Jia Xin Liu, Marzia Mortati, Lucy Kimbell Jun 2026

Countering Tokenism In E-Participation: Potentials Of Participatory Design In Democratic Policymaking, Jia Xin Liu, Marzia Mortati, Lucy Kimbell

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The implementation of e-participation platforms in policymaking has removed spatial and temporal barriers to citizen engagement; however, digitalisation also introduces new challenges which undermine democratic values and risk participation outcomes becoming symbolic and superficial. In this paper, we conducted a narrative literature review and examined barriers in e-participation through the framework of narrow and broad sense tokenism. Through a theoretical discussion, we position participatory design (PD) as a steward in addressing tokenistic participation, focusing on PD’s notion of creating carefully designed participation ‘spaces’ and ‘approaches’ that foster more democratic, deliberative, and inclusive forms of digital participation, thereby countering tokenistic tendencies.

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Not Just One "Best" Green: Soundscape Determines The Optimal Green Wall Form, Wenbo Li, Yihe Li, Hengji Wang, Yang Liu Jun 2026

Not Just One "Best" Green: Soundscape Determines The Optimal Green Wall Form, Wenbo Li, Yihe Li, Hengji Wang, Yang Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In high-density cities, window-view green walls (GWs) are implemented to improve psychological well-being, but their design often ignores context. Existing research overlooks how GW geometric forms interact with ambient urban soundscapes. This study investigates this critical audio-visual interaction. We conducted a 4 (sound: between-subjects) × 4 (visual: within-subjects) experiment in Virtual Reality (N=80). Participants were exposed to four visual forms (No-GW, Triangle, Square, Rectangle) within four dominating soundscapes (No Sound, Traffic, Conversation, Ventilation), reporting their Stress and recovery results. Results revealed a significant interaction effect, showing the optimal GW shape for psychological well-being was context-dependent: rectangular forms were best for …

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Restorative Retail: A Literature Review On Consumer Well-Being In The Retail Environment, Katelijn Quartier Jun 2026

Restorative Retail: A Literature Review On Consumer Well-Being In The Retail Environment, Katelijn Quartier

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In an era increasingly shaped by consumers’ search for meaningful and emotionally engaging experiences, the concept of restorative retail is emerging as a key paradigm in retail and service design. This semi-systematic literature review synthesizes theoretical and empirical research across marketing, environmental psychology, and architecture to examine how physical retail environments can promote psychological restoration and well-being. Drawing on foundational frameworks—Attention Restoration Theory (ART), biophilia, and servicescape theory—the review identifies central design principles such as nature integration, sensory harmony, and spatial openness that underpin restorative experiences. Although evidence supports the restorative potential of retail environments, empirical validation remains limited, particularly …

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Decoding Physicality In Human–Artifact Interaction: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis, Xiaoshan Wang, Long Liu* Jun 2026

Decoding Physicality In Human–Artifact Interaction: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis, Xiaoshan Wang, Long Liu*

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As interaction design increasingly bridges the digital and physical realms, exemplified by tangible and embodied interaction, a clear understanding of "physicality" is critical. However, the concept remains ambiguous within the interaction between humans and artifacts, lacking a systematic understanding to guide research and practice. This research applies Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis, guided by three etymological meanings of "physical", to conduct a hybrid thematic analysis of literature from interaction, ergonomics, and design. The findings suggest that physicality is understood through a structured framework of five core attributes: material substantiality, perceptibility, two-way interaction, embodied correlation, and affordance. This preliminary framework elucidates the …

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Entangled Archives: Uncovering New Connections In Digital Interfaces, Renata Perim Lopes, Giselle Beiguelman Jun 2026

Entangled Archives: Uncovering New Connections In Digital Interfaces, Renata Perim Lopes, Giselle Beiguelman

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article presents a study examining digital collections in order to map resources available on digital platforms that influence user behavior and participation. By analyzing the collections’ interfaces, it identifies how artificial intelligence resources can relate different cultural objects within those spaces, working with different layers of information. These resources provide ways to overcome barriers between systems and the assumptions of their original cataloging, leading us to conceptualize digital objects as potential entangled objects. From this perspective, the article discusses the dual role of digital collections—as knowledge repositories and as mediation systems—while exploring viable alternatives for constituting collections within specific …

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Everything Is An Instrument: Making Data Instruments As Critical Pedagogy, Rusaila Bazlamit, Michael Dunbar, Chris Speed Jun 2026

Everything Is An Instrument: Making Data Instruments As Critical Pedagogy, Rusaila Bazlamit, Michael Dunbar, Chris Speed

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper critically examines how contemporary data design logics reframe everyday objects and services as active instruments of measurement and knowledge production. Through a pedagogical experiment in [place name withheld] Square, we explore how student-designed data instruments capture ambiguous, affective, and more-than-human aspects of experience that conventional instrumentation obscures. Drawing on Barad’s agential realism and Lupi’s Data Humanism, our iterative approach reveals that artifacts co-constitute what becomes knowable, making visible the entanglement of bodies, materials, and environments in data production. As students encountered material resistance, breakdown, and multispecies interaction, they developed “instrumental consciousness,” recognising artifact agency and their own complicity …

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Reframing Design Activism Through Affirmative, Relational And Pluriversal Practices, Rusaila Bazlamit Jun 2026

Reframing Design Activism Through Affirmative, Relational And Pluriversal Practices, Rusaila Bazlamit

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper challenges how contemporary design activism has been defined and practised. While Western frameworks have framed activism through countering narrative, raising awareness and social change, this paper proposes a move from a position of countering toward a position of affirming. By looking at the history and current practices of design activism and examining the deficit of the “unheard” paradigm, this paper highlights the limitations of oppositional logics that centre critique over creation. This paper then explores alternative understandings grounded in decolonial, Indigenous epistemologies, and the voices of the global majority. Through examples and case studies, the paper illustrates how …

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Psychological Responses To Green-Wall Layouts In Office Environments: A Virtual-Environment Study, Hengji Wang, Wengbo Li, Yihe Li, Yang Liu Jun 2026

Psychological Responses To Green-Wall Layouts In Office Environments: A Virtual-Environment Study, Hengji Wang, Wengbo Li, Yihe Li, Yang Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As office practices improve, green walls are increasingly deployed to ease work stress; however, research on whether their overall geometry yields differential individual effects remains limited.In this study, virtual reality was used to construct four office scenarios: curvilinear green wall (CGW), linear green wall (LGW), polyline green wall (PGW), and no green wall (NGW). Restorative effects after stress induction with the MAST were evaluated using two subjective scales, the fatigue scale and the restorative outcome scale. Results showed that all three green-wall forms significantly promoted post-stress psychological recovery at the subjective level. Further comparisons indicated that CGW produced the strongest …

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Material Agencies In Co-Design: A New Materialist Perspective On Workshop Practices, Gretchen Coombs, Leah Heiss Jun 2026

Material Agencies In Co-Design: A New Materialist Perspective On Workshop Practices, Gretchen Coombs, Leah Heiss

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores the intersection of new materialism and co-design workshop practices, suggesting that design materials are not passive resources but active agents in collaborative meaning-making and future-making processes. Drawing on new materialist philosophy and care ethics, particularly the work of Barad, Haraway, and Puig de la Bellacasa, we examine how workshop artefacts such as canvases, sticky notes, tactile tools, and other ephemeral materials participate in and shape co-design processes and engender more care-focussed design futures. Through observations of co-design workshops in health futures contexts, we demonstrate how attending to material agency extends the value of workshops and forms sites …

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The Fuzzy Front-End Of Transformation: An Inquiry Protocol For Intervention Design, Niti Bhan, Piia Rytilahti Jun 2026

The Fuzzy Front-End Of Transformation: An Inquiry Protocol For Intervention Design, Niti Bhan, Piia Rytilahti

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Donella Meadows’ concept of leverage points - places in complex systems where small shifts may lead to fundamental changes in the system as a whole - is gaining attention for developing a 'leverage points perspective' on systems transformation. Distinguishing a 'system of interest' as well as identifying 'where' and 'how' to intervene for 'whom' are all matters of practical relevance which remain to be properly addressed. We contribute an inquiry protocol to identify opportunities for design actions aiming to trigger transformation in complex human systems. Our system of interest for empirical study is the informal trade ecosystem at the borderlands …

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From Compliance Adoption To Co-Design: An Exploratory Study Of Older Adults’ Engagement With Technology, Lay Xuan Estherine Goh, Cees De Bont Jun 2026

From Compliance Adoption To Co-Design: An Exploratory Study Of Older Adults’ Engagement With Technology, Lay Xuan Estherine Goh, Cees De Bont

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The growing presence of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities for older adults, yet raises concerns around the digital divide, trust, and social inclusion. This exploratory study examines how older adults perceive and engage with technology through a community-based approach. Data were collected from 106 participants using a mixed-methods design that combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess adoption factors with narrative storytelling to capture contextual experiences. By centring participants’ voices, the study identifies emotional, social, and contextual factors shaping technology engagement. Findings highlight the importance of relational trust, social learning networks, perceived ease of use, …

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Consumer-Facing Technologies In Stores: A Longitudinal Study Of Their Impact On Customer Experience, Anthony Kent, Bethan Alexander Jun 2026

Consumer-Facing Technologies In Stores: A Longitudinal Study Of Their Impact On Customer Experience, Anthony Kent, Bethan Alexander

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents a longitudinal study of instore shopping technologies (ISTs) and their contribution to the phygital fashion store. It builds on studies of store design in an omnichannel environment and the use of ISTs for distinctive customer experiences (CX). The aim is to understand changes in fashion retailing brought about by ISTs and the extent to which they influence CX in the customer journey. The research was undertaken in three stages, in 2014, 2019 and 2024 in three of London’s West End shopping streets. The Methodology was replicated in each stage, using observations of store interiors and in-depth, qualitative …

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What Can't Be Confessed: The Structural Absence Of Value Accountability In Design Culture, Michael Dunbar, Liam Fennessy, Chris Speed Jun 2026

What Can't Be Confessed: The Structural Absence Of Value Accountability In Design Culture, Michael Dunbar, Liam Fennessy, Chris Speed

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design culture has proliferated aspirational value frameworks, from manifestos championing social justice to ethics toolkits, yet lacks meaningful accountability infrastructure when values are violated or conflict. This paper examines a transgressive design research intervention: a mobile confessional booth at a city Design Week in 2025 that invited designers to anonymously confess professional compromises and ethical failures. The 125 confessions revealed patterns of deflection (blaming systems over individual agency), superficiality (focusing on technical mistakes rather than methodological rigour leading to ethical violations), and conspicuous absence of admissions regarding exploitation, greenwashing, or designing harm. Unlike medicine, law, or journalism, design has implemented …

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Cut It Out: Reframing Hand Paper-Ripping As A Collage Method For Wellbeing And Care, Danielle Vaughan Jun 2026

Cut It Out: Reframing Hand Paper-Ripping As A Collage Method For Wellbeing And Care, Danielle Vaughan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Hand-based paper-ripping collage-making (PRCM) promotes wellbeing through circular engagement with re-purposed papers as transitional materials, demonstrating a threephased framework (apprehension, confidence, co-creation) that is potentially transferable to bio-based materials and other substrates. The study introduces paperpeutic, a neologistic term describing the therapeutic value arising from mindful, improvisational engagement with manual ripping in PRCM contexts, drawing inspiration from Japanese Chigiri-e and Western collage traditions. The practice fosters mindfulness, creativity, and community through direct, hands-on engagement, providing an accessible alternative to the abstraction and precision of digital design. Salvaged paper is reframed as an active collaborator in the processes of meaning-making and …

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Does Taboo Constrain Self-Knowledge?: A Design-Led Inquiry Into The Intimate Health Of Older Women, Renata Rocha, Ayşe Özge Ağça, Teresa Almeida Jun 2026

Does Taboo Constrain Self-Knowledge?: A Design-Led Inquiry Into The Intimate Health Of Older Women, Renata Rocha, Ayşe Özge Ağça, Teresa Almeida

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Intimate health deals with highly personal functions and experiences related to sexuality, reproduction, and vulnerability. In this paper, we enquire into the private nature and sociocultural constructs of these experiences in relation to self-knowledge. We introduce a design workshop with three women aged 65+ in Portugal, where we investigated intimate care practices throughout the lifecourse. Our findings show that participatory methods can open dialogue and reveal tacit knowledge, and that lifelong learning is critical for healthy ageing. We reflect on our practice in relation to design considerations for designing with taboo and offer future directions for designing for and with …

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Perception-Based Design: An Approach For Engineering Sustainable Biobased Materials, Manu Thundathil, Ali Reza Nazmi, Bahareh Shahri, Nick Emerson, Jörg Müssig, Tim Huber Jun 2026

Perception-Based Design: An Approach For Engineering Sustainable Biobased Materials, Manu Thundathil, Ali Reza Nazmi, Bahareh Shahri, Nick Emerson, Jörg Müssig, Tim Huber

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Biobased composites, which are sustainable materials ideally poised to replace fossil-based raw materials, paradoxically are struggling to gain market acceptance. This underperformance is attributed to poor demand and acceptance of biobased composites, driven by technical and perceptual challenges. However, most research on biobased composites focuses on addressing technical challenges and fails to incorporate perceptual qualities into the material development process. By understanding the role of material characteristics (colour, patterns, texture, roughness) in shaping these qualities, we propose that novel biobased composites could be developed to meet specific consumer product needs. A prediction model for generating the desired material perception could …

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Longing For: Designing Activities To Break The Taboo Of Female Sexuality In Care Homes, Yoni Lefévre, Niels Hendriks, Heather Wilkinson, Andrea Wilkinson, Arno G. Verhoeven Jun 2026

Longing For: Designing Activities To Break The Taboo Of Female Sexuality In Care Homes, Yoni Lefévre, Niels Hendriks, Heather Wilkinson, Andrea Wilkinson, Arno G. Verhoeven

DRS Biennial Conference Series

An effort to co-explore later life sexuality with older adults, this study critically reflects on a series of intentionally designed activities to discuss intimacy and sexual pleasure in a care context. Five activities were organised in a Belgian care home, involving four to six female residents, that gradually introduced a more explicit language about sexual health. The results highlight that: 1) taboos are difficult to discuss, therefore storytelling is crucial, 2) feeling vulnerable is confronting, but also enables genuine connections, and 3) co-exploring taboos through playfulness, while enabling self-expression. This paper provides a more in-depth understanding of designing collective dialogues …

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Learning Through Alternatives: Fostering Reflection Through Design Interventions, Nooshin Ziashahabi, Seyed-Abbas Yazdanfar, Ahmad Ekhlassi Jun 2026

Learning Through Alternatives: Fostering Reflection Through Design Interventions, Nooshin Ziashahabi, Seyed-Abbas Yazdanfar, Ahmad Ekhlassi

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper investigates how structured pedagogical interventions can foster reflective Learning within design studios. Conducted as an action-based case study with fifteen interior design students, the research integrated principles of Research through Design (RtD) and Action Design Research (ADR) to link educational practice with reflective inquiry. Four iterative interventions, including model making, circulation mapping, vertical connection, and inside–outside exploration, were designed to disrupt habitual thinking and enhance metacognitive awareness. Data from observations, interviews, and evaluations were analyzed through a three-layer framework capturing behavioral, cognitive, and self-regulatory dimensions of reflection. Findings show that reflection did not arise directly from the interventions …

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“I Didn’T Choose To Write My Life”: Trauma-Informed Values In The Design Of Social Care Records, Marissa Cummings, Gemma Teal Jun 2026

“I Didn’T Choose To Write My Life”: Trauma-Informed Values In The Design Of Social Care Records, Marissa Cummings, Gemma Teal

DRS Biennial Conference Series

While there has been a recent interest in trauma-informed design approaches, there is still a need for further research on its use in participatory design (PD). This paper discusses the methodology of a values-driven, trauma-informed PD project which explored how social care records could be redesigned to meet the needs and aspirations of young people (YP). Care-experienced people have often lived through traumatic experiences closely associated with their experiences of care, resulting in a lack of trust in social care professionals. While foregrounding the views of care-experienced people, this project also engaged with professionals, revealing systemic tensions which needed to …

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Why Is The Artwork No Longer Enough? Phygital Narratives As An Interplay Between The Real And The Digital, Alessandra Miano Jun 2026

Why Is The Artwork No Longer Enough? Phygital Narratives As An Interplay Between The Real And The Digital, Alessandra Miano

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The cross-cutting introduction of digital technologies into museum infrastructure activates a process of reinterpretation of digital languages within the museum narrative framework. From this perspective, the spread of phygital phenomena, such as contextual interaction between physical and digital worlds, is recontextualised within the field of cultural heritage and museums, revealing narrative and experiential potential in the capacity to express the evocative component of the spaces and artworks on display, through digital and interactive abilities. The contamination between physical space and digital layer is constructed starting from the stories to be told, orchestrated by the body gestures of visitors. The paper …

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Enquête D’Âme: A Participatory Visualisation Of Wellbeing Through Embodied Reflection, Ricardo O'Nascimento, Bruna Petreca Jun 2026

Enquête D’Âme: A Participatory Visualisation Of Wellbeing Through Embodied Reflection, Ricardo O'Nascimento, Bruna Petreca

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Enquête d’âme is an interactive installation and research instrument that reimagines design impact assessment by shifting from affect detection to wellbeing articulation. A textile-covered keyboard allows participants to select from sixteen wellbeing dimensions; each input generates a coloured circle within a shared projection, forming an evolving visualisation of collective resonance. Three public deployments—a cultural event, arts festival, and university showcase—combined observations, brief interviews, and log analysis. Findings show that slow, tactile interaction fosters mindful engagement; participants treat the dimensions as reflective anchors rather than diagnostic labels; and aggregate patterns vary contextually (e.g., Optimism/Future-self in policy discussions, Playfulness/Participation in festival settings). …

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Designing For Being Mindful: A Non-Instrumental Turn To Mindfulness Technology, Xiaozhuang Gao, Beverley Hood, Denitsa Petrova Jun 2026

Designing For Being Mindful: A Non-Instrumental Turn To Mindfulness Technology, Xiaozhuang Gao, Beverley Hood, Denitsa Petrova

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Mindfulness technology in Human–Computer Interaction research predominantly remains grounded in behaviourist and cognitivist paradigms. Such instrumental design logic emphasises goal achievement and behavioural compliance, conflicting with the core ideals of mindfulness—non-striving, non-judging, and acceptance. Drawing on phenomenological, pragmatist, and embodied perspectives, this paper proposes a non-instrumental approach to mindfulness technology grounded in aesthetic experience. It also introduces a theoretical framework consisting of four experiential dimensions: somatic, temporal, atmospheric and material to reposition mindfulness technology as a medium of experience rather than a means to an end. Through design practice, this paper explores two early interaction prototypes to generate insights about …

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