Design Methods for Accessing the Pluriverse

In recent years, the field of Design and human-computer interaction (HCI) research has expanded to engage with nonhuman perspectives and contexts alongside the human. However, these explorations often remain largely theoretical or small-scale and local. We argue that developing constructive pluriversal perspectives in complex design processes requires more diverse and adventurous experimentation. This one-day workshop explores and proposes methods for pluriversal art and design practice, with methodological guidelines of invoking intuitive and systematic perspective-building within an emphatically relational and social context.

Our goal in this workshop is to explore, share and map emerging methods that allow designers to think through multiple perspectives. We aim to bring together designers who embrace heightened sensitivity towards entities beyond the human realm and support relational approaches in design. This workshop will explore how design interventions, visual mapping, and other-than-human HCI can become ‘enabling methods’ that contribute to understanding others’ perspectives and relations. Through experience with a case of temporalities in human-plant interaction, we will discuss how these methods can contribute to broader goals of developing relationality and endorsing eco-centric approaches in design practice.