expansive design
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Designing for emergent performances
Abstract: Design used to be about expert designers designing complex entities for society. Now, increasingly, design is about designing emergent performances among designers and usigners. Emergent performances include experiences, interactions, and any emergent relationships that unfold through time. Since they cannot be controlled, design can better learn from performance arts how to provide minimal improvisational […] - Oct 22, 2024 -
Abstract: This lecture explores the expansive power of visual thinking as a tool for design research, problem-solving, and knowledge creation. Moving beyond common sense definitions of visual thinking, it focuses on how images try to capture partially known contradictions in codesign, moving the design process forward into changing reality. Lecture recorded in the Fall 2024 […] - Sep 6, 2024 -
Why I became a transdisciplinary design researcher
Abstract: Twenty years of designing and researching across several disciplines led me to realize that transdisciplinarity is not the same as combining knowledge from different fields. Transdisciplinary design research means moving from one discipline to another to follow an expansive object. This is a reflection I presented as my first lecture in the MXD program […] - Apr 2, 2024 -
I’m developing further the Lego Serious Play method to support Expansive Design, in particular, to represent tough contradictions in a humorous style. This is useful when people avoid talking about contradictions openly or deny their existence. The pretext of play enables critical voices and radical alternatives to emerge. References Van Amstel, Frederick M.C. (2021). The […] - Oct 31, 2018 -
Expansive Design and Learning in a Software Studio
Unfinished post-doctoral research project at Post-Graduate Program in Informatics at PUCPR. Software studio is a pedagogical approach for learning while doing it in practice Interaction Design (CULÉN et al, 2014; BINDER et al, 2009; REIMER, 2003) as well as Software Engineering (HAZZAN, 2002; KUHN, 1998; TOMAYKO, 1996; TOMAYKO, 1991). Inspired by the way architects learn […] - Oct 31, 2018 -
PhD thesis – Expansive design: designing with contradictions
A quick guide to this thesis: Abstract: This thesis looks at the practice of design as it emerges in architectural design and service design. The lens adopted considers design both as an activity as well as a space full of contradictions, which are accumulated tensions. Design activity is a professional occupation that interacts with other […] - Dec 14, 2015 -
Expansive design is a concept initially defined by psychologist Yrjö Engeström which I developed further in my PhD thesis. It means expanding the design activity towards the use activity, or in other words, connecting them together. This connection is characterized by co-creation; instead of merely producing objects for users, designers co-create objects with the users. […] - Nov 20, 2015 -
The expansion of the design object: from materials to experiences
The object of design was once easy to grasp. If we look at the first Bauhaus curriculum, we see the prominent role the building materials played in the designer’s formation. The aspiring designer was supposed to master these materials and tranform them into aesthetical compositions. At this time, the materials were the design object: concrete, […] - Mar 9, 2015 -
Reductionism and expansionism in design theory
In the readings of my PhD research, I came across the term reductionism a lot. This term is used to criticize or warn against the trap of analyzing social phenomena in a somewhat restricted way, with no clear definition of its own. After years of reading those uses, I got a tacit understanding of what […] - Feb 23, 2015 -
Sketching an expansive design definition
While writing my thesis, I make visual and textual sketches. Most of the times, these sketches are replaced later by a well-thought text, typically without the pictures. The sketches are removed because they cannot withstand scientific criticism, but they might be useful to communicate to a broader audience. With that in mind, I’m publishing the […] - Jan 12, 2015