Things are not what they used to be. And design cannot be what it used to be if it is to work with them responsibly.
Paolo Camerin in the interaction lab working on his project 'Mine'.
Image:Jens PerssonContemporary digital things are more like fluid assemblages than stable objects. They are composed of a variety of components and connections, including resources provided by various platforms and other kinds of infrastructure. They change over time and in response to activities and other inputs they are configured to register. And in doing this they collect data that they feed back into the networks of which they are a part, and to other actors that extract different kinds of value from those networks and data generated by end users' use.
This course challenged students in the Interaction Design MFA programme at Umeå Institute of Design to work with fluid assemblages: to assemble responsive things from a variety of components, to build on top of existing platforms, and to care for multiple users and types of use. While these types of things are often developed through progressive optimization in relation to certain metrics (and there can certainly be a place for that), this course asked students to bring their sharpest design skills and sensibilities to bear - especially a concern for meaningful wholes, and care for human experience and integrity.
This course series took place within the frame of the 'Interaction Concept' course in the second year of the IxD MFA programme, in connection to the research project Design Philosophy for Things That Change funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.
For a detailed description of the course and the student projects, visit the Fluid Assemblages website on Medium
Swipe to see all design concepts from the IxD 'Fluid Assemblages' course, where students were challenged to assemble responsive things from a variety of components.
Image:Malin Grönborg
Mine by Paolo Camerin - A tangible interface to help you gain control and reflect on your personal data
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
The Aesthetics of Misinformation by Zena Corda - An exploration in developing new forms of Aesthetics of Misinformation to provoke negotiation and reflection
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Data Night Show by Katharina Brunner - Bringing design-led research on algorithmic bias to life from an intersectional feminist standpoint
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
The Wise City by Inna Zrajaeva - A speculation on entanglements of non-humans and humans in an urban space
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Cube by Manu Revi - Caring through the 'language' of the voice companions to mediate privacy concerns
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Rituals of Trust by Sandra Lundberg - Exploring rhythmic expressions in computational things and their meanings
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Mi. by Christina Bauer - A personal data archive embodied in physical and digital space
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Billy by Se Hyoun Eom - Giving form to actions in the digital space
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
Loop by Ashutosh Biltaria - Exploring the frameworks that enable users to achieve social media minimalism
Image:Umeå Institute of Design
