More-than-Human Design: A Mindful Intervention into Design

This research is a critical quest to develop an inclusive More-than-Human (MtH) Design Process that recognizes non-human beings as valuable participants. This approach is meant to actively acknowledge the interconnectedness and interdependence of humans and other beings and act as an intervention in different stages of the “Design Thinking” process that is based on human-centred values. Through an MtH lens, this thesis questions the short-term profit-based model in the design industry that primarily benefits humans while bringing destructive consequences to the rest of the living planet. These consequences, such as global warming, loss of biodiversity, and environmental destruction, have foregrounded the need to take the agency of non-humans more seriously in the design discipline. The MtH Design Process expands the human-centred design methodology by borrowing methods from Interaction Design (IxD) and More-than-Human Participatory Research (MtH-PR). This work has been structured in four main sections. In part 1, re-frame, we start our inquiry by looking at Interaction Design from a More-than-Human perspective. We include a series of place-based explorations in Vancouver B.C that challenged our old assumptions and biases towards different participants in design. In part 2, re-imagine, we work towards an MtH design practice by identifying its core values. These values guide several case studies that demonstrate how an MtH approach can alter existing products. Part 3, re-build, focuses on formalising the MtH design process by creating changes in different phases of the Design Thinking process. The MtH Design Process includes five steps – 1. Encounter 2. Learn 3. Plan 4. Map and 5. Build – all of which offer multiple methods, prompts, and points of inquiry into the MtH design practice. This work also includes the MtH design toolkit to support its pedagogical potential. The final part, re-connect, concludes the work by discussing the implications of MtH design and its potentials and challenges.