In the course Matter of Transformation, I aimed to explore a more academic intersection of philosophy, ethics, and design.
This course opened-up my perception of academics within design, because it taught me to critically reflect on how and what we should design. I learned to see and create interaction design as open-ended and fluid though not forcing a single ‘right’ interaction but embrace the ambiguity and multistability of affordances of the designed tool. This perspective allowed me to explore how designs could invite diverse forms of interaction, adapting to various users and contexts.
A key insight was the importance of designing not only for the present but for multiple timescales and user groups, creating designs that sustainably evolve and transform with their environments. The course also emphasized the interplay between stimulus, response, and context, teaching me to map these connections and recognize their influence on design outcomes.
The use of academic work to inspire and inform design choices was quite interesting to me because it felt like a solid foundation to build on and explore. Throughout my master I wanted to explore this theoretical and academic informing of design further.
