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Sticky Vitalities: Developing Play Design Sensitivities Through Material-Affective Practices, Jennifer Ann Skriver, Helle Marie Skovbjerg Jun 2026

Sticky Vitalities: Developing Play Design Sensitivities Through Material-Affective Practices, Jennifer Ann Skriver, Helle Marie Skovbjerg

DRS Biennial Conference Series

While design for play has shown how materials invite and shape engagement, less attention has been given to how material encounters may hold participation over time. This article examines how participation is sustained through material–affective dynamics in early childhood play. Drawing on Spinoza’s (1985) concept of potentia, Ahmed’s (2004a, 2010a, 2010b) notion of stickiness, and Slaby et al.’s (2019) affective arrangements, the study explores how capacities and orientations unfold in situated encounters. Based on design-based research in Danish daycare, the analysis centers on a vignette in which a child remains in shared play through engagement with tape. The analysis shows …

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Care-Full Co-Production — An Aotearoa Case Study, Anjuli Clare, Anna Brown Jun 2026

Care-Full Co-Production — An Aotearoa Case Study, Anjuli Clare, Anna Brown

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Embedding an ‘ethics of care’ into relational and collaborative design research practices benefits from a reflexive and reflective iterative approach. Through this process new ways of elevating multiple forms of knowing are developed, power asymmetries are disrupted, and inclusivity can be expanded. While care may often be included in our mindsets and principles for design research, care itself is often invisible or under talked about. Using the example of our project — Care-full Co-production — a practical perspective on co-producing research is taken. Through a case study of women’s health in Aotearoa New Zealand, this perspective highlights the everyday acts …

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From Tool-First To Intention-First Pedagogy: A Framework For Evaluating And Selecting Empathy Tools In Design Education, Akanksha Singh, Ilya Fridman, Purba Joshi, Daphne Flynn Jun 2026

From Tool-First To Intention-First Pedagogy: A Framework For Evaluating And Selecting Empathy Tools In Design Education, Akanksha Singh, Ilya Fridman, Purba Joshi, Daphne Flynn

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design education has embraced empathy, developing a diverse repository of tools and methods for cultivating empathic engagement. Yet guidance on how or why these tools should be selected remains limited. Current practices often conflate availability with appropriateness, with tools chosen based on familiarity or convenience rather than empathic fit or contextual suitability. This leads to shallow engagement, limiting the empathic understanding needed for effective design outcomes. This paper proposes a criteria-based framework for evaluating empathy tools, grounded in psychological theory and established empathic design frameworks. The proposed criteria offers a structured lens to assess how tools operate, for whom, and …

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Weaving Local Knowledge Into Design Education: Situated Learning In Ethnic Regions Of Western Sichuan, Yao Tian, Xuan Liu, Xiaoyi Su, Ziyan Zeng, Tingxuan Zhou Jun 2026

Weaving Local Knowledge Into Design Education: Situated Learning In Ethnic Regions Of Western Sichuan, Yao Tian, Xuan Liu, Xiaoyi Su, Ziyan Zeng, Tingxuan Zhou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents a case study of the ‘Rural Fieldwork and Design Practice’ course at the School of Fine Arts, Minzu University of China, examining how situated learning in ethnic regions of Western Sichuan cultivates public design sensibilities. By engaging students in deep cultural immersion – from intangible cultural heritage documentation to community-based design interventions – the curriculum transforms local ethnic knowledge into plural pedagogical resources. The study analyses how students develop relational competencies through ethnographic fieldwork, collaborative design exhibitions, and cultural creative markets. Findings demonstrate that this situated approach fosters political sensitivity toward ethnic cultures, nurtures cross-cultural collaborative reflexes, …

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The Paradox Of Richness: A Discourse-Centered Framework For Equitable Visualization, Fangbo Wu, Canyu Jiang, Yanlin Yin, Yonghong Liu Jun 2026

The Paradox Of Richness: A Discourse-Centered Framework For Equitable Visualization, Fangbo Wu, Canyu Jiang, Yanlin Yin, Yonghong Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The proliferation of new technologies, notably GenAI, alongside augmented and virtual reality, has produced a paradoxical situation in visualization practice: while offering unprecedented multimodal richness, their complexity erects new barriers to entry, thereby exacerbating inequality and undermining design's democratic promise. Although research at the micro-level of visualization techniques abounds, a critical and systematic methodology for addressing the inherent power dynamics and design justice issues from meso- and macro-perspectives remains conspicuously absent. This paper intervenes by adapting an analytical framework from Critical Discourse Analysis to embed design justice within visualization practice. We propose a four-layer framework—Culture, Context, Meaning, and Expression (CCME)—as …

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Becoming Designers: Studio Instructors As Catalysts Of Designerly Identity Formation, Beril Gök Jun 2026

Becoming Designers: Studio Instructors As Catalysts Of Designerly Identity Formation, Beril Gök

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Embodiment, affect, and symbolic modelling remain underexplored dimensions of designerly identity formation, despite its recognition as a central outcome of design education. While existing research emphasizes cognitive-skill acquisition, little is known about how studio instructors shape identity through aesthetic, relational, and performative means. This study examines the influence of instructors within the socio-aesthetic ecology of the design studio. Using abductive thematic analysis of focus group interviews with teaching assistants across architecture, industrial design, interior design, and fashion design, the study highlights shared cross-disciplinary patterns across international contexts. Findings reveal that instructors shape designerly becoming not only through teaching but also …

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Play And Pilina: Reimagining Play Design Through Material Kinship And Cultural Practice, Corinne Takara Jun 2026

Play And Pilina: Reimagining Play Design Through Material Kinship And Cultural Practice, Corinne Takara

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Playful encounters at the intersection of familiar consumer materials and place-based natural matter are fertile terrain for speculative play world-building. This paper introduces bio-collaborative play, a design paradigm where materials and organisms are recognized as active collaborators and kin. This shifts play design away from the manipulation of objects toward a sustained dialogue with living systems. Grounded in Kānaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) principles of pilina (reciprocal care) and kuleana (privileged responsibility), this framework reimagines speculative play as an act of communal care spanning biological scales and generational time. By treating plants, microbes, and everyday materials as co-authors, this approach analyzes …

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Reframing Design Through Events: Generative Events As Ontological Units In Object-Oriented Design Ontology, Fengjin Yu, Qiaozhi Zhao Jun 2026

Reframing Design Through Events: Generative Events As Ontological Units In Object-Oriented Design Ontology, Fengjin Yu, Qiaozhi Zhao

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study confronts the theoretical challenges arising from the increasing practical overlap of Participatory Design (PD) and Co-Design. Existing research, largely confined to method comparisons, lacks an ontological perspective capable of explaining its underlying integrative mechanisms. To address this critical gap, this paper argues for a fundamental ontological shift. We introduce the concept of 'generative events' as the basic ontological unit of design, a concept constructed by synthesising Object-Oriented Design Ontology (OODO) with Process Ontology. This framework reframes design as a dynamic generative process where humans and non-human objects collaboratively construct relationships and meaning within specific contexts. The contribution of …

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Queer(Ing) Epistemology By Design: Tmi-Web—A Relational Knowledge System For Intersectional Data Science And Affective Queries, Jess Parris Westbrook, Coraline Ada Ehmke Jun 2026

Queer(Ing) Epistemology By Design: Tmi-Web—A Relational Knowledge System For Intersectional Data Science And Affective Queries, Jess Parris Westbrook, Coraline Ada Ehmke

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Queer(ing) is a practice of questioning, unsettling, and liberating that resists normative ways of knowing. This paper advances a Queer(ing) epistemology for intersectional data science and offers TMI (Too Much Information)-WEB as a working case. This open source, theory-driven qualitative data analysis ecosystem treats identity, lived experience, and power as relational, contextual, and co-constructed. Built on a human-centered graph data model, it reimagines databases as dynamic knowledge systems rather than neutral containers. Authentic, identity-driven personas emerge from participants’ own narratives, while affective queries invite researchers to explore (and experience) patterns of harm, coping, joy, and self-acceptance across intersectional lives and …

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Not Post-Digital But More-Than-Human: Rethinking Digital Design For Regional Natural History Museums, Katt Grover, Argenis Ramirez Gomez, Claire Bailey Ross Jun 2026

Not Post-Digital But More-Than-Human: Rethinking Digital Design For Regional Natural History Museums, Katt Grover, Argenis Ramirez Gomez, Claire Bailey Ross

DRS Biennial Conference Series

What if the future of digital design in museums isn’t found in cutting-edge institutions, but in the often-overlooked ecologies of regional natural history collections? This paper repositions small regional museums not as lagging behind in digital transformation, but as fertile grounds for exploring more-than-human digital design. Drawing on an ongoing collaborative project between the Portsmouth Natural History Museum and the University of Portsmouth, we reflect on the interactive experiences using low-cost holograms and motion-capture avatars as mediators between human and non-human actors within museum ecologies. Giving collections voices and personalities engaged audiences, yet in attempting to become more-than-human, the collections …

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Cultureaction! An Interaction And Experience Design Project To Explore San Marino’S Historic Center As A Living Archive., Silvia Gasparotto Jun 2026

Cultureaction! An Interaction And Experience Design Project To Explore San Marino’S Historic Center As A Living Archive., Silvia Gasparotto

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research explores how design-driven approaches can boost engagement with cultural heritage and archives, centering on an experimental initiative in San Marino's historic center. The project envisions the city as a dynamic archive brought to life through interactive installations. A system featuring an interactive device called Iride and six site-specific installations was created to reveal the hidden historical and meaningful layers within the urban landscape. These installations use multisensory components to craft experiences that enhance visitors' cognitive and emotional connections with local cultural stories. This method illustrates how design and digital technology can connect tangible and intangible heritage, institutional archives …

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A Product-Service System Design Approach For The Frame Innovation Of Automated Robotaxi Interior Space Cleaning, Zhiqian Hu, Yaojia Zhang, Peiyuan Ge, Leijie Ding, Mager Birgit, Li Zhang Jun 2026

A Product-Service System Design Approach For The Frame Innovation Of Automated Robotaxi Interior Space Cleaning, Zhiqian Hu, Yaojia Zhang, Peiyuan Ge, Leijie Ding, Mager Birgit, Li Zhang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Robotaxi services are expanding rapidly, but interior cleanliness, valued by passengers, remains a critical weak link. This study examines embedding the Automated Robotaxi Interior Space Cleaning (ARISC) framework in existing operations via a product service system (PSS) architecture without reducing fleet availability. Methodologically, frame innovation is undertaken from companies’ internal processes and governance: first, the study benchmarks DiDi Autonomous Driving, Baidu’s Apollo Go, and SAIC Mobility Robotaxi, and maps existing Robotaxi service systems; second, eleven semi structured interviews with cleaning providers, company staff, and passengers yield 384 records indicating functional needs (air circulation, surface cleaning, waste removal) and value needs …

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From Sustainable Campuses To Regenerative Governance: A Design Perspective On Participation And Institutional Learning In The Pays De La Loire University Ecosystem, Rajmonda Zajmi Avignon Jun 2026

From Sustainable Campuses To Regenerative Governance: A Design Perspective On Participation And Institutional Learning In The Pays De La Loire University Ecosystem, Rajmonda Zajmi Avignon

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Universities are increasingly recognised as laboratories for socio-ecological transition, yet higher education sustainability frameworks in France remain largely managerial, privileging compliance and infrastructure over participation. This paper examines how three national and regional instruments, including the Plan Climat–Biodiversité, the Note de cadrage TEDS, and the SRESRI 2021–2027, are translated into governance practices within two university campus ecosystems in the Pays de la Loire region: Chantrerie (Nantes) and Belle-Beille (Angers). Adopting a systemic design perspective, the study conceptualises governance as a process mediated through design practices involving feedback, coordination, and institutional learning. Through a comparative analysis of these models, it identifies …

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The Spectral Right To The City: Cartographies Of Care Through Ethnographic Projection, Roni Mero, Jonathan Ventura, Eliyahu Keller Jun 2026

The Spectral Right To The City: Cartographies Of Care Through Ethnographic Projection, Roni Mero, Jonathan Ventura, Eliyahu Keller

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The smart city paradigm operates on data representation, meaning that communities not included in official datasets are not represented and therefore do not exist politically. This condition of systemic exclusion demands an ethical design intervention, mixing cartography, visual communication and graphic design. Our paper presents a dual methodological approach that constitutes a cartography of care. This methodological framework visualises undocumented functional dynamics, providing a data-driven basis for urban planning that reflects the actual, lived usage of the city. First, we introduce ethnographic projection, a participatory design methodology that creates protected representation within existing GIS systems. Second, we present chorematic visualisation, …

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Where Regenerative Design Theory Meets Ground: A Case Study Of Xreef On Weizhou Island, Chengjun Li, Valentina Rognoli, Fuqing Xu Jun 2026

Where Regenerative Design Theory Meets Ground: A Case Study Of Xreef On Weizhou Island, Chengjun Li, Valentina Rognoli, Fuqing Xu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As the Anthropocene increasingly undermines natural systems, there is an urgent need for design to move beyond harm reduction toward active ecological restoration. Regenerative Design (RD) has emerged as a promising paradigm to complement sustainable design; however, fragmented knowledge and inconsistent terminology hinder designers’ systematic understanding. To bridge the gap between theory and practice, this study first reviews the philosophical stances and key approaches of RD, then examines its implementation in a coral reef restoration project on Weizhou Island. Reflection on the project revealed three major challenges: limited capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration, insufficient tools for stakeholder engagement, and inadequate dynamic …

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Mapping Design’S Contribution To Policymaking: A Framework For Understanding Design’S Roles Across Policymaking Levels, Amy Hyewon Lee Jun 2026

Mapping Design’S Contribution To Policymaking: A Framework For Understanding Design’S Roles Across Policymaking Levels, Amy Hyewon Lee

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines how design is conceptualised within design and policy literature in public-sector contexts, contributing to the expanding discourse on design for policy. Despite the growing adoption of design approaches in governance, robust evidence of their contribution remains limited. Using a qualitative meta-synthesis of 24 publications spanning design studies, policy design, and public administration, the study identifies four interrelated logics through which design is conceptualised in policymaking: systems learning and reflexivity; legitimacy and relational effectiveness; structuring and coherence; and adaptation and delivery. These logics are reframed as epistemic, relational, systemic, and operational dimensions of contributive capacity that describe how …

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Mediating Material Transitions. A Digital Library For Circular Upholstery Material Selection., Ludovica Rosato, Patrizia Bolzan, Laura Succini, Michele Zannoni Jun 2026

Mediating Material Transitions. A Digital Library For Circular Upholstery Material Selection., Ludovica Rosato, Patrizia Bolzan, Laura Succini, Michele Zannoni

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In Made in Italy products, the material dimension represents a distinctive element, capable of expressing both the quality of the product and the heritage of craftsmanship embedded in the territory. In the upholstered furniture sector materials generate significant environmental and supply-chain impacts, making their selection a strategic leverage point for sustainability and circularity. This study investigates how a digital material library can support designers and SMEs in navigating this transition by integrating sustainable innovation with industrial feasibility. Grounded in the Advanced Design framework, the research adopts a four-step methodology to analyse the current supply system, identify circular alternatives, review existing …

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Re-Materialising Design: Material Agency And The Reconfiguration Of Creative Practice, Olga Ioannou Jun 2026

Re-Materialising Design: Material Agency And The Reconfiguration Of Creative Practice, Olga Ioannou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines biobased materials as agents of creative and systemic transformation within design practice. Drawing from a university course on circular building product design, several graduation theses, and two research projects -one focused on food waste valorisation and another on load-bearing mycelium composites- it investigates how engagement with biobased, regenerative materials reconfigures the designer’s role across the value chain, from sourcing to post-use reintegration. By situating material experimentation within ecological and socio-technical transitions, the paper argues that biobased materials enable a re-materialisation of design knowledge, where making becomes a mode of inquiry into interdependencies between nature, technology, and culture. …

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Proximity Ruff: Rehabilitating Relationality Through Postdigital Bodies, Michela Musto, Marzia Micelisopo Jun 2026

Proximity Ruff: Rehabilitating Relationality Through Postdigital Bodies, Michela Musto, Marzia Micelisopo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Proximity Ruff explores embodied interaction and social care through a wearable device that translates human proximity into light. Designed within The Spark Design Research Studio (Naples, Italy), it reinterprets the historical ruff as a postdigital interface that re-educates the body to closeness after the pandemic. Generated through evolutionary algorithms and 3D-printed in bioplastic PLA, the piece embeds 72 LEDs and proximity sensors that visualize interpersonal distance. Beyond quantification, the luminous feedback materializes affective data, transforming social gestures into somatic awareness. Grounded in somaesthetic design and critical materiality, the project investigates how sensing systems and computational materials can mediate care, empathy, …

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Re-Voicing Identity: Care Ethics And The Politics Of Unsilencing After Total Laryngectomy, Gala Lucia Gonzalez Barrios Jun 2026

Re-Voicing Identity: Care Ethics And The Politics Of Unsilencing After Total Laryngectomy, Gala Lucia Gonzalez Barrios

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Voice loss after total laryngectomy disrupts identity and quality of life yet current assistive technologies reproduce techno-ableist assumptions, prioritizing speech mimicry over identity restoration while systematic marginalization excludes laryngectomees from research and innovation. This paper presents a care-centred participatory design agenda bridging a propositional approach “Singing Without a Larynx”, a vowel-based vocal interface for singing, with cross-cultural photovoice research in the United States and Argentina. Grounded in care ethics, we operationalize attentiveness, responsibility, and relational accountability, positioning participants as co-designers whose embodied knowledge shapes technological imaginaries, and community challenges and assets. We propose: (1) a critical framework integrating care ethics, …

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Material Driven Design Education: Exploring Circularity And Regeneration Through Waste-Based Experimentation, Ziqian Yu, Chengjun Li, Mei Yang, Hongwei Li, Valentina Rognoli Jun 2026

Material Driven Design Education: Exploring Circularity And Regeneration Through Waste-Based Experimentation, Ziqian Yu, Chengjun Li, Mei Yang, Hongwei Li, Valentina Rognoli

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In light of the escalating climate and resource crises, design education must reconsider its role in shaping circular and regenerative futures, particularly with regard to emerging materials from waste. This paper presents the results of a pedagogical study conducted at the Joint School of Design and Innovation of Xi’an Jiaotong University and Politecnico di Milano. In this study, 120 students transformed local food and textile waste into new materials through hands-on experimentation, based on the Material Driven Design (MDD) approach, in a Chinese educational context. A comparative analysis of six student projects across toy and accessory applications reveals a synergy …

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Service Design-Driven Formation Of Dynamic Capabilities For International Service Innovation: A Case Study Of A Chinese Nev Firm, Chengbo Li, Jun Zhang Jun 2026

Service Design-Driven Formation Of Dynamic Capabilities For International Service Innovation: A Case Study Of A Chinese Nev Firm, Chengbo Li, Jun Zhang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Amidst the acceleration of internationalization, service innovation has emerged as a critical pathway for New Energy Vehicle (NEV) firms to attain sustainable growth. Adopting a dynamic capability view (DCV), this paper investigates how service design contributes to the development of service innovation dynamic capabilities (SIDCs) within firms undergoing internationalization. Drawing upon a case study of the BYD New Energy Vehicle firm, the findings indicate that the functional, systemic, and iterative characteristics of service design facilitate the construction of micro-foundations for SIDCs. This is achieved through the integration of user insights, the fostering of cross departmental collaboration, and the reconfiguration of …

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Exploring Everyday Heritage Futures: Co-Creating Urban Narratives Through Cultural Probes, Guo Chen, Robert G. Harland, Michael Wilson Jun 2026

Exploring Everyday Heritage Futures: Co-Creating Urban Narratives Through Cultural Probes, Guo Chen, Robert G. Harland, Michael Wilson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Narrative has long been used in cultural heritage for interpretation and communication, primarily within institutions and historic sites. Everyday heritage, however, foregrounds seemingly modest places and is constituted through routine interactions and practices, emphasising a continuing narrative between place and everyday life. Ubiquitous digital technologies make multi-layered narratives possible and bring underrepresented stories to light in situ. This pilot study in Loughborough’s Market Place, UK, explores narratives rooted in lived experiences that convey cultural-heritage significance. We designed and deployed cultural probes (a set of creative and speculative tasks) to prompt and record place-based stories. The analysis identified four themes: spatiality, …

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From Participatory Processes To Systemic Transformation: A Service Design Perspective On Four Italian Case Studies, Rachele Gracci, Alexandra Coutsoucos, Sonia Belhaj, Irene Patria, Marco Tognetti, Valentina Gianfrate Jun 2026

From Participatory Processes To Systemic Transformation: A Service Design Perspective On Four Italian Case Studies, Rachele Gracci, Alexandra Coutsoucos, Sonia Belhaj, Irene Patria, Marco Tognetti, Valentina Gianfrate

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Participatory Processes (PPs) are increasingly fostering broader civic engagement, strengthening dialogue and collaboration between citizens, the third sector and public institutions. However, a gap persists between participatory aspirations and their implementation, limiting the capacity of processes to generate durable transformations in local governance structures and public service innovation. Employing a qualitative-comparative methodology, based on stakeholder mapping and service-ecosystem lens, the study analyses four novel cases involving green and peri-urban transformations across diverse Italian regions. By operating under diverse administrative frameworks, they present fertile ground for illustrating complementary and mutually reinforcing PPs. Through a Service Design lens, recurring patterns and mechanisms …

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Desiring Production: Design As An Ethical Action, Yihui Yang, Li Zhang Jun 2026

Desiring Production: Design As An Ethical Action, Yihui Yang, Li Zhang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Contemporary design theory and practice have long taken user need-oriented as the core principle. Need has become the ethical and practical foundation of design. It has suppressed the creativity and initiative of both users and designers in the name of functionality. Tracing the origin and evolution of need in design history, this paper points out its inadaptability to complex contemporary design scenarios and diverse demands. On this basis, it introduces the Desiring Production theory of Deleuze and Guattari, reinterprets desire as a more productive and relational life power than need, and explores the feasible path for the ethical intervention of …

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From Co-Design To Co-Execution: A Knowledge Map Of Real-Time User Participation In Service Settings (2008-2024), Yue Cao, Yihan Zhao Jun 2026

From Co-Design To Co-Execution: A Knowledge Map Of Real-Time User Participation In Service Settings (2008-2024), Yue Cao, Yihan Zhao

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This bibliometric study analyzes 236 articles from Web of Science (2008-2024) to map the intellectual structure of real-time user participation in service encounters (RUP-SE). The field has transitioned from exploration (2008-2013) to maturity, with post-2020 publications averaging 29.5 annually. Three core research clusters emerge: real-time co-creation and participation, digitally-driven service innovation, and value creation-destruction dynamics. Theoretically grounded in service-dominant logic and value co-creation frameworks, the field addresses how technological advancement and COVID-19 have accelerated the shift from co-design to co-execution. However, platform architectures introduce governance logics that render co-execution inherently asymmetrical, and value co-destruction in algorithmic contexts may be structurally …

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Fine Observation And Material Care: An Interactionist Approach To Design Aesthetics, Washington Morales-Maciel Jun 2026

Fine Observation And Material Care: An Interactionist Approach To Design Aesthetics, Washington Morales-Maciel

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper argues that the question “How does the awareness of material sustainability change perceptions of aesthetics?” requires an interactionist framework from philosophical aesthetics, against both eliminativist and formalist models. Without treating materials as morally valuable entities, there is no room to integrate the ethical dimension into aesthetic evaluation. However, the question can be inverted, since aesthetic perceptions also contribute to how we ethically treat materials. Central to the argument is the claim that aesthetic properties, by virtue of their affective character, are partly constitutive of the moral dimension of visual representations, not mere embellishments but active elements in shaping …

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Balancing Aesthetics And Protection: How Digital Artists Navigate Structural Inequities Through Aesthetic Watermarking, Runqi Fang, Changjuan Ran, Shenglan Cui, Xiangyu Meng, Biyao Li, Fang Liu Jun 2026

Balancing Aesthetics And Protection: How Digital Artists Navigate Structural Inequities Through Aesthetic Watermarking, Runqi Fang, Changjuan Ran, Shenglan Cui, Xiangyu Meng, Biyao Li, Fang Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Online presentations of digital art place artists in an ongoing trade-off between gaining exposure and protecting copyright, one that current platforms inadequately support. As a result, artists often rely on aesthetic watermarks, yet how they manage this balance remains underexplored. In this study, we conducted a co-creation workshop with 18 digital artists and examined how they design aesthetic watermarks in practice. Analysis reveals three key concerns shaping their decisions: aesthetic integrity, semantic fidelity, and protective functionality. Participants struggled to manage the tension between protection and artistic completeness, while also expressing growing concerns about the security of their work, facing rapid …

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Figurations As A Situated Counter-Device For Participatory Design: Exploring Time And Presence In Design Practice., Diana Maria Mahecha, Juan Alfonso De La Rosa, Juan Pablo Velasquez Jun 2026

Figurations As A Situated Counter-Device For Participatory Design: Exploring Time And Presence In Design Practice., Diana Maria Mahecha, Juan Alfonso De La Rosa, Juan Pablo Velasquez

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article explores the notion of figurations as a theoretical and methodological concept to address tensions between time, presence, and practice in participatory design processes. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s and Rosi Braidotti’s work, we argue that figurations invite more situated practices that acknowledge the relational and material realities emerging in Global South contexts. Methodologically, the paper offers a situated ethnographic reading of participatory workshops conducted in Colombia, tracing the patterns and affections that shape collective action. We propose figurations as embodied, affective, and speculative counter-devices that foster political imagination and community agency in processes of social transformation. The paper contributes …

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Sounding Territories: Dis/Identificatory Codings As Relational Worlding, Grace Turtle, Błażej Kotowski, Elisa Giaccardi, Roy Bendor Jun 2026

Sounding Territories: Dis/Identificatory Codings As Relational Worlding, Grace Turtle, Błażej Kotowski, Elisa Giaccardi, Roy Bendor

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents Sounding Territories, a sonic performance developed with Fundación Organizmo (Colombia) that explores dis/identificatory codings as a tactic for resisting and subverting algorithmic capture. Building on queer and more-than-human perspectives, the project reorients computational logics from stable classification toward relational and generative forms of identification. Through deep listening, embodied performance, and model training, datasets were composed as relational constellations: entanglements of sounds and situations (e.g., fire–conversation–bird–wind) that enact the liveliness of data beyond representational frames. Rather than seeking legibility within existing taxonomies, dis/identification becomes a methodological reorientation–a performance of politics–that disturbs predictive logics and embraces illegibility as generative …

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