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- Amiri Rigi, Sheida, et al.
(författare)
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(Un)Weaving (Un)Sustainability
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Design Research Conference : Matters of Scale - Matters of Scale. - 1604-9705. ; :9, s. 160-169, s. 161-169
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The spatio-temporal scale of design for sustainability has come full circle. What started within a technology-oriented global outlook, later evolving into a people-oriented and local view on change, now urges for a holistic, broad extent and multilevel design for sustainability. This paper enquires into the theories of social change that govern different approaches within the field, and positions the adhesion of socio-technical system innovation and transition design to classical modern theory, against an emergent design paradigm anchored in practice theory. By drawing on the literature of the field and comparing various models, a conceptual framework is suggested where "practice" serves as an alternative scale. In broadening the scope of analysis in design, this frame of thought can solve the inherent incompatibility of geographical, jurisdictional and institutional hierarchies as vessels to conceptualize the complex and dynamic processes through which social change is (can be) brought about.
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| 4. |
- Christoforidou, Despina
(författare)
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Bling & : Other Breaches in Design
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall theme of this thesis is norm deviations, i.e. breaches, as an approach to illuminating blindspots in the design field in order to handle potential friction that arises constructively. The research presented consisted of two parts: the Bling? studies, which are part of the licentiate thesis, attached in Appendix 2, and the Breach! studies.The Bling? studies present how planned provocations in the form of norm violating experiments, i.e. breaching experiments, were used in a design education context to illuminate blindspots and reflect on and question established truths. Design students’ encounters with the Bling aesthetic resulted in their dismissal of it due to the design field’s underlying norms and values about good and bad taste and thus highlighted a blindspot in the relationship between good design and good taste. In the Breach! part of the studies breaching experiments were explored, and rather than these being staged artificially the focus was on identifying naturally occurring breaches in the design field. The aim was to understand how these are expressed, the motives that drive the people who perform the breaches, i.e. the breachers, and what these breaches reveal about the design field.Within the framework of the Breach! studies, a comparative interview study was conducted wherein designers in Sweden and New Zealand shared their experiences and reflections on their practice, what drives them, what challenges they face, how they handle these challenges, and how they see the future of their profession. A qualitative content analysis of the designers’ narratives employing breaches as an analytical filter showed, among other things, that to some extent the designers in New Zealand felt that they are isolated from the rest of the world in a professional sense as compared to their Swedish colleagues. At the same time, they feel less constrained by bureaucratic processes and more flexible to address challenges as in-betweeners and bricoleurs. Although Swedish design benefits from the widely known Scandinavian design brand, the responses of the designers in Sweden suggested that norms and values about what is right and wrong contribute to a more solid, less flexible discourse about what design is and could be, and there are tendencies towards a more monolithic context, contrasting with the more polylithic one in New Zealand.An additional Breach! study was conducted with the intention of comparing three designers who, in different ways, breach the prevalent norms of their context. Each of these breachers represents a niche of the design field – design practice, design education, and design research – with intention to exploring different types of breaches and breachers. Regardless of how successful they are in their breaches, their attempts have the potential to push the boundaries regarding which questions are possible to ask in different fields and go beyond these, so that they can expand – especially in normative contexts, or when consensus is high on the agenda.Breaches and breachers offer valuable opportunities not only for insights and introspection, e.g. in design education contexts, but for managing friction and building norm awareness, which is a prerequisite for both norm criticism and norm creativity – both of which are central aspects of the design field. Furthermore, the contribution of this work is relevant to the design field in terms of concretising and conceptualising some of the abstract dimensions of design as a practice and discipline, i.e. designers as in-betweeners/mellanförskapare and design as in-betweenness/mellanförskap. It highlights the importance of friction in design, and of both designers and the design field being able to handle it in a constructive way.
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| 5. |
- Christoforidou, Despina
(författare)
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Bling? Roles and Contradictions in Design
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In their professional practice, designers serve different roles as experts in user behaviour, taste experts and conveyors of symbolic meaning. Combining these roles, however, is not necessarily unproblematic, especially so in contexts that are incongruent with the personal preferences of the designer. In seeking to understand this challenge in designers’ professional practice, it is relevant to highlight the contradictions surrounding these roles. Thus, the main focus of this project has been to identify the potential challenges designers face in dealing with expressions which are strongly value-laden in relation to the norms and values of the designers themselves. A seminar for design researchers and a workshop for design students were held on a theme characterized by strong and contrasting product expressions, “Blinging up Eco”, which they were to discuss and explore as a source of inspiration. Insights from these interventions indicated that designers found the Bling theme provoking – at least they did so initially. Making explicit underlying norms and values and understanding the mechanism behind them can be quite challenging. This thesis suggests that contradictions and breaches can be utilized in design practice in order to increase awareness regarding personal prejudices. Transforming prejudices into conscious breaches through informed provocation can thus serve as an entry point for a creative design practice, as powerful and useful as any other source of inspiration for designers in their work
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| 9. |
- Christoforidou, Despina, et al.
(författare)
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Good Taste vs Good Design : A tug of war in the light of Bling
- 2012
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Ingår i: The Design Journal. - : Berg Publishers. - 1460-6925 .- 1756-3062. ; 15:2, s. 185-202
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Some products are considered ‘bad taste’ and therefore of less value. However, if we focus on what a product does with and for its users, rather than on what a product is, we can disregard superficial statements based on taste and instead get a better understanding of good design. This reasoning is based on the relationship between ‘good taste’ and ‘good design’, terms which are sometimes confused and treated as synonyms. In this article, we explore the tension between ‘good taste’ and ‘good design’ and how designers can use that tension in the design process. We consider ‘good taste’ to be rooted in a subjective context of inherent values, whereas ‘good design’ arises from competence and is based on professional skill. In this paper, ‘bad taste’ is exemplified by products associated with the lifestyles of rap artists and the subculture of bling. Our experience is that bling products often generate strong feelings and opinions and are dismissed by many as ‘bad taste’ because their appearance is incompatible with what is perceived to be ‘good design’. In the context of a course on trends, industrial design students were given the task of exploring how bling products are perceived in everyday life. Their views on bling were compatible with how bling is presented in the media. The students perceived bling products to be far from what is regarded as ‘good taste’ within their own culture. Consequently, they were unable to regard bling as a source of inspiration in their design work. However, when the students began to consider what the product does rather than what it is, they were able to use bling as a source of creativity. What other design opportunities are overlooked by regarding products as being in ‘bad taste’?
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| 11. |
- Christoforidou, Despina, et al.
(författare)
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Monolithic vs. polylithic design cultures? : Designers' accounts of professional practices in Sweden and New Zealand
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Design Research. - 1748-3050. ; 19:1/2/3, s. 7-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This comparative study explores how breaches can be applied to unveil potential blindspots within the social constructs surrounding design practice in Sweden and New Zealand. When in-depth interviews with designers in both countries were analysed, similarities and differences appeared. The underlying norms and values identified suggest that the two countries share a similar value-base in relation to the design profession. Designers from both countries described the niche they occupy in terms of what could be called in-betweenness. There are also subtle differences in how designers relate to their professional roles. While designers in New Zealand identify as bricoleurs, designers in Sweden compare themselves to engineers. Furthermore, Sweden appears to be a somewhat monolithic context compared with New Zealand, which seems more polylithic. The proposed approach enables a deeper understanding of potential blindspots in the design field, and the surrounding social construct. Implementing breaches as a lens can be valuable in questioning established truths, and ultimately instigating change.
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| 12. |
- Christoforidou, Despina, et al.
(författare)
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Responses to product features: An affective neuroscience perspective
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Research into Design - ICoRD'09. - 9789810822774 ; , s. 379-386
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Design aesthetics concerns the study of the way the features of a product are perceived by an observer. This paper shows that the moment of perception can be advantageously described with the help of results from affective neuroscience. It also shows, among other things, that the affective state of an individual is always prior to a later, slower, conscious cognition, and that it influences judgment during purchase and use. This can also be observed in great detail through the measurement techniques used in affective neuroscience. A comparison with current models of affect in design research is also presented. Finally, results from affective neuroscience allow the designer to play with emotions, knowing which stimuli will have an impact on the individual and when.
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| 16. |
- Olander, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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The Love and Hate of Bling Products: An industrial design student case
- 2012
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Ingår i: Design & Emotion. ; 8th International Design and Emotion Conference
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- There are many different factors that influence our perception of products i.e. personal, product related and external factors. For designers to be able to address them all when creating new products, we need to deepen our understanding of the totality of perceptual experiences from non-instrumental interaction with products. One way of achieving this is by stimulating the creative process by utilising provocation. We have explored how industrial design students interacted with a product category with special product characteristics, namely Bling products. These products generate a lot of attention and emotional reactions, people seem to either love or hate them. In order to understand this love-hate relationship to Bling products and by using provocation as a starting point, we analysed nine industrial design student projects on the theme of ‘future Bling’. Self-reflective reports on the students’ design projects were categorized with the help of the Perceptual Product Experience framework (PPE). Although the students’ were confronted with a product type they initially disliked, we found that they transformed their perception of Bling both regarding pleasure aspects (e.g. how and why the product stimulates our senses) and meaning aspects (e.g. what the product represents or which value we ascribe to it) of perceptual experiences. Furthermore, according to the students’ self-reflective reports, they felt they managed to use this transformation as a source of inspiration and driving force in their design process.
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| 17. |
- Olander, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Toolkit for awareness in universal design
- 2005
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In an attempt to make universal design an integral part of industrial design in general, an experiment was implemented early during the industrial design education. The aim of the experiment was to increase the awareness of the students regarding the fact that products may at the same time be attractive and well-functioning for a broad range of users. Five categories of everyday products were included in the experiment, objects in each category covering the range from stylish or sporty to products designed especially for disabled persons. Twenty-five students took part in the experiment in five groups. They tried the objects in true use situations and were asked to, in consensus, evaluate and comment on three mainly emotional and three mainly functional qualities. After testing, they analysed, presented and reflected around their results. Finally they were asked to group all objects in any kind of families. The presentations by the students demonstrated that very lively discussions had taken place about product qualities. The evaluation method provided rich information about young persons’ experiences of qualities in products. At the final grouping of products, the students chose to present objects as being related to different target users. One interesting finding was that the product family aiming at a very average user included an angled kitchen knife, product of a kind previously regarded a typical aid for disabled.
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