Reciprocal Design: a Mindset

Description

Design, by its very nature is a hybrid practice, often placed along a continuum between art and science. Design researchers and educators tend to draw methods from various fields to inform their work, and to help them determine appropriate outcomes. Reciprocal design is a mindset for design/creative practice informed by research into Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems, as well as Twentieth Century design scientists/theorists such as Buckminster Fuller, Victor Papanek, and others. We see Reciprocal Design as a framework for informing actions and behaviors (rather than focus on end-products) to guide designers to engage in more viable, sustainable and meaningful practices, and to reconsider what is meant by "preferred outcomes" for design.

Timetable

One-hour workshop timeline 2 mins: Presenter introductions 20 mins: Introduction to reciprocal design, its inspiration and development

• attributes of a reciprocal design mindset
• discussion on reciprocal design vs. altruistic design (ie. pro bono, social)
• how a reciprocal mindset leads to redefinition of "preferred outcomes"
• considerations for instilling a reciprocal mindset in students 9 mins: small group discussions in “breakout room” format (5-6 participants)
• What affordances do online platforms provide for integrating reciprocity into classes? 10 mins: breakouts end, discussion with full group about breakout findings 9 mins: second small group discussions, different group compositions
• How might a reciprocal design mindset thrive in a global pandemic context in ways that neither altruistic design nor hierarchical design approaches are equipped to do? 10 mins: discussion of group results, any final questions

Interaction

As part of the introduction we will conduct a very brief brainstorming session at the beginning about the meaning of key terms.
We will incorporate two breakout sessions with different small-group compositions for discussions of questions we provide.

Takeaway

Design/creative arts instructors will gain new vocabulary and concepts to help their students develop and position their work to more closely align with students’ value systems and goals for their creative practices. We can provide a bibliography as a literal takeaway for interested participants.

Outcomes

Conducting this workshop at DEL would provide us with a third category of participants, in addition to students and corporate designers, who have participated and contributed thus far, we look forward to garnering input and ideas from DEL participants. We plan to continue development of reciprocal design, present research at conferences and ultimately extend our findings into a book aimed primarily at design educators and professional designers eager to experiment with their own processes.

Abstract

Designers have long nurtured the idea that design strives to be the best of human endeavor: devising things that are beautiful in their utility; powerful in their ability to communicate and ideally; aid in survival. The convergence of technologies and media in the twenty-first century means that designers must navigate ever-shifting relationships between cultural and social systems. As designers evolve from discrete-object to relational systems orientations, the context demands reevaluation of core principles that inform design epistemologies. The COVID-19 global pandemic has confirmed the necessity for changes in practices, and reconsideration of what constitutes the “preferred outcomes” of design work.

An assessment of the field for evidence of how designers are addressing ever-increasingly complex issues, reveals a collective call for different practices. In an era in which designers of all ilk are actively seeking new methods, new ways to understand problems, and new ways to consider the value of their work, the design field should open itself to influence from indigenous sources for better understanding of how to pursue meaningful and sustainable action and behaviours, applied to address the contemporary context. Traditional knowledge systems describe and inform knowing, experiencing, and understanding, grounded in community and with relationship to the natural world. Design, with its basis in the artificial—human-made—world might seem to be at odds with finding affinities in traditional knowledge. However, both share the desire to foster environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic sustainability. Inspired by aspects of traditional knowledge systems and their affinities with design processes, Reciprocal Design is a framework for informing actions and behaviors (rather than focusing on end products) to guide designers to engage in more viable, sustainable and meaningful practices. As educators introduce new generations to design as a discipline that considers artifacts of its output in relation to the networks of influences on them, learning from traditional epistemologies that reflect that practice seems most enduring.

Reciprocal Design: a Mindset will be introduced in a workshop format, with opportunity for participants to discuss ways that new vocabulary and subtle shifts in thinking can have larger, long-term implications for how they and their students help define the future of meaningful and effective design practice.