Designing the Unfamiliar is a master thesis project that explores how design practice would be able to adapt towards the necessary changes regarding artefacts and how long of a leap design could take in the notion of unfamiliarity. This is done by focusing on water consumption with connection to the climate and ecological emergency, and artefacts such as water distribution systems, and how the individual interacts with the unfamiliarity in both aesthetics and use. The report contains three parts that go through the different processes of the project. The first part of the report starts with an introduction to the project, the background, and where it began. How we, humans, have become familiar with our way of life as we know it and all the materialistic artefacts surrounding us. By analyzing how design practices would be able to alter the way of working towards a sustainable future, the individual must be able to get used to the unfamiliar changes necessary in the process. This continues as an exploration of design practices that are artefact-aimed combined with how individuals might interact and accept the changes in products. While analyzing the climate and ecological emergency, the result of our impact, and climate change, especially water scarcity, there is an exploration of what kind of water distributive systems are on the market now and how design is currently aimed towards sustainable alterations. By speculating on alternative water systems and comparing what is already on the market there is a way of researching how people would react to radical changes in artefacts, not only the artefact supplying the water but also the use of it. To be able to explore how design practices will adapt toward necessary changes regarding artefacts, there is a need to explore how the individual will react to the unfamiliarity of change. This leads to a deep dive into the unfamiliarity section, where exposure to the unfamiliar disrupts the comfort of the familiar. With speculation, reaching out to individuals, exploring behavior, and with the uncertainty of how it affects humans on a psychological level there is a question on the possible positive or negative impacts on changes that humans experience. The second part of the report is the design process of the project, where the chain reaction towards change is explored by looking at the supply and demand and how individuals would have to become comfortable enough to either purchase something that is to them, unfamiliar, or to change the ways of using artefacts. This means that becoming aware of one's actions and positively altering the interactions would eventually lead the unfamiliar to become familiar. This is done by engaging with people and asking them questions to establish what people think of the unfamiliar and how or why they choose to interact, or not, with it. By alternative approaches, a set of illustrated prototype challenges are explained. Where individuals, both adults and children, pieces of knowledge, choices, and actions are meant to be tested. During the design process, a conceptual intervention is explored where speculative futuristic water distributive systems are displayed for interaction purposes. This combined with the challenges previously mentioned and gathering of perception of behavior, comments, and notes from the chosen target group. The third part of the report is an interpretation of the whole process, both the evaluation of the project, a description of the process, to critically evaluate, the result, and a discussion of the author’s thoughts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-126206 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Stattin, Hanna |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för design (DE) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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