Probes, toolkits and prototypes: three approaches to making in codesigning

Abstract

The role of making in the design process has been growing, taking on new forms and involving new players over the past 10 years. Where we once primarily saw designers using making to give shape to the future, today we can see designers and non-designers working together, using making as a way to make sense of the future. In this paper, we describe the landscape of design research and practice at the end of 2013 with special attention to the role of making across these perspectives: approach (cultural probes, generative toolkits and design prototypes), mindset (designing for people and designing with people), focus in time (the world as it is, the near future and the speculative future) as well as variations in design intent (provoking, engaging and serving).

Keywords::

• design
• codesign
• making
• cultural probes
• prototypes
• generative toolkits
• service design
• design fiction
• future

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the contributors to this special issue for engaging in a dialogue about codesigning through making, which allowed us to benefit from their views on the matter, and to our colleagues and students who gave feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. We would also like to thank Janet McDonnell for her encouragement and timely feedback on this special issue.