Imaginary design workbooks: constructive criticism and practical provocations

Mark Blythe, Enrique Encinas, Jofish Kaye, Miriam Lueck Avery, Rob McCabe, Kristina Andersen

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

    53 Citations (Scopus)
    145 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This paper reports design strategies for critical and experimental work that remains constructive. We describe a design workshop that explored the "home hub" space through "imaginary design workbooks". These feature ambiguous images and annotations written in an invented language to suggest a design space without specifying any particular idea. Many of the concepts and narratives which emerged from the workshop focused on extreme situations: some thoughtful, some dystopian, some even mythic. One of the workshop ideas was then developed with a senior social worker who works with young offenders. A "digital social worker" concept was explored and critiqued simultaneously. We draw on Foucault's history of surveillance to "defamiliarise" both the home hub technology and the current youth justice system. We argue that the dichotomy between "constructive" and "critical" design is false because design is never neutral.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCHI 2018 - Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    Subtitle of host publicationEngage with CHI
    PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc.
    Number of pages12
    VolumeNew York
    ISBN (Print)978-1-4503-5620-6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 20 Apr 2018
    Event2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018 - Montreal, Canada, Montreal, Canada
    Duration: 21 Apr 201826 Apr 2018
    Conference number: 36
    http://chi2018.acm.org

    Conference

    Conference2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018
    Abbreviated titleCHI 2018
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityMontreal
    Period21/04/1826/04/18
    Internet address

    Keywords

    • Design fiction
    • Domestic technology
    • Privacy
    • Surveillance

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