Co-creating real-life experiences through the dialectic of system thinking and design

Design has, since its advent in the early 20th century, evolved from a product perspective (constructivism), to a designerly process perspective (design thinking) and is now entering a new era that uses systemic design methods to solve complex societal “wicked problems” (Rittel and Webber 1973). Dialectic design (Buchanan 2001) unites Herbert Simon’s science for the artificial and John Dewey’s pragmatic view on design (Dalsgaard 2014), which has led to a design thinking approach. Even this perspective is now blurring out when considering the design of sustainable and complex systems designed for interaction and evolution. Therefore, the design paradigm must be shifted towards a “purpose” driven system design perspective. Verganti (2009) gives us insight into the world of what radical innovation (and change) means for society. He also indicates that we should avoid overabundance and rather focus on designing meaningful products (Verganti 2017). The “system design” approach that is proposed and adopted by the Industrial Design Centre of Ghent University Campus Kortrijk is one focusing on purpose driven design by incremental and collaborative change. It unites the dialectic of an abstract cybernetic design model (Krippendorff 2007) and a tangible realization (call it prototype) of the designed artifact. The intended and unintended uses of the design become gradually visible through a conversation (Dubberly and Pangaro 2009) and interaction of the product in a living lab environment. Multiple research perspectives on the design problem (Ghent University council, 2015) are approached by bringing all involved stakeholders – experts form different specialisms, designers and end-users – together in an iterative collaborative change process (using co-creation methods). Prototyping real-life experiences in a living space plays a central role as integration and communication method throughout the development cycle. During every iteration, a co-experience is obtained by all involved stakeholders by directly interacting with the prototype in a real “make” or “use” context. These interactions gradually reveal affordances and disturbances by iterative adaptations. The real-life experience can be obtained by simultaneously realizing (1) the product, (2) the activity of interaction and (3) its context of use. This is dialectically realized as an continuously updated cybernetic model (describing the abstract dynamic model) as well as through a threefold low-to-high fidelity prototype of the product, activity and context that is functioning as a living lab experiential playground. This research through design principle is a double loop learning method. In the first iteration loop, the project is gradually enveloped towards a specific goal using adaptive strategies (designing). If the goal is not fitting with the expectations and requirements a second order loop is formed in order to find the real goal using adapting strategies (research, reflection). This particular method will be illustrated by some specific student project cases in the domain of health-care (reminiscence game for people with dementia) and societal problems (urban community gardening and composting)

The role of flow experience in codesigning open-design assistive devices

This paper describes the theoretical framework of an inclusive participatory design approach which leads to qualitative occupational experiences within the field of community-based rehabilitation. The aim is to support voluntarily controlled activities by applying co-construction theories to disabled users and their dynamic environment. The starting point of this open design process is a threefold interaction involving caregivers, patients and occupational therapists within their local product ecology. Co-creation is used as a set of iterative techniques to steer the patient towards flow experiences. Do-it-Yourself is consecutively applied as physical prototyping, communication language and personal manufacturing process. By implementing this active engagement process disabled people and their carers become conscious actors in providing collaborative maintenance of their own physical, mental and social well-being

Designing products with a focus on self-explanatory assembly, a case study

Designing products with a focus on self-explanatory assembly can reduce the use of procedural instructions and the associated problems. This paper describes how different groups of students, in two different design-engineering courses designed or redesigned products in an attempt to make the assembly of the product self-explanatory. The design outcomes are discussed in relation to the design context and linked to existing theory on design for meaning

Expect the unexpected: the co-construction of assistive artifacts

This paper aims to explain emerging design activities within community-based rehabilitation contexts through the science of self-organization and adaptivity. It applies an evolutionary systematic worldview (Heylighen, 2011) to frame spontaneous collaboration between different local agents which produce self-made assistive artifacts. Through a process of distinction creation and distinction destruction occupational therapist, professional non-designers, caregivers and disabled people co-evolve simultaneously towards novel possibilities which embody a contemporary state of fitness. The conversation language is build on the principles of emotional seeding through stigmergic prototyping and have been practically applied as a form of design hacking which blends design time and use time. Within this process of co-construction the thought experiment of Maxwell’s Demon is used to map perceived behavior and steer the selecting process of following user-product adaptation strategies. This practice-based approach is illustrated through a case study and tries to integrate both rationality and intuition within emerging participatory design activities

The design of a composite folding bike to improve the user experience of commuters

Over the last years, the popularity of folding bikes has been increasing as a result of the rise of multi-modal transport. They are used by commuters as a complement to public transport. Despite the increasing popularity, the current market offer of folding bikes still represents quite some restrictions and downsides which decrease their usability. This paper shows a user-centred process of designing and prototyping a composite folding bike with the aim of improving the user experience of folding bike using commuters. By improving the usability and ease of use of folding bikes, their full potential can be unlocked. The design process led to a disruptive folding bike design with front and rear single-sided offset wheel mounting. The concept excels in its intuitive and quick folding mechanism, superior riding performance and comfort, adjustability and overall ease of use. In addition to the design process and prototyping of the folding bike, this extended abstract elaborates on the performed user tests and its results. These tests range from the impact of offset wheels to the intuitiveness of the folding mechanism and were performed in order to prove different aspects of the design. This research shows how rethinking and redesigning a bike concept (product) from scratch, using a user-centred design process and taking into account the three aspects — business, technology and people — can lead to a disruptive design that improves usability and the overall user experience of the stakeholders

The role of re-appropriation in open design : a case study on how openness in higher education for industrial design engineering can trigger global discussions on the theme of urban gardening

This case study explores the opportunities for students of Industrial Design Engineering to engage with direct and indirect stakeholders by making their design process and results into open-ended Designed Solutions. The reported case study involved 47 students during a two-weeks intensive course on the topic of urban gardening. Observations were collected during three distinctive phases: the co-design phase, the creation of an Open Design and the sharing of these design solutions on the online platform Instructables.com. The open sharing of local solutions triggered more global discussions, based on several types of feedbacks: from simple questions to reference to existing works and from suggestions to critiques. Also some examples of re-appropriation of the designed solutions were reported. These feedbacks show the possibilities for students to have a global vision on their local solutions, confronting them with a wider and more diverse audience. The case study shows on the other hand the difficulty in keeping students engaged in this global discussion, considering how after a few weeks the online discussions dropped to an almost complete silence. It is also impossible with such online platforms to follow the re-appropriation cycles, losing the possibility of exploring the new local context were the replication / modification of the designed product occurred. The course’s focus on Open Design is interesting both under the design and educational points of view. It implies a deep change in the teaching approach and learning attitude of students, allowing unknown peers to take part of the design process and fostering a global discussion starting from unique and local solutions

Product crossing: designing connections using a product example

Today, more and more products are made with multi materials, hybrid materials and composite materials to fulfil the more and more requiring product needs. Therefore connections and joints play a key role in (product) design. How to connect different parts remains one of the core questions in the design of products. In practice designers often fall back on a few known joining solutions. Tools like a joining selection software can be useful but can also limit the creativity of the designer. Certainly, in the beginning of the design process. Existing creativity techniques, which are suitable for all types of problems, can be used, but are mostly holistic and superficial. Therefore there is a need for divergent and inspirational techniques that focuses on the design of products and their connections. In this paper the authors discuss an experimental method called “product crossing”, in which a real product is used as inspiration during the idea generation. The method was tested with several students with different backgrounds (industrial (product) design and mechanical design). They translated product properties and aspects of the example product in the specific context of their design which resulted in surprising product idea’s. The different test cases are also discussed in this paper

Design for assembly meaning : a framework for designers to design products that support operator cognition during the assembly process

Designing assembly instructions is mostly considered to be a non-designer task. Hence, in many companies, it is performed by production planners or instructional designers. However, analysing product components and looking for clues on how these components can be fitted together into a subassembly or final product is a fundamental part of assembly. Product designers play an important role in the way these components are perceived by the operator. This paper discusses the need and importance of a new approach to product design focused on how the assembly design can promote meaning to the operator, supporting operator cognition. The aim of this approach is to guide assembly operators more intuitively through their increasingly complex tasks. Doing so will allow them to avoid some of the major drawbacks that are present when using procedural instructions. Hence, this approach has the potential to decrease cognitive load and frustration, and increase mental wellbeing, work motivation and efficiency. As a first step towards this new approach, a conceptual framework is constructed, and insights are formulated after reviewing various design theories and concepts of design for meaning on their potential in a context of manual assembly