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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

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

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

DRS Biennial Conference Series

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

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Game Design As An Educational Method, Adeline Hvidsten, Evan Barba, Sarit Youdelevich, Rebecca Rouse Jun 2026

Game Design As An Educational Method, Adeline Hvidsten, Evan Barba, Sarit Youdelevich, Rebecca Rouse

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design is playing an increasingly important role in the liberal arts and in general education at various grade levels. Integrating design into a curriculum can take many forms, from teaching general design literacy to specific disciplinary practices and using design methods to support topical learning. Over decades of teaching game design in various contexts, we have observed how students gain a deep and systemic understanding of topics when designing games on them. Synthesizing our experiences from higher education, we expand on Hanghøj’s model for game-based teaching to include teaching through game design as a pedagogical method. We argue that to …

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How Does Costume Illustration Sketching Mediate Between Visual Development Concept Art And The Practical Construction Of Film Costumes?, Sophie Fretwell, Jon Burgess Jun 2026

How Does Costume Illustration Sketching Mediate Between Visual Development Concept Art And The Practical Construction Of Film Costumes?, Sophie Fretwell, Jon Burgess

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Sketching is a vital form of communication across creative industries. As an essential part of the filmmaking process, costume illustration functions as a mediating design practice where sketching translates concept art into wearable garments. Historically rooted in hand-drawn fashion illustration, contemporary costume sketching has evolved into a globalised digital practice that bridges artistic vision and physical construction. Through this lens of design mediation and embodied expertise, the study draws on industry interviews and reflective practice to examine the costume illustrator’s changing role as translator between the digital concept and physical costume. Costume sketching solves practical challenges based on knowledge of …

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‘Wet’ Policymaking: Exploring The Potential Of Open-Water Swimming In Agonistically Designing Affective Environmental Policies, Kseniia Obukhova, Jan Boon, Liesbeth Huybrechts Jun 2026

‘Wet’ Policymaking: Exploring The Potential Of Open-Water Swimming In Agonistically Designing Affective Environmental Policies, Kseniia Obukhova, Jan Boon, Liesbeth Huybrechts

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the dryland of environmental governance, design can help cultivate what we call ‘wet’ policymaking: an approach that embraces affect, emotional engagement, and more-than-human (MTH) relations as integral to ecological decision-making. Drawing on fieldwork with open-water swimming collectives and policy initiatives in Flanders, Belgium, we explore swimming as an agonistic inquiry into wet policy futures, revealing the tensions between the prevailing dryness and the potential wetness of environmental—particularly water-related—governance. Theoretically, the paper weaves together affective agonistic democratic thought, political design, and MTH perspectives to articulate wetness as both a political and design orientation. We argue that open-water swimming in Flanders …

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Designing For Radical Renewal: Innovation Outcomes Across Circular And Regenerative Approaches, Belinda Nors, Louise Møller Haase, Sara Nielsen Jun 2026

Designing For Radical Renewal: Innovation Outcomes Across Circular And Regenerative Approaches, Belinda Nors, Louise Møller Haase, Sara Nielsen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper defines regenerative design in relation to current collaborative, sustainability-oriented innovation. Production and consumption patterns are largely linear, with circular economy efforts largely focused on recycling. Regenerative approaches are emerging but underdeveloped. Literature describes the Regenerative worldview and theoretical framework, and the few papers on methodology and practice highlight a need for greater definition of the field. An actionable design- and innovation methodology for the regenerative field is lacking. We conduct a scoping review and define the Regenerative design approach in relation to the current Circular Oriented Design approaches. We present the characteristics of the Value Preserving and Regenerative …

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Promoting Equity, Accessibility, And Trust Through Co-Design: Shaping A Living Evidence Architecture For South-East Asia And The Western Pacific, Leah Heiss, Manika Saha, Heath White, Shaira Baptista, Jia Rong, Rifat Shams, Derry Wijaya, Grace Wangge, John Grundy, Rashina Hoda, Chetan Arora, Anneliese Arno, Olga Kokshagina, Tari Turner Jun 2026

Promoting Equity, Accessibility, And Trust Through Co-Design: Shaping A Living Evidence Architecture For South-East Asia And The Western Pacific, Leah Heiss, Manika Saha, Heath White, Shaira Baptista, Jia Rong, Rifat Shams, Derry Wijaya, Grace Wangge, John Grundy, Rashina Hoda, Chetan Arora, Anneliese Arno, Olga Kokshagina, Tari Turner

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Living evidence refers to continual evidence synthesis and dynamic updating of clinical guidelines to support health decision makers with evidence that is up-to-date, reliable and trustworthy. The rapid take up of AI technologies and prevalence of unverified AI-generated medical advice create an urgent need to improve access to trusted, reliable evidence to support clinicians, policy makers and citizens with accurate health guidance. Developing a living evidence platform with South-East Asia and the Western Pacific - a region that includes almost half of the global population - requires a nuanced understanding of the diverse needs of clinicians, consumers, and policymakers across …

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Creating A Regenerative Design Practice That Gives Back To People And Planet: Lessons From Stakeholder Interactions In Industrial Agriculture, Cecilie Baann, Birgitta Ralston, Jannike Falk-Andersson, Line Johanne Barkved Jun 2026

Creating A Regenerative Design Practice That Gives Back To People And Planet: Lessons From Stakeholder Interactions In Industrial Agriculture, Cecilie Baann, Birgitta Ralston, Jannike Falk-Andersson, Line Johanne Barkved

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper considers the development of a regenerative design practice as a grounded and participatory method that fosters sustainable design and solutions, sensitive to relational practices and values, even when these are thought to be negligible. We draw upon theories of ecological relationality, in combination with posthuman theory, to argue that holistic regenerative design should aim to foster ownership of the design processes amongst affected actors. To do so, our regenerative design practice allows participants to search for, promote, and expand existing practices of relationality, a focus we argue have been missing in the existing research on regenerative design. Drawing …

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Co-Speculating With Ai: From Prompts To Practices, Elisa Giaccardi, Joseph Lindley, Maria Luce Lupetti, Giulia Jiangxian Zhu, Dave Murray-Rust Jun 2026

Co-Speculating With Ai: From Prompts To Practices, Elisa Giaccardi, Joseph Lindley, Maria Luce Lupetti, Giulia Jiangxian Zhu, Dave Murray-Rust

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents a vocabulary for co-speculation with AI, developed through an experimental design studio with 55 postgraduate students who used generative AI tools to explore more-than-human design practices of decentering. The vocabulary spans multiple scales of interaction—from individual prompting acts to extended collaborative sessions—serving descriptive, analytic, and generative functions. Whilst it was developed through the specific context of decentering practices, we argue that this vocabulary is transferable to diverse design domains. It offers designers and researchers a framework for more reflective and intentional engagements with AI, contributing to emerging discussions on how design practice evolves when speculation becomes a …

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From Scientific Publication To Scientific Impact: Designing Research For Reach And Engagement, Elisabeth Breden, Eveline Van Zeeland, Jörg Henseler Jun 2026

From Scientific Publication To Scientific Impact: Designing Research For Reach And Engagement, Elisabeth Breden, Eveline Van Zeeland, Jörg Henseler

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Digital media offer transformative possibilities for sharing and experiencing research. These new options call for design researchers and publishers to rethink traditional publishing norms. Yet, expanding access alone is insufficient; making academic knowledge meaningful to diverse audiences can drive real impact. How to engage audiences beyond academia to ensure a broader impact? This study applies the design tools framing and analogical modelling to shift the perspective on academic knowledge dissemination. This allows us to recognize scientific outputs as designed products that need to be brought to ‘the market’ with a clear path for reaching and engaging audiences. This study introduces …

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Reclaiming Embroidery: Uncovering The Potential Of Embodied Practice For Women’S Mental Well-Being, Xinglin Sun, Caroline Claisse, Qi Wang Jun 2026

Reclaiming Embroidery: Uncovering The Potential Of Embodied Practice For Women’S Mental Well-Being, Xinglin Sun, Caroline Claisse, Qi Wang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Women’s mental well-being is deeply intertwined with their bodily experiences across different life stages. While embroidery has long been associated with domestic femininity, little is known about how its embodied qualities can support women’s mental well-being. This paper presents a co-creation workshop titled Embodied Embroidery, followed by micro-phenomenological and semi-structured interviews. Eight female participants engaged with embroidery to reconnect with their bodies and translate embodied sensations into material expressions. The findings reveal how embodied making can nurture different dimensions of women’s mental well-being while opening up new design spaces for embroidery activities among women across diverse age groups and cultural …

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Towards A Common Language For Representation Tools In More-Than-Human Design, Berre Su Demir, Aykut Coskun Jun 2026

Towards A Common Language For Representation Tools In More-Than-Human Design, Berre Su Demir, Aykut Coskun

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Representation tools in More-Than-Human Design (MTHD) are growing rapidly as researchers increasingly seek to include nonhuman perspectives in design. However, guidance for selecting, designing, and evaluating such tools is limited, leaving designers to navigate trade-offs in user-friendliness, empathy, and resources without a shared structure. While recent work has attempted to address this by introducing parameters for MTHD representation tools, their relevance and usefulness remain unexamined. We explore how these parameters resonate in practice through workshops with 12 MTHD researchers, demonstrating that the parameters serve as decision supports during design and use, as lenses for reflection, and as a shared vocabulary …

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Performer, Technologist, Machine: Co-Creating The Soul Song Sensorium, Asha Ward, Jojo Taylor Jun 2026

Performer, Technologist, Machine: Co-Creating The Soul Song Sensorium, Asha Ward, Jojo Taylor

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Soul Song Sensorium examines the negotiation between performer, technologist, and technology in the co-creation of a sound-driven wearable instrument. Initially imagined as a system translating gesture and voice into live sonic layers, the project evolved through iterative exchanges between what the performer envisioned, what was technically achievable, and what emerged unpredictably in practice. The technology frequently acted as a third actor whose behaviours, limitations, and resistances shaped both creative intention and aesthetic outcome. Rather than progressing through linear feature accumulation, the work advanced through attunement—paring back complexity, refining mappings, and learning to work with the system’s tendencies. Through this process, …

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Negotiating Control With Materials: Progressive Modes Of Engagement In Design Practice, Yuliang Kang, Enza Migliore, Jingze Liu Jun 2026

Negotiating Control With Materials: Progressive Modes Of Engagement In Design Practice, Yuliang Kang, Enza Migliore, Jingze Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper addresses a design dilemma: how can designers engage with materials that exhibit recognizable yet unpredictable behaviors? Traditional design relies on predictability and control. However, in an era of crises and complexity, we must acknowledge non-human agency and recognize that materials inherently respond and adapt. Complex material systems, characterized by self-organization, nonlinear dynamics, and emergent patterns, resist deterministic control, requiring an alternative approach. Drawing on material agency and play perspectives of rules and chances, we develop an operative framework of negotiating control, exemplified through clay fractals using the Lifting Hele-Shaw cell (LHSC). We identify three progressive modes of engagement: …

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Participatory Design As An Epistemic Practice: Designing For Institutional Responsiveness In The Scottish Parliament, Cara Broadley Jun 2026

Participatory Design As An Epistemic Practice: Designing For Institutional Responsiveness In The Scottish Parliament, Cara Broadley

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines Participatory Design (PD) as an epistemic practice that can strengthen how democratic institutions listen and respond to diverse forms of knowledge. Drawing on the PARliament Engagement project, it explores how creative approaches can reveal and reshape the interpretive practices that govern what counts as evidence in parliamentary scrutiny. The research was conducted through a participatory action research process involving ethnographic shadowing, interviews, and co-design workshops with parliamentary staff, creating opportunities for shared reflection on how knowledge is generated, interpreted, and used across scrutiny work. The paper develops the concept of institutional responsiveness to describe how PD can …

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Beyond The Gallery: Neurodivergent Digital Access In Australian Museums, Jorge E. Arreola Rosendo Jun 2026

Beyond The Gallery: Neurodivergent Digital Access In Australian Museums, Jorge E. Arreola Rosendo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Australian museums invest heavily in hybrid and immersive gallery technologies yet treat their websites, where many neurodiverse visitors seek essential planning information, as static brochures. As 15 to 20 percent of the global population is neurodivergent, this oversight affects a significant audience. This study presents the first Australian audit of neurodivergent accessibility across 43 museums, revealing major disconnects: 86% offer minimal digital experiences despite their accessibility potential, and 35% provide no neurodivergent resources. While many claim consultation, neurodivergent voices remain absent from digital design. Shared digital infrastructure across museum networks creates sector-wide intervention points, since improving centralised systems could enhance …

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The Culture Communications Model: Visual Sensemaking And The Everyday In Design Practice, Patrick Sundqvist, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson, Lennart Pettersson Jun 2026

The Culture Communications Model: Visual Sensemaking And The Everyday In Design Practice, Patrick Sundqvist, Åsa Wikberg-Nilsson, Lennart Pettersson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The Culture Communications Model (CCM) provides a framework for structured sensemaking grounded in everyday visual culture. It assists designers and non-designers in navigating complex contexts through four interrelated domains – physical, social, commercial and media – each examined via interpretive filters such as norms, gender, class, power and capital. Through iterative processes of finding, understanding and synthesizing, the CCM structures visual inquiry as an embodied and dialogical practice. By translating observations through these filters and reconfiguring them with conceptual tools, users can reveal hidden relationships, challenge assumptions and generate new perspectives on context and identity. The model transforms diffuse contextual …

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Exploring How Packaging Transparency And Processing Level Affect Acceptance Of Edible Insects In Taiwan, Wei-Chen Chiu, Chun-Heng Ho Jun 2026

Exploring How Packaging Transparency And Processing Level Affect Acceptance Of Edible Insects In Taiwan, Wei-Chen Chiu, Chun-Heng Ho

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As global food systems face growing sustainability challenges, edible insects are emerging as a viable alternative protein source. This study explores how transparent window size and food processing level in packaging affect Taiwanese consumers’ purchase intentions toward insect-based foods. A 2 (window size: small vs. large) by 3 (processing level: unprocessed, semi-processed, fully processed) experiment with 359 participants, categorized by attitudes into acceptance and rejection groups, revealed that processing level significantly influenced purchase intention. Fully processed products received the highest acceptance across both groups. Window size had a minor effect, slightly increasing purchase intention among the rejection group when smaller …

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Dialoguing With Design: How Llms Mediate Multimodal Workflows In Zero-Waste Fashion, Ping Li, Sarah Kettley, Mal James, Niki Taylor Jun 2026

Dialoguing With Design: How Llms Mediate Multimodal Workflows In Zero-Waste Fashion, Ping Li, Sarah Kettley, Mal James, Niki Taylor

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study investigates how large language models (LLMs) enable new modes of collaboration in zero-waste fashion design, addressing the challenge that traditional practice relies heavily on tacit knowledge developed through iterative material experimentation. Using first-person autoethnography, the research examines how a designer collaborates with ChatGPT and Claude across concept ideation, digital pattern development, toile construction, and sample production, tracing how technical terminology, design reasoning, and material knowledge are negotiated, misinterpreted, and re-articulated in human–AI interaction. Findings demonstrate that ChatGPT excels at generative conceptual prompting, whereas Claude better handles complex pattern-cutting rules; nevertheless, both require iterative, dialogue-based correction. The research proposes …

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When Grief Takes Shape: Codesigning Creative Modalities In Grief Support Groups For Children, Kirstine Neimann Skov, Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen Jun 2026

When Grief Takes Shape: Codesigning Creative Modalities In Grief Support Groups For Children, Kirstine Neimann Skov, Eva Knutz, Thomas Markussen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Research highlights the positive impact of creative modalities, such as drawings and images, in grief practice for children. However, more knowledge is needed to guide grief practitioners regarding the effects and contributions of these modalities to children’s coping strategies and wellbeing. This paper investigates the use of creative modalities in Danish grief support groups for children through a study involving participatory design research. The study provides a comprehensive overview of how creative modalities can support grieving processes and lay new ground for future work in codesigning creative modalities for and with practitioners and children. The concept of grief as an …

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Speculative Woolgathering: Using Design Approaches To Explore Values In The Uk Wool Supply Chain To Enable Digital Good, Naomi Jacobs, Emily Birch, Peter Craigon, Katherine Drury, Anabel Gutierrez Mendoza, Louise Manning, David Perez Jun 2026

Speculative Woolgathering: Using Design Approaches To Explore Values In The Uk Wool Supply Chain To Enable Digital Good, Naomi Jacobs, Emily Birch, Peter Craigon, Katherine Drury, Anabel Gutierrez Mendoza, Louise Manning, David Perez

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents an interdisciplinary project using speculative design to explore the intersections of sustainability and technology in the UK Wool industry. Through a process of value mapping, worldbuilding, design fiction, and card development, the project involved stakeholders across the wool supply chain who contributed their perspectives and priorities. This process revealed how value is created in the wool industry, and how relationships and systems are mediated by hidden, often contrasting values. Findings highlight the importance of these values in shaping sustainable and equitable futures for the sector. We present a conceptual framework of valuation, revaluation and evaluation as a …

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Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design, Jaana Päeva Jun 2026

Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design, Jaana Päeva

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article explores how material properties and sustainability awareness shape aesthetic perception in leather handbag design. Drawing on practice-based research, the study combines memory collection, collaborative designer-led prototyping and user feedback to examine designer and consumer experiences. Findings show that designers focus on structural and tactile qualities—stiffness, thickness, and texture—while aesthetic attributes such as colour and surface finish support conceptual and stylistic intentions. Sustainable tanning methods and innovative leathers introduce new challenges, requiring adaptive strategies. For users, long-term interaction with leather fosters appreciation for durability, patina, and cultural meaning, shifting aesthetic evaluation from immediate visual appeal to qualities signalling longevity …

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Changing The Lens: Micro-Systemic Change Through Design Interventions, David Perez, Nuri Kwon Jun 2026

Changing The Lens: Micro-Systemic Change Through Design Interventions, David Perez, Nuri Kwon

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines how design-led activities function as micro-systemic interventions that can influence people’s perceptions, actions and decision-making towards the futures. Using the optical metaphor of a design lens, we reinterpret Voros’ (2003) Futures Cone as a flexible field of vision that can be focused, dispersed, or magnified through design. The “design lens” serves as a conceptual framework comprising three components: design settings, information, and collectiveness. We apply this lens to two projects: a speculative walking workshop for policymaking, and a creative engagement project with residents in a social housing redevelopment. The aim is to examine how these elements interacted …

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Queering Portobello Promenade: Testing ‘Queer’ Inclusive Spatial Design And Thinking., Kirsty Watt, Anna Reid Jun 2026

Queering Portobello Promenade: Testing ‘Queer’ Inclusive Spatial Design And Thinking., Kirsty Watt, Anna Reid

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The intersection of queerness and spatial practice has often been framed through the presence of queer individuals rather than queerness as a spatial principle that can shape and create opportunities within the built environment. While individual identity remains important, this paper argues that applying a queer-informed spatial approach to architecture and landscape architecture introduces broader inclusive design considerations often absent in binary or heteronormative practice. The paper examines this through situating current theory and practice; and then testing these ideas in a speculative design proposal for Portobello Promenade. Through themes including adaptability, queer ecologies, accessibility, safety and visibility, the project …

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Heterodox Economic Perspective For Designing Sustainability Transitions: Integrating Fundamental Human Needs And The Milieu Approach, Maxime Ritouet, Audrey Tanguy, Tatiana Reyes, Valérie Laforest Jun 2026

Heterodox Economic Perspective For Designing Sustainability Transitions: Integrating Fundamental Human Needs And The Milieu Approach, Maxime Ritouet, Audrey Tanguy, Tatiana Reyes, Valérie Laforest

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design for sustainability transitions is an emerging field within design for sustainability that aims to provide guidelines and strategies to generate systemic change in society, mostly at the socio-technical system level. Nevertheless, some limitations of current approaches have been pointed out by scholars, including their market-centered perspective and the vague definition of the sustainability visions adopted. To overcome these limitations, a shift towards a heterodox economic perspective is needed. Such a shift could help define new goals for design – satisfying fundamental human needs – through an integrative vision of humans within their environment. The city scale appears particularly appropriate …

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Is There Limitless Romance Behind A “Bunch Of Ones And Zeros”? How Social Vr Shapes Romantic Interaction And Its Design Implications, Ágnes Karolina Bakk, David Redmond, Borbála Tölgyesi, Kata Szita Jun 2026

Is There Limitless Romance Behind A “Bunch Of Ones And Zeros”? How Social Vr Shapes Romantic Interaction And Its Design Implications, Ágnes Karolina Bakk, David Redmond, Borbála Tölgyesi, Kata Szita

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study explores how romantic relationships and expressions of intimacy unfold within social virtual reality (SVR) environments such as VRChat. Drawing on virtual ethnography and 26 semi-structured interviews, it examines how embodiment, anonymity, and technological affordances shape trust, emotional intimacy, and sexual expression. While often framed as taboo, these dynamics are central to understanding relational practices in immersive environments. Findings show that intimacy is experienced as both emotionally authentic and technologically mediated, emerging through practices such as roleplay, virtual touch, and shared activities. The study highlights how anonymity simultaneously enables openness and introduces challenges around trust, consent, and safety. By …

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Toward Speculation Otherwise: Correspondence And Contamination In Design Engagements With Urban Renewal, Anna-Mamusu Sesay Wehlitz, Thomas Binder Jun 2026

Toward Speculation Otherwise: Correspondence And Contamination In Design Engagements With Urban Renewal, Anna-Mamusu Sesay Wehlitz, Thomas Binder

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores speculation otherwise by tracing how speculative potential emerges from the very first encounters of design research. Rather than viewing speculation as a designer-led projection of possible futures, we propose a shift toward understanding speculation as something to be recognized within already unfolding worlds. Drawing on Tsing’s notion of contamination and Ingold’s concept of correspondence, we show how design engagements evolve through entanglements with speculative forces circulating in the everyday: through material residues, infrastructural rhythms, social negotiations, and more-than-human relations. Through slow alignments, tentative invitations, failed funding applications and walks through neighbourhood sites, we describe how our own …

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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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The Role Of Packaging In Smart Home Design, Nour Al Maalouf, Chaiwoo Lee Jun 2026

The Role Of Packaging In Smart Home Design, Nour Al Maalouf, Chaiwoo Lee

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As technology becomes vital to aging independently, its first points of contact such as packaging influence accessibility and confidence. This study examines how older adults engage with technology through packaging. Nineteen Boston-based adults aged 65 to 85 interacted with three smart home kit packaging prototypes. Observations and interviews highlighted four main insights: Participants preferred (1) design that supported independent use, (2) visible organization of all components, (3) easy, tool-free opening, and (4) sustainable, recyclable materials. Ninety-five percent recalled past frustration with packaging that felt like it was meant “for someone else.” These results suggest that designing for longevity means rethinking …

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Beyond Situated Ethics: Towards A Practice-Based Understanding Of How Designers Do Ethics, Samantha Osys Jun 2026

Beyond Situated Ethics: Towards A Practice-Based Understanding Of How Designers Do Ethics, Samantha Osys

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As discussions about AI and its societal impacts grow, questions about how to practise design responsibly and ethically have become more prominent. This paper examines how designers do ethics in practice, focusing on the relationship between universal frameworks and situated, lived experiences. Conversations with design practitioners reveal that while universal ethical frameworks provide consistency, they often overlook the everyday negotiations designers face in the workplace. Practitioners report that current governance systems, influenced by external regulations, are overly ‘top-down’ and narrowly focused on specific technologies. This approach leaves designers to identify and fill ethical gaps themselves, often through subtle, even covert, …

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Putting An Ear To The Ground: Attending To Frictions In Human-Machine-Soil Temporalities, Margrete Lodahl Rolighed, Lone Koefoed Hansen Jun 2026

Putting An Ear To The Ground: Attending To Frictions In Human-Machine-Soil Temporalities, Margrete Lodahl Rolighed, Lone Koefoed Hansen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In this paper we present "Plant-disco", an interactive physical design object that seeks to make activities in soil (e.g. bugs and plant growth) sensible to humans. With this, we discuss how more-than-human temporalities come to surface (such as plant, soil, microorganisms and machine) and how this creates friction in our human perception of time and interaction. The central aspect of the paper is to discuss how the design, as a result of trying to extend human appreciation of nature into soil, also intervenes in human temporalities by engaging with the seemingly slow pace of nature at a time where most …

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