The collective articulation of issues as design practice

Abstract

In this paper we discuss one practice of social design and social innovation by which designers and participants work together to reveal the factors, relations and consequences of an issue. We refer to this as the collective articulation of issues. Within the context of social design and social innovation the articulation of issues takes on a distinctive character and can be manifested through a wider range of design engagements than previously considered. To support our discussion we analyse two design engagements from the growBot Garden project, a research project exploring technologies for small-scale agriculture. Through this analysis we identify the qualities of the event and pluralism as central to the collective articulation of issues. We argue that the collective articulation of issues is a foundational practice of social design and social innovation, comprising an outcome and purpose in its own right.

Social Justice-Oriented Interaction Design

“…Within design practice, recognition can happen when designers articulate and frame a problem and its collection of key issues [31,108]. Problems do not exist a priori.…”

“…The act of defining a problem simultaneously creates the acceptable parameters by which they can be addressed (i.e., solutions that contend with the problem) by narrowing the focus of the potential design solutions. Therefore, problems are always developed understandings of situations that focus and delimit the design space [74,31,108].…”

Diálogos democráticos que fazem funcionar as cidades

“…Hence, infrastructuring involves a continuous redefinition of the designer's own role in the design and relational process. It also elucidates the specificity of the PD designer, whose role is to initiate an ongoing collective articulation of diverse and often contradictory requirements and desires in the form of dialogues (DiSalvo et al, 2011). As mentioned, in infrastructuring processes, she/he sets up, enables and fosters democratic spaces that give room to these different and conflicting voices and where actions are taken to mediate these controversies or conflicts (Björgvinsson et al, 2012;Karasti, 2014).…”

“…IT systems for work organisation, community settings and societal information infrastructures) (Karasti, 2014), this research can be framed within community-based PD in which infrastructuring is seen as the formation of communities. According to DiSalvo et al (2011), who follow Dewey's (1927) proposition that there is no such thing as one single public, infrastructuring revolves around the continuous and changing process of forming publics around these controversies. This definition indicates the significance of designers paying close attention to developing relationships.…”

“…An essential aspect of an infrastructuring process is its focus on a setting in which artefacts have a place instead of on the particular artefact itself (Pipek and Wulf, 2009). Infrastructuring processes demand designers to initiate an ongoing collective articulation of citizens' diverse and often contradictory requirements and desires in the form of dialogues (DiSalvo et al, 2011). Therefore, in these infrastructuring processes, the designer's role is to set up, enable and foster (physical and abstract) democratic spaces that give room to different and conflicting voices and where actions are taken to mediate these controversies or conflicts (Björgvinsson et al, 2012;Karasti, 2014).…”