More-Than-Human Design
* Article / Conference Paper: The More-Than-Human Trend in Design Research: A Literature Review. By Annapaola Vacanti, Massimo Menichinelli et al. Conference: Disrupting Geographies in the Design World. 8th International Forum of Design as a Process (At: Bologna), November 2023. DOI: 10.30682/diiddsi23t1s;
Contextual Citation
"The scope of design practice – and the academic research related to it – has undergone great transformations since scholars began to displace the project focus in favor of a broad set of non-human agencies. Such a process has led to a revolution, which is still ongoing, in the methodological and mental approach of designers, who have historically been committed humanists and advocates for people against a techno-centric vision of innovation."
- Massimo Menichinelli et al. [1]
Description
1.
"The implications of contemporary technological and environmental changes are driving a transition in human practices toward approaches that widen and shift the focus beyond human needs. These approaches leverage new ideas and concepts coming from the post-humanist perspective, which has been gaining momentum across several disciplines, including the design field. As several researchers have started to take interest in those themes, experimental methods and practices have been growing along with different definitions, which may accentuate the complexity of producing consistent advances in the discipline. The objective of the article is to review the existing literature on design practices and approaches that, during the last decade, have evolved beyond the focus of a single user and are thus defined with terms such as More-Than-Human Centered Design, Eco-systemic Design, Posthuman Design, etc. The outputs of the integrative literature review offer a clearer picture of the phenomenon."
2.
"Design has been dominated by a human-centered and user-centered paradigm. Currently, the implications of technological and environmental transformations are challenging designers to focus on complex socio-technical systems. This article traces emergent discussions around posthumanism from across a range of disciplines and perspectives."
More information
From the references:
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Foth, M., DiSalvo, C., Light, A., & Forlano, L.(2018). More-than-human urban futures: Speculative participatory design to avoid ecocidal smart cities. Proceedings of the 15th Participatory Design Conference: Short Papers, Situated Actions, Workshops and Tutorial -Volume 2, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3210604.3210641 .
Davidová, M., & Zavoleas, Y. (2020). Post-Anthropocene: The Design after the Human Centered Design Age. 203–212. https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2020.2.203