This thesis project explores combining interactive technology and the natural world, through a more-than-human design approach. This project aims to step away from an industry-driven design by valuing plants as equal in the design process. Throughout this report, an overview of the relevant theory and examples are elaborated on. This overview has informed the project in two ways. It formed the foundation of a concept aiming to improve the user’s interconnectedness with nature and it formed the foundation of an evaluation tool developed for aiding designers in design for plants by addressing three design fields: Design for Care, Design for Cohabitation, and Design for Noticing. The concept and the evaluation tool have been developed in parallel and informed each other throughout the project. The final concept contributes to the discussion about addressing more-than-human actors in design. In this case by addressing plant blindness. The evaluation tool contributes to more-than-human design as a tool to evaluate ideas and projects. This project included an extensive analysis of a design collection, workshops regarding the materiality of living plants and assessment of the evaluation tool, an interdisciplinary design approach, and a prototyping phase during which assumptions regarding the concept were tested.

This paper examines how wine brands use emotional branding and narrative identities to connect with customers on Instagram. The research questions were as follows: How do winemakers use emotional branding in their communication on Instagram? How does the narrative that the company tells about itself relate to the customer's identity? To answer this, a semiotic analysis was made where three different wine producers were examined. For each wine producer, a profile overview and three posts were analyzed. The findings show that all three wine producers created content that corresponds to emotional branding for instance by trying to emphasize a connection to sentimental memories, socialization, lifestyles and ideals. By trying to create a narrative around the brand, they intend to attract consumers whose narrative identity corresponds to the identity of the brand. This is relevant knowledge for designers and marketing people in order to connect with consumers. Since the wine business has a great economic relevance, this knowledge can also be considered to be of general interest.

The study is a design-driven research project that answers the question: What material design qualities are there in Swedish wild boar leather and how can these be applied in product design? The question is primarily investigated through a material-driven design method and results is analysed through theories of design for sustainable development and design for emotional durability.

The material-driven design method began with free exploration of the material, first impressions were documented and hypotheses about the material were deemed incorrect. To investigate the technical characteristics, tests were carried out. The material experience is explored through a tool where 10 participants answered questions about the material's performative, sensory, affective, and interpretive properties. The tests ended with a reflection of the material's positive, negative, and unique properties.

The knowledge of the design qualities of wild boar leather was then used in an idea generation process to create a sustainable product with emotional durability. The idea generation culminates in the study's design proposal, a chair with cushion and backrest made of wild boar leather. The study concludes with a conclusion that confirms the design qualities of wild boar leather and a discussion that highlights insights that emerged during the study's implementation.

With the rise of Hallyu, or the global export of Korean culture also commonly known as ‘The Korean Wave’, South Korea has become a big trendsetter in recent years: whether it be within fashion and K-Beauty skincare or Korean movies and drama series, to Korean popular music, also known under the umbrella term K-pop. What these categories have in common are their strong ties to visual aesthetics and K-pop is known for its very colourful and maximalist design, which is also a key characteristic to why K-pop as a phenomenon has been particularly attractive and has managed to captivate fans all over the world. In the marvelling K-pop universe, the goal is to engage all the senses for a complete and interactive sensory experience, making the visual just as important as the auditory, and this can also be applied to the physical album design. Physical K-pop albums sell better than ever despite the digital streaming services dominating our digital age. A visual analysis was conducted on selected contemporary K-pop albums together with a survey on Swedish K-pop fans, in order to discuss how packaging design of K-pop albums can influence consumer behavior. The study showed that interactive packaging design and extra album inclusions like photocards, photo books, postcards etc. makes the fans more likely to want to collect albums and merchandise, which on its own can be viewed as a collectible item. The packaging design both facilitates and encourages fans to interact with the design not only visually, but also in a tactile way, by engaging in participatory behavior such as filming unboxing videos and posting them on social media, and it can also be associated with identity making, i.e. how they identify themselves as fans in relation to their favorite artists or towards other fans. Lastly, it is interesting to discuss how K-pop design can be heavily influenced by American and Western concepts despite being marketed as a Korean phenomena and innovation; from the visual analysis it could also be concluded that contemporary design trends draw inspiration from Western concepts such as the y2k millennium bug, retro and technology. 

With the rise of Hallyu, or the global export of Korean culture also commonly known as ‘The Korean Wave’, South Korea has become a big trendsetter in recent years: whether it be within fashion and K-Beauty skincare or Korean movies and drama series, to Korean popular music, also known under the umbrella term K-pop. What these categories have in common are their strong ties to visual aesthetics and K-pop is known for its very colourful and maximalist design, which is also a key characteristic to why K-pop as a phenomenon has been particularly attractive and has managed to captivate fans all over the world. In the marvelling K-pop universe, the goal is to engage all the senses for a complete and interactive sensory experience, making the visual just as important as the auditory, and this can also be applied to the physical album design. Physical K-pop albums sell better than ever despite the digital streaming services dominating our digital age. A visual analysis was conducted on selected contemporary K-pop albums together with a survey on Swedish K-pop fans, in order to discuss how packaging design of K-pop albums can influence consumer behavior. The study showed that interactive packaging design and extra album inclusions like photocards, photo books, postcards etc. makes the fans more likely to want to collect albums and merchandise, which on its own can be viewed as a collectible item. The packaging design both facilitates and encourages fans to interact with the design not only visually, but also in a tactile way, by engaging in participatory behavior such as filming unboxing videos and posting them on social media, and it can also be associated with identity making, i.e. how they identify themselves as fans in relation to their favorite artists or towards other fans. Lastly, it is interesting to discuss how K-pop design can be heavily influenced by American and Western concepts despite being marketed as a Korean phenomena and innovation; from the visual analysis it could also be concluded that contemporary design trends draw inspiration from Western concepts such as the y2k millennium bug, retro and technology.

This study aims to investigate strategies for discussing and communicating the climate crisis to children using illustrations and other visual elements in children's books. Children worry about the climate, are consumers themselves, have opportunities to influence and children are future decision makers. Illustrated children's books are important for informing and engaging children in the climate issue. A total of nine illustrations in three children's books available in Swedish bookstores have been analyzed through semiotic analysis. They differ both in terms of how healthy and diseased nature is portrayed, who bears the responsibility for change, what needs to be done. Commitment to the climate issue is achieved through understanding that there are things that are important to preserve and that there is an opportunity to influence. Further studies are needed to analyze how best to communicate the climate issue with children.

Participatory Design's focus on people comes from a social democratic vision. However, as climate and existential crises press us to consider wellbeing beyond humans alone, we ask what a pluriversal design agenda might include and what could be articulated as ‘participatory’? Necessarily, this inquiry has limits, as participation usually implies human voice, rights, representation and structures of decision-making. This paper commits to these concerns while asking ethical, political and onto-epistemological questions regarding how worlds and futures are shaped when more-than-human entities – plants, animals, rocks, rivers and spirits – participate in our becoming? We offer a meeting of feminist techno-science with practices and philosophies from Japan and beyond to offer thought experiments in engaging with difference and plurality. And we give several examples of practice situated at ontological boundaries to offer some novel thoughts on ‘participation otherwise’, always-participating-with-many and the futures this could usher in.  

This study explores how the interaction design techniques approach can contribute to enabling more transparency in physical shopping by creating bridges between consumers and various stakeholders. The aim is to empower the consumers to make informed decisions through obtaining and understanding health and environmental information for individual commodities.

Through close collaboration with users, and with the support of active designers, the design process results in the development of an interactive mobile application proposal. The prototype aims to create a hub between consumers and different stakeholders concerning individual products. Furthermore, the prototype grants consumers access to the information they desire, sharing or requesting product feedback from stakeholders and consumers, focusing on the environment and health aspects.

The challenges faced by mathematics education reflect the more immense difficulties of the schooling system as a whole. This thesis investigates such challenges in the light of an ethical learning foundation and aims for a transformation through the use of technologies as learning tools. 

Interaction design methods are used to craft constructivist learning kits that aim to move mathematics students from passive receivers of knowledge to active learners. The proposed tools modify new technologies by adapting them to teachers’ and learners’ needs to be best suited for mathematics classroom adoption. Additionally, social, political, and economic issues that may hinder the adoption of constructivist learning are presented and critically discussed. 

Finally, this thesis paves the way for future designers who aim to design mathematics educational kits by providing a design framework based on the learning theory and the design process presented in this thesis.

In the field of human-computer interaction, the majority of domestic IoT and smart devices run on proprietary software that possess limited technical properties and predetermined functionalities. As practices of building, modifying, and making IoT applications grow, this thesis follows an open-source approach to IoT to investigate the relationships of humans and things in a domestic setting.

As a result of this material exploration, proprietary frameworks for interactions with smart devices are challenged through speculative scenarios, that include diverse instances of human-things interactions.

Thus, a research through design methodology is suggested to support series of experiments, conducted to explore instances of perceived intelligence of these open-source hardware, without the use of advanced computational systems as proprietary devices entail. The suggested process is the creation of a speculative design artifact that combines hacking practices, to support designers in generating insights and to further iterate on possible open-source IoT interactions.

The study research how product design can influence and promote a transition to small sustainable homes through research and methods using Design for behaviour change. The study is based on previous research made on The Tiny House Movement (that started in the USA in the late 1990s) and examines the Swedish market for Tiny Houses through interviews with stakeholders in Sweden. The study is also based on theory from the areas of Sustainable development and Design for sustainable development. Through interviews, a target group of children was selected, and a list of requirements was written based on the theory and material collected from the interviews as well as from a supplementary investigation. The Design with intent method was used as a source of inspiration for the development of concepts, where two concepts were selected for further development and then analysed with the Harris profile method to find which concept best met the list of requirements. The final concept: a product intended to influence and promote children’s transitioning into small sustainable homes by allowing them to build different types of Tiny Houses on a small scale with drawings as guidance. The product, Tiny Tiny Houses, is intended to be used in the company of parents as an aid to teach learnings about alternative housing but is just as good for children to use on their own, with siblings, or in the company of other children. The product is similar to a backpack where the front is folded down to build Tiny Houses on a small scale with the help of building pieces similar to puzzle pieces that are pressed together. The product is easy to take out into nature to promote outdoor play. Nature is an important part of the concept as the child’s imagination together with nature will decorate the inside of the small houses.

This project have explored the question - How can a smoke alarm be designed to be more aesthetically pleasing for the user?

The Swedish Agency for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning [MSB] has long pursued a zero vision for Sweden with the goal that no one should die in a fire (MSB, 2021a). A crucial factor for the goal to succeed is that every home has a functioning smoke alarm. With effective smoke alarms in all homes, as many as 40% of deaths could be prevented (Runefors, Johansson & van Hees, 2016).

The study was carried out on the basis of a user-centered approach where qualitative interviews with five informants and requirements from the European standard for the design of smoke alarms have formed the basis for the development of the project.

Based on the interviews, it emerged that the informants were largely negative about the design of existing smoke alarms. These were perceived as cheap pucks in white plastic.

It turned out that a low price, small size and an easy installation without the need for drilling were the most important features for the users. They also stated that they did not like to change batteries and requested the opportunity for increased visual unity with other furnishings. Natural materials and soft shapes were the most sought after properties for the design.

The knowledge contribution lies in the discovery of the difficulties in discussing Aesthetics with the informants. This was a clarifying insight into the differences between academic and general language for describing aesthetic impressions.

The result of the project was a small smoke alarm with a body in solid wood, a large button for testing and silencing of the alarm together with a battery life of atleast 10 years.

A new paradigm is slowly making its way into society, affecting our material practice as designers. Materials selection in design and product development has for a long time been dominated by a purely technical approach, mainly focusing on properties and performance. With the increasing evidence of climate change, waste and pollution, environmental effects, we are slowly realizing that unsustainable consumption of materials is no longer an alternative. Previous studies of material practices, both within design educations and the design profession, has primarily dealt with the development of material related methods. This thesis has focused on gaining an in-depth understanding of material practices within design processes, in order to develop a pedagogical framework that facilitates the development of reflective material practices in design education. There are four primary aims of the research presented in this licentiate thesis: (1) ascertain obstacles in the traditional ways of teaching materials to design students, (2) to bridge the differences in language, research culture and pedagogic approaches in design education, (3) to investigate current professional material practices in industrial design, and (4) to develop a new material framework for teaching reflective material practices for design students. During the project, the material framework has been tested and evaluated in two mandatory material courses with first and second year bachelor students from Product Design education over a period of four academic years. A comparative case study was conducted with five design consultancies. The qualitative interviews were transcribed and analysed using category zooming. The outcomes of this research are: (1) a new pedagogic framework for teaching materials to Product Design students in higher education, and (2) insights into professional practices of selecting and designing with materials. The pedagogic model A Material Framework for Product Design is designed to facilitate the development of reflective material practices in design education. The Framework consist of four levels: (1) a pedagogical foundation based on Experiential Learning theory that provide a framework for how to approach teaching and learning, (2) designing and structuring learning activities, (3) creating learning environments that facilitate learning activities, and (4) defining learning objectives, assessment of learning outcomes and detecting signs of learning. The main insights from the study of professional practices suggest: (1) that risk management has a major influence on the material selection process, (2) that negotiations of project boundaries in the ‘fuzzy’ pre-design phase has crucial influence on the risk management aspect of the material criteria activities, and (3) a lack of awareness, that design briefs usually outline material criteria expressed as sensorial characteristics, which are later translated by engineering into final material criteria used for the material selection process. The findings implies that design students would benefit from developing reflective material practices in design education.

In the EU a program for implementing a circular approach to the Lifestyle and Fashion Industry dealing with the resource challenges of the massive textile-production has been launched (EU 2020). Consequently, national and international legislation is expected to become reality over the coming 5-10 years. Thus, the industry faces a need for circular and closed-loop approaches and will be challenged in developing and recruiting internal competencies for making the transition from linear to circular production possible. Many lifestyle companies face the transition as a challenging process in which the elements are both interdependent, interconnected and influence simultaneously economic, environmental and social concerns. This affects the companies at a wide variety of organizational levels. The companies often struggle to handle the challenges in conjunction, even as this generates tensions, paradoxes and contradictions in the organization – again challenging the roles of i.e. the designer. (Hahn et al., 2014, Berger et al. 2007). Even so, the tensions and paradoxes have received relatively little attention in the literature, and much of the present research on organizational replies to issues related to sustainable development, are often framed around an instrumental logic, - i.e., what benefits the companies in managerial or economical concerns. (Hahn et al., 2014). Performing circular design approaches require the development and use of both personal but also sustainable and systemic-competencies as they have to implode a new level of complexity in the design- and production process, and this puts the designers in often challenging positions and roles in the companies. Research demonstrates how fashion designers can support the transition towards a circular economy (CE) in the fashion industry (EMF, 2018) but as another study investigated the roles of the fashion designers working in medium and large international fashion companies and summarized a model – Organisational Roles of Fashion Designers for Circular Economy (ORFDCE model) suggesting that designers can take up three central roles in the transition process, it provided the designers can expand their sustainability-related knowledge and are supported by four central systemic organizational changes. (Dan & Østergaard, 2020). This paper explores the challenges of the motivational why and also investigates how the designers can implode change in the organizations in the transition from a linear to a circular Lifestyle industry and what obstructions they encounter. This is done by using a 15 semistructured interviews with designers and managers reflecting on both the ORFDCE model, the organizational theory from ‘Tensions in Corporate Sustainability’ and ‘Sustainable-Wellbeing’ using a Quadrant Model Analyzis, (Nygaard, 2019, Hahn et al. 2014, Nygaard & Tønnesbæk, 2013) The paper finally suggests how to use the research when developing design-Educations for Sustainable Development (ESD’s).

The recent academic literature on material practices within design has revealed the emergence of a new design discipline, DIY-materials or material design. Designers educated in DIY-materials and the Material Driven Design method, applied in design courses in major European universities are beginning to identify themselves as material designers. This paper presents a qualitative case study of the challenges faced by material designers and design students developing DIY-materials from the stage of a small sample with promising experiential qualities and technical properties, towards a more viable material. A comparative case study of twenty-eight material driven design projects and four explorative semi-structured interviews were conducted with designers. The result suggest: (a) that designers have a tendency to focus more on the experiential attributes and aesthetical qualities rather than the technical attributes in the early stages of material development, (b) projects that are situated in specific contexts or systems have a higher success rate, (c) bio-based DIY-materials are in general sensitive to moist and high temperatures, (d) a systematic approach during tinkering combined with analytic skills are crucial for the development of DIY-materials. In this paper we also build on our previous research, regarding the development of reflective material practices for design students in higher education. It is hoped that this research can contribute to the further development of material design as a new design discipline.

According to the Stockholm City municipality’s publication The City Museums Cultural and Historical Classifications[Stadsmuseets kulturhistoriska klassificering], culture-graded buildings in Stockholm are classified by The Stockholm CityMuseum, according to a model of evaluation created by the National Heritage Board, seeking to define what cultural heritage brings to the table (Stockholm City, 2022). As it says in the Swedish National Board of Housing´s Building and planning publication Corruption Prohibition, to ensure the preservation of the positive impacts culturally significant buildings provide for their surroundings, the municipalities enforce laws that affect the development process of the built environment (Boverket, 2021).

In Stockholm, many apartment buildings were built during the functionalistic era, more commonly known as the Funkis movement. Revolving around the needs of the people, the functionalistic manifest Accept as read in Modern Swedish Design translated by Kenneth Frampton, proposed a societal necessity of instilling value in functions dependent on the needs of everyday life (Åhrén et al., 2008).

This bachelor’s thesis revolves around a case in which a housing cooperative of a culture-graded Funkis building in Stockholm is looking to re-adapt an inner courtyard. Resulting in an inquiry on how a particular housing cooperative can initialise the re-adoption of their common shared space and also providing a methodological approach applicable to any projects looking to re-adapt culturally graded buildings in participation with its users.

The methodological approach uses Participatory Action Research (PAR) as Marwa Dabaieh, says in her journal article Participatory Action Research as a Tool in Solving Desert Vernacular Architecture Problems in the Western Desert of Egypt, as a methodological means to an end solving common issues, in participation with the people experiencing the situation (Dabaieh, 2013).

This article reports on a participatory design project conducted with K-12 schools in the US and Sweden to create an international collaboration on Marine Biology using video production as a tool for learning and representation. The aim of the project was to explore teachers’ challenges and strategies due to digitalization and new curricular demands through a lens of sociocultural perspectives. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used to understand and support participating teachers’ development as well as the design process. Using the CHAT model as a design tool enabled teachers to grasp a complex learning environment and frame contradictions and tensions in the activity. Challenges in terms of curricular demands and media literacy could be identified and addressed as part of interacting activity systems, and the process enabled expansion of knowledge and ideas for both design and future work practice. 

This thesis explores how Participatory Design (PD) and Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) can be combined and used as a theoretical framework and methodology in a professional development activity for teachers. A shift in the way we view teachers, from implementors to designers who actively construct, invent, and develop the practice of schooling also calls for changes in teacher education and professional development activities. The study presented here explores teachers' work and learning during a professional development activity conducted as a participatory design project between two K-12 schools in Sweden and the USA, using media production to create an international collaboration on Ocean Literacy. The work draws on central notions and practices based on the Scandinavian School of Participatory Design and the Change Laboratory methodology (CL) based on the theoretical framework of expansive learning. The thesis is comprised of three articles answering research questions about what challenges and strategies develop in a design process as a situated professional development approach and how we can understand learning as part of and expanding beyond a design process using activity theoretical tools.The first article presents a description of challenges and strategies developed by teachers in the first iteration of the design process and the results of using an activity theoretical model for collaborative analysis of the process. The second article analyses a CL intervention in the second iteration of the design process, adopted after the results of the first iteration. The analytical focus here was placed on empirical manifestations of the epistemological principles of the theoretical framework of expansive learning. The third article explores the occurrences and cyclicity of the learning actions postulated by the theoretical framework in the same intervention through a detailed analysis of the participants' discourse in the process. The thesis comes to a conclusion with a tentative formulation of design principles based on findings from the studies.

The results point to how innovative educational design can have consequences for teachers' work with conflicting needs, tensions, and contradictions at the systemic level of the activity. PD processes in educational settings require toolsand concepts to capture this complexity and create sustainable solutions. In this study, activity theoretical models served as a collaborative tool for teachers to analyse and change their practice and to describe and explain work integrated learning in the design process. The work highlighted the need for teachers' expertise in design as well as the important role of media literacy in the use of new technology. Their active and practical engagement in the materials, basedupon the tradition of PD, must be understood as an important part of the development of agency and volition, and findings suggest that the combination of PD and CL methodologies can serve as a vehicle for expansive learning and new innovative learning designs in educational settings. This approach was conceptualized as expansive design.

Innovative designs for learning have implications for the teaching practices and the system in which they are created, often with conflicting motives and tensions on systemic levels. Co-design processes with teachers and researchers require tools and concepts to grasp this complexity and to create durable changes. In the case studied in this article, activity theory and change laboratory methodologies were used in a participatory design process with a small group of teachers. Five key characteristics of the epistemological principles behind the change laboratory methodology were identified and analysed. The theoretical framework enabled tools for a collective analysis of the origin and development of systemic contradictions as well as a model to envision future practices and concrete learning designs. Findings suggest that the combination of participatory design and change laboratory methodologies can serve as a vehicle for expansive learning and new innovative learning designs in educational settings. 

Medication waste, both packaging and actual drug waste, has been having a tremendous impact on the environment and healthcare budget. However, this is even more concerning after Covid-19 affects the drug purchasing behaviours and causes potentially more unused medications while many people are not able to access healthcare. Some of the main challenges of lack of contribution to the life after the purchase of unused medicine are the patient’s lack of knowledge of how to dispose of them, the medication distribution, the legislation and not having an encouraging sustainable system to reduce medication waste on a bigger scale.

This project focused on understanding medicine usage behaviours in Turkish society and developing a circular model called U-Med (Unused Medications). The model has a mobile application and reverse vending machines which are linked with e-Nabız (e-Heartbeat, an application that Turkish citizens and health professionals access to health data collected from health institutions) to reduce medication waste by providing individuals to dispose of or share their unused medicines with the healthcare system or the other industries that can reuse. The concept also aims to show a sustainable approach which can influence decision-making in legislation on medication distribution. This project includes face-to-face, semi-structured interviews in a neighbourhood in Sarıyer, Istanbul Turkey with 5 patients, 3 doctors, 3 nurses and 5 pharmacists along with the health director in the municipality of Sarıyer. Additionally, remote interviews were organised with a non-profit organisation in Greece called GIVMED which has similar concerns. Apart from these, a Turkish survey among 88 Turkish citizens about medication usage behaviour was conducted.

The first major monograph on American painter Ted Stamm is a comprehensive survey of the entire Wooster series, including an essay by art historian Alex Bacon and an illustrated chronology of the artist’s career. Ted Stamm (1944 – 1984) was one of the most multi-faceted conceptual and dedicated artists working in SoHo in downtown Manhattan in the 1970’s. In his studio Stamm developed and researched focused series of paintings, works on papers and studies titled; Woosters, Dodgers, Zephyr, Concorde, Chance, Cancel, among others. Stamm’s practice extended beyond his studio, to areas including mail art, artists books, photography, site-specific installations and pre-graffiti street works documentation that Stamm titled Designators. Many of Stamm’s inspirations derive from observing everyday objects, experiences and events, such as finding an abstract shape on the street or lines on a baseball field. Stamm’s works are fully abstract, and it is unnecessary for the viewer to know the origins of what he or she is looking at in order to experience them the way the artist intended. Black is a consistent component of Stamm’s work, as it was a color associated with rebellion, rigor and reduction. Stamm created a rich oeuvre in his short lifetime which became influential for artists coming of age in New York over the past thirty years.

How might we encourage playful yet provocative attitudes to explore unfamiliar methods? This thesis investigates how interaction designers can use unusual and thought-provoking methods in their design process. It focuses on understanding the challenges, limitations and opportunities of these types of approaches.

The thesis explores the use of an abusive game probe as a way to spark conversations between participants and designers. The abusive game probe has the potential to generate meaningful and insightful outcomes. The proposed abusive game probe provided difficulties, being a unique and untested method. The topic of abuse presents challenges such as ethical consideration, which still requires further research. While determining its effectiveness can be complex, the main purpose is to encourage designers to embrace unexpected and unknown elements.

This thesis provides guidance for future designers to incorporate these methods into their research, continue on this project or venture out and create new and alternate methods as contributions to the field of interaction design.

Given that there are so many potential resources out there, we need to carefully select and present materials and activities in such a way that it can be easily accessed and used by teachers working across multiple disciplines (eg industrial design, computer science, educational technology), engaging with students on different levels (eg bachelor and master), and dealing with different sets of constraints (eg, time, location, person power, budget). Currently, we are working on the creation of a curriculum compass, a structural guidance that can help organize teaching activities together with relevant materials and tools, by employing educational design patterns as development framework (Goodyear, 2005; Mor & Winthers, 2008). For this structure, we have identified three main pillars for teaching about values in design: 1) Ethics and Human Values, 2) People and Stakeholders, and 3) Technology and Context. Building on these three pillars, we aim to further structure how a learner's understanding of values develops from a simple to more complex level. To do so, we are drawing from established taxonomies of learning, such as the SOLO taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1982) and the Bloom taxonomy (Bloom, 1956) to address different levels of competences. Finally, our overarching goal is to make sure that our students become caring and responsible designers of the future society in a holistic and grounded manner. To this end, our project not only focuses on developing conceptual knowledge about values and ethics and gaining practical skills to design in a value-sensitive way, but more importantly, on becoming a reflective and responsible designer.

Decolonization is a situated effort as it relates to the relations of privilege, power, politics, and access (3P-A, in Albarrán González’s terms) between the people involved in design in relation to wider societies. This complexity creates certain challenges for how we can understand, learn about, and nurture decolonization in design towards pluriversality, since such decolonizing effort is based on the relationship between specific individuals and the collective. In this paper, we present and discuss the ‘River project’, a participatory space for decolonizing design, created for designers and practitioners to reflect on their own 3P-A as a way to create awareness of their own oppressive potential in design work. These joint reflections challenged ideas of participation and shaped learning processes between the participants, bringing to the foreground the importance of seeing and allowing for a plurality of life and work worlds to be brought together. We build on the learnings from this project to propose the notions of pluriversal participation, pluriversal presence, and pluriversal directionality, which can help nurture decolonizing designs towards pluriversality. We conclude by arguing that, for nurturing pluriversality through Participatory Design, participation, presence, and direction must be equally pluriversal.

The photobook is a medium used by photographers for various reasons, one being the possibility to drive their narrative in a desired direction. Graphic design can impact this narrative by layout choices that affect how the material is perceived (Badger, 2014). Since the layout and sequencing affect the photographs themselves they therefore also have an impact on how photographed subjects are represented. This thesis examines, with a semiotic analysis and a historic overview, spreads from Gavin Watsons critically acclaimed photobook Skins . This is in order to understand how skinheads are presented in the book. Three spreads will be studied based on theories of representation, narrative and layout. This will result in a subsequent discussion on the designer’s role in breaking stereotypes in design choices and the presentation of the photographer's work. Examples of related design work and media will be brought up and related to Watson's book in order to highlight how we as graphic designers can break stereotypes through visual display of the subculture. The conclusion is reached that various photobook design theories are used to represent skinheads as inclusive individuals rather than a violent group.

This thesis project addresses the obsolescence of technology through the lens of accessibility to public services. It explores the processes by which electronic devices age in regards to a technological normativity that marginalizes owners of obsolete devices.

My research focuses on two main questions:

How might we enable owners of non-smart phones to have access to public services that have been digitalized?

How might we design public services’ infrastructure in a way that challenges the obsoletion processes of technological devices? 

The research is based upon a critical analysis of the term ‘obsolescence’, low-tech approaches and studies that examine the accessibility of technology. This work is based on the study of the digitalization of public services in Sweden, with specific attention to public transportation and to the electronic identification technology which enables access to various essential public services. I present the exploration of these services through the lens of obsolescence and encounter with users of obsolete devices. This leads to the design of two prototypes that propose ways of integrating obsolete devices’ users in the existing digitalized Swedish infrastructures, followed by their analysis.

The designs seek to take a critical stand on technological progress as it is understood in the technology industry and propose ways of reimagining the digitalization of public services while taking into account the obsoletion processes they foster. Overall, I argue for design for obsolete devices as a way of caring for groups that are put aside during technological innovation processes. I propose ways of ‘circuit bending’ public services’ infrastructures in a way that is more hospitable to obsolete devices.

This essay examines how gender stereotypes have been portrayed and represented in perfume advertising. With a historical overview this essay will shed light on the development of perfume advertising. This is done with a norm-critical perspective, in terms of typical gender stereotypes and representation, that in turn counteracts a progressive progress. This is followed by a qualitative visual analysis of contemporary perfume advertising. Furthermore, this essay intends to evaluate what the findings can say about certain tendencies of perfume advertisement through modern history and today. Moreover, this essay explores and evaluates if the notion of narrative, shown through examples of modern perfume advertisements, could be a possible way for brands to be less centered around gender stereotypes. The findings conclude that the use of narrative, with a norm-critical foundation, would be one possible way to go, for the essence of perfume advertising to be preserved though a progressive approach.

I takt med en växande befolkning förbrukas jordens resurser alltmer, vilket också bidrar till en ökning av avfall. Trots tillgången på materialåtervinning slängs stora mängder avfall i Sverige varje år. Cirka 2,5 miljoner ton hushållsavfall går till energiåtervinning där största delen av avfallet består av förpackningar. Avfallet är en effekt av dagens linjära ekonomi där produkter tillverkas, konsumeras och kasseras. En sådan process innebär en stor klimat och miljöutmaning därför har en övergång till en cirkulär ekonomi nu blivit aktuell. Utgångspunkten i projektet grundar sig i hur design kan användas för att bidra till en minskning av avfall i en cirkulär ekonomi, med fokus på förpackningar. Projektet tar utgångspunkt inom fältet Forskning genom design och Hållbar utveckling. Med hjälp utav användare utfördes två workshops med syfte att skapa ett framtidsscenario. Scenariot visualiserade sedan hur en framtid i en cirkulär ekonomi skulle kunna se ut med fokus på avfall. Utifrån scenariot valdes produktkategorin förpackningar ut för vidare utveckling. Studien resulterade i LO tvålpump utformad för användning av fasta tvålar. Syftet med tvålpumpen är att öka intresset för fasta tvålar genom dess utformning. På så sätt skulle LO tvålpump kunna minska användningen av flytande tvål, och på så vis också minska andelen förpackningsavfall samt redogöra för ett enkelt sätt att göra ett miljömedvetet val. Att skapa nya sätt att konsumera främjar på så vis omställningen till en hållbar cirkulär framtid.

En grafisk designer är van att arbeta i en klassisk rak metod, och skapa sina designlösningar med tanke på användaren i tron om att de är experter på att visuellt kommunicera. Samhället kräver dock mer hållbara och användbara produkter och tjänster, vilket tyder på att slutanvändarintegrering kan vara en lösning som ger bred feedback på en potentiell lösningsmetod. En grafisk designers uppgift är att visualisera sin uppdragsgivares uppdrag, göra en målgruppsanalys och leverera en produkt eller tjänst efter en brief; detta inom designerns konstnärliga stil samt expertis. Hur blir det då att inkorporera en slutanvändare i en process där man som grafiker ofta gör individuella beslut?

Denna uppsats undersöker vilket värde slutanvändarintegrering skapar och i vilken grad det används idag inom brädspelsbranchens skapandeprocess. Uppsatsen utmanar också genom att presentera barriärer för implementering av en slutanvändar-baserad designmodell.

Med utgångspunkt i ett intervjumaterial destilleras ett standardiserat arbetsflöde för brädspelsdesign fram, vilket leder till en bättre förståelse för när och hur slutanvändaren framgångsrikt kan inkorporeras i processen. Detta jämförs sedan med egenutförda användarcentrerade designmetoder där brädspelet ”Green Guardians” har designats men hjälp av speltestningsgrupper bestående av slutanvändare. Intervjumaterialet ger en bred och generell förståelse för hur brädspel skapas, med ett fokus på vad moderatorn studerar under ett speltestningstillfälle.

Det sammanfattade resultatet redovisar integrering av slutanvändare som en vital och tillförlitlig del av skapandeprocessen av brädspel. Däremot finns för lite forskning på hur teori och metod tillämpas i praktiken. Dessutom påvisar resultatet att det inte är vanligt att få feedback om brädspelets grafiska utformning och utmanar denna teori med påståenden om att den grafiska designern ser sig som expert, och att kommunikationsproblem kan stå som barriär. Uppsatsen ger därför förslag på hur interaktionen kan förbättras mellan moderator och speltestare för att brädspelet ska utvecklas optimalt.

This essay aims to illuminate the communication between a food brand and the consumer through the design of product packaging. To achieve this, a semiotic and discourse analysis is conducted on the packaging of premium and standard potato crisps from two beloved Swedish brands – Estrella and OLW. Drawing on previous research and experiments, the study examines how the concept of premium is represented on the packaging of Swedish potato chips. The findings validate previous scientific knowledge about premium products , namely that they are more expensive, visually portrayed as exclusive, achieving a symbolic virtue amongst other factors. Additionally, the analysis reveals that the two brands employ distinct strategies to convey Swedishness on their premium packages, thus establishing personalized communication with the consumer and reaching two very different interesting target groups. 

The present study investigates the obstacles encountered by people with motor impairments in their pursuit of playing and enjoying video games. The design process involved gathering valuable insights from relevant to the topic literature and observations, due to the lack of access to individuals with motor disabilities. The resulting controller prioritized button layout customization and incorporated ergonomic considerations to ensure comfort and easier interaction. The feedback and user testing conducted provided valuable insights, allowing for iterative improvements and refinement of the controller design in the future.

Collaborating with public or private sector organizations in project-based courses equips design students with key skills to future-proof their careers, but this gives only one side of the story as the key feature of these partnerships is that they are mutualistic collaborations. However, the benefits to organizations of collaborating are not fully explored. This paper presents a case study of partnerships with four different public organizations in a service design course over a five-year period. It argues that collaborating in project-based courses serves as risk-free experimentation and paves the way for organizational learning. The paper first reviews the existing research on collaboration in design education and organizational learning. Then, three types of learning that emerged from the data are analyzed. Next, the steps to successful collaboration are discussed, noting the ups and downs of managing the project partnerships. Finally, the challenges of teaching a collaborative project-based design course are discussed.

Public sector organizations have been increasingly turning to design in their pursuit to innovate and address pressing challenges that seem intractable through their existing ways of working. Design’s presence in the public sector is still a relatively recent phenomenon ridden with many challenges. Through a study of three municipalities in Sweden, we present tensions designers face as they work their way to build design capacity. We argue that making a place for design in organizational systems and their ways of working requires skillfully navigating these tensions. We describe each tension in terms of their contradictions embedded in dualities and discuss designers’ ways of managing them. Practical applications for design and public administration are also discussed.

This study is a research project as well as a product development process and is based on the two research questions: How can design handle existing left-over materials? How can design prevent and reduce waste? 

As our resources on the planet are becoming scarce, we need to better handle the ones we have. This study is about left-over materials and is based on such from the furniture company Blå station. This will represent and visualize the problems we have with good left-over materials is burned or thrown away instead of being used as material in new products. The study starts with a theory review in sustainable development and circular economy together with sustainable and circular design. Expert interviews with two designers were done and some design experiment with the intention to produce some possible design proposals for the left-over material and it resulted in three different proposals and some general principles for how to handle left over materials and also reduce waste in new products. 

This study examines how a user-centered approach can influence product design to reduce physical discomfort when using in-ear true wireless. The given study is a collaboration with the consumer electronics company Zound Industries. The purpose has been to understand the origins of why physical discomfort can arise when using in-ear true wireless headphones and to what extent the user behaviour plays in it all. Previous studies have shown how physical discomfort in the form of eczema, itching and soreness has been caused by the use of in-ear true wireless. Based on user-centered methods such as expert interviews, cultural probes, user interviews, focus groups, this study has been able to identify not only how, but why physical discomfort can occur when using in-ear true wireless. Furthermore, the study has also been able to identify behavioural patterns among users that reveal how headphones are used for purposes other than what they are intended for. It has been possible to show how users use their headphones like an earplug without music to block out sound in order to be able focus or to communicate they don’t want to be disturbed to avoid social interactions.

The conducted knowledge and insights provide a better understanding of how design can be used to enhance the experience of using in-ear true wireless headphones. Applying design strategies within design for behavioural change, an adjustable headphone has been developed that allows the user to use the headphone according to the needs of the user. The study provides a basis for how design can be better utilised in future in-ear true wireless headphones.

Today’s society is based on a linear economy. For the textile industry, it creates a takemake- waste behavior that has a major negative impact on our environment. A transition tocircularity is necessary for a sustainable future. Circular economy is described as a systemwhere the earth’s resources can circulate between production and the user face in a loopwithout the need for new raw materials and without becoming waste. In this study, researchthrough design explores how textiles can circulate away from a linear consumption, with theremake of textile waste with the aim of extending product lifetime and recycling materials.The project investigates how remake garments are produced, used and disposed of, whichprovides an understanding of the remake process and what is required in the design processfor a circular remade garment. During the study, a jacket is produced from textile waste thatcan be used for a long time and circulate in a cycle.

Fishing occurs throughout the entire planet, but it occurs for different reasons. It could be a profession, a hobby or a livelihood. Regardless, the bait can break, get stuck or get loose. In the North we lose around 28 million baits every year. The fact that lures is not something that everyone can influence or avoid. However, something that can be changed, is which lures we use and which materials they are made of. There are a variety of anglers who could benefit from new research in this field, and it is about time we embrace a more sustainable sport fishing. This study examines how an ecologically sustainable fishing lure in the shape of a jig, can be produced through a material centered design process. With material driven design and user centered design, this study investigates the possibilities of replacing synthetic plastics with bioplastics in a soft plastic bait. Several design methods were used to research and confirm the problem of lost fishing lures. Market analyses, participant observations and interviews were done with people active in sport- and hobby fishing. These methods gave a broader perception of the problem and which opportunities there are. Different prototypes were sketched and then made by bioplastics. The prototypes were evaluated through different tests, to ensure that the products will live up to the requirements presented by the users. This study provides knowledge about which materials work, and which do not when manufacturing soft plastic features. It also shows how mass-produced molds could encourage hobby anglers to make their own lures. It’s also shown how you can make your own fishing lures from scratch, through a DIY project. The study also results in two biodegradable products. One product for perch fishing and one for pike fishing.

The purpose of the study has been to find out what it is that makes certain furniture and furnishings remain with us for a long time. How designers can create sustainable products that the consumer wants to keep for a longer period of time. In this way, the product lifetime is extended and contributes to more sustainable consumption. Theories used in the study have been product attachment, product longevity, product replacement, timeless design, aesthetics, form and materials with an overall focus on sustainable design. Through the theories and furniture analyzes, interviews, sketches and prototyping, examples for designing for an extended product life have been found. The result of the study was a colorfull table lamp with the typical characteristic features of a lamp and at the same time with a unique and sculptural design.

Gender norms are validated by parents from the birth of a child by choosing gender stereotypical toys according to societal norms which divide children among the biological sexes. This affects not only the child's self-image but also how others judge and treat the child. A number of studies show how stereotypical toys give children a narrow world view and their visions for the future, something that affects gender equality. Parents' emotional bond to gender stereotypical toys and the difficulties they face that result in them making stereotypical toy choices is what is missing in the literature. In this project it becomes apparent that parents wants to vary play, but encouraging this takes too much time which leads the parents to make stereotypical choices of toys and play primarily based on their child's own will. To exemplify a possible solution to this problem, a product was designed, that makes it easier for parents to vary and make norm-breaking play with their child's already existing toys. This study points out an important building block for an equal future society and how this can be more easily achieved through design. 

Hema – Historical European Martial Arts – eller historisk fäktning är en relativt ny sport baserad på historiska manualer. Faktumet att Hema representerar orustad strid innebär att utrustning inte är tillräckligt bra för att både skydda och ge full rörlighet. Detta leder till många skador, särskilt skador som involverar händerna. Eftersom långsvärdet är det mest populära vapenslaget inom Hema hade detta projekt som mål att utveckla en ny handske för långsvärdsfäktning genom en användarcentrerad designprocess. En undersökning gjordes för att undersöka användarens preferenser och beteende som sedan ledde till en designbrief. Denna brief agerade sedan som grund för resten av projektet. I slutet av projektet blev en prototyp tillräckligt färdig för att påbörja tester men den kunde inte testa alla aspekter på grund av svårigheter med materialet. Alla krav från briefen kunde därför inte bemötas. Under arbetets gång framgick det att det eventuellt finns ett beteende gällande riskkompensering kopplat till utrustningen som används. Bättre skydd kanske leder till mer risktagande och hårdare hugg mot varandra och därmed fler skador. Det kan vara en idé att sänka känslan av säkerhet för att ändra beteende men allt hade behövt vidare undersökning.

Covid19 has brought up physical and mental challenges for all of us. However, this is even more pronounced for those who suffer from psychological pathologies, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of the main challenges that parents of children with ASD faced during the pandemic was to plan and structure a daily routine for their kids. The disruption of the routine, together with the difficulty of combining work and the care of the child has resulted in behavioral problems and stress and anxiety for both, parents and children. 

This project focused on developing an adaptive robot that helps children with autism to plan and self-manage their day, with the end goal of becoming more independent. With adaptability, agencies, senses, and playfulness at the core of the design, Pepe is meant as a support tool for these children to use along the way. By collecting information from the performance of the kid, it is able to adapt its behavior to the child´s (and parent´s) needs and desires, and therefore progress with the child. It builds upon the principles of Positive Behavioral Support to prevent emotional crises by embracing a long-run negotiation process, by which the child gets gradually closer to the end goal of self-autonomy. Intending to be adapted to the accentuated needs of these children, it combines traditional and computational elements to make the most out of the experience. This project included in-depth user research together with parents and experts, an interdisciplinary design approach, and a prototyping phase in which a prototype was tested with children with ASD.

Since the development of modern technology, we are faced with more choices than ever. Our choices are based on the visual impression of a product or a service (Watzman, 1992). But what is it that makes us choose a specific product or service? This essay sheds light on the problems surrounding the development of technology that have led to a digitalized society where products are replaced by digital services. It also highlights a new professional role that has emerged from the digitalisation of society. Furthermore, the essay also enlightens on how a digital service's design might affect its users by examining how the music streaming services Spotify and Apple Music affect user's first impression of the service through a semiotic analysis. The results show that the design of a service is decisive for which target group the company is aimed at. And that the choice of functions maintains the interest of the users. In addition, the graphic design profession takes place through a development, where you may need to broaden your knowledge towards a digital competence. The essay opened up the question of whether there are more aspects that are based on the choice of service, such as the cost of the service and class differences.

This master's thesis presents a research-through-design process that explores how can affective, context-aware systems support mental health and minimize stress in young adults during exam periods. This is achieved by designing an interactive system for stress recognition and relief. Biosensors embedded into existing wearable smart devices are used to infer stress-related mental states from a multimodal set of sensory data. The information is used to increase emotional awareness, provide recommendations for stress management, and enhance the users’ home environment. Two main challenges are addressed within this paper - detecting stress using easily available unobtrusive sensors and the output modalities supporting the human-computer interaction. Zenth has been developed through an iterative process, based on relevant literature and works in the field of affective computing, technology, and stress detection and recognition.

With this thesis project I plan to create an embodied and sonic interactive experience. The theoretical basis brings together Somaesthetic Design and Deep Listening practices in the form of a movement based, sound installation. The results of engagement aim to develop awareness and with deep engagement produce a nonduality state. Taking influence from works by David Rokeby, Eliane Radigue, Bernard Leitner and Rian Treanor, this project revolves around the physical navigation of a soundscape with a secondary outcome of increasing awareness along with aiding stress and anxiety. The project also focuses on the importance of sound and its under representation in Interaction Design. The research began with a number of experiments taking cues from the mentioned practices, and to determine the overall effects of certain sounds when coupled with bodily engagement. After analyzing the relevant data the project underscores that the combination of sonic and embodied interaction can lead to positive therapeutic effects.

This article explores the history of contemporary Spanish Do-It-Yourself (DIY) spaces (hacklabs, hackerspaces, fab labs, makerspaces and after-school academies) and the growth of each type since the 1990s. The development of these types of spaces is reflected against the commodification and commoditisation of DIY in Spain. The article argues that the removal of the political layer of the early Spanish DIY techno-tactical movements allowed a higher degree of dissemination within society in general, while reducing the emancipatory poten-tial of these new spaces. However, the analysis of the degree of com-modification and commoditisation of types of spaces in relation to the amount of spaces per type shows an anomaly for makerspaces. The authors reflect upon this anomaly and whether a data set enlarge-ment could correct it. For their analysis, the authors constructed a data set of events of the Spanish DIY history through the design of an ad hoc mixed method. Tracing events and spaces could not be done in a simple way due to the long time span of the study: older spaces existed in the pre-social network days, and new ones exist only in dedicated platforms for niche communities of practice. This method of tracing events and spaces is another contribution of the article as it could be used to make similar causality analyses of historical data in other case studies.

Platform Design is a study of different viewpoints on the creation of digital systems, and how they converge in platforms designed, built, and managed by communities. As sociotechnical constructs in which features emerge through the interaction of different stakeholders, platforms are understood as both means and outcomes—the ‘things’ or boundary objects in a design process—generating the spaces where communities of practice can form. Utilizing two strongly interwoven timelines in education and research (both in academia and industry), the thesis shifts the centre of balance in actor–networks by iteratively recalibrating from a techno-deterministic analysis towards a community-driven one. The theoretical background in the fields of cybernetics, critical theory, design, and the sociology of technology frames the empirical work, which consists of academic publications, design reports, and the publicly available documentation of realized projects. In the space between theory and praxis, a methodological toolbox is developed, a posteriori revisiting experiences gathered over a decade Drawing on a series of functional concepts, the thesis proposes an alternative co-design framework, termed inclusive multiple prototyping. Meant to augment new sensibilities that are pertinent to the design process of platforms, this framework addresses the inherent complexity of actor–networks and human–machine communities. In practical terms, the thesis describes a series of projects, some of which can be considered platforms, while others would be better categorized as tools, toolboxes, kits, or infrastructure. These include co-creating the Arduino community, repurposing kitchen appliances for connection to the cloud, designing a modular prototyping platform involving programming and electronics, deploying an indoor location system, creating educational kits for upper secondary school teachers, and inventing new haptic interactive interfaces. Some of the projects required the long-term involvement of the researcher in intimate communities of practice; others were temporal interventions, yet reached thousands of users. Practice-based and transdisciplinary, the thesis contributes to the field of interaction design by bringing in elements of a sociotechnical discourse, while problematizing notions such as democracy and governance, openness of tools and outcomes, modularity, generalizability, and transferability—the three latter terms further fuelling the research questions. The research shows that these are properties that enable the creation of platforms, although the question remains whether there is such a thing as a standardized platform. While this thesis touches upon the potentials of state-of-the-art platform technology, it also points to the fact that there is work to be done, socially, ethically, and politically, when considering the augmentation of platforms for everyday use as pervasive and artificial intelligence agents.