In an era of over-consumerism and contradictory emotions, companies are turning to co-design (inclusive participation in the design process) with customers for innovative, user-aligned solutions. But are traditional co-design methods relevant in the current scenario of complex worldbuilding? Existing research suggests that most participants suppress their honest feedback during co-design workshops and interviews due to rigid participation methodologies and biases. This workshop examines the role of using personal context in co-design to identify participant bias and engage in transparent conversations. Using creative technology like Miro, Mentimeter, and Padlet, this workshop explores how a deeper interaction between personal perspectives can lead to effective participation in art and design education. This workshop follows the guidelines of the 4U framework, a conceptual approach to the traditional design process, which has already been successfully validated in workshops across Hong Kong and India. The 4U framework comprises six steps: Preparation, Unintroduce, Uncomplicate, Unconfine, Unravel, and Wrap-up. The 4U framework offers methodological innovation by shifting from demographic to psychographic and participatory methods. It fosters richer dialogues through open-ended inquiries and semi-structured interviews. This workshop invites thoughtful reflections from designers and practitioners actively shaping the world through design and interaction.

Authors:
Bharati Das, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Bharati Das is a full-time research postgraduate student specializing in Design Economics from the School of Design, PolyU. She has two Masters in Business and Design and over 4 years of work experience.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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