Teaching more-than-human perspectives in technology design

This open educational resource includes a collection of teaching activities designed for educators in technology design to support their students as they embark on the journey into the world of more-than-human design.

We see the process of becoming a more-than-human designer as a journey into uncharted territory. The journey starts with an introduction to create an understanding of where we as designers come from, namely human-centred design, and why we would want to enter the realm of more-than-human design. ​

Upon entering this new world to create a design, we need to investigate and understand the assemblage, which is the entangled web of all humans, more-than-human fellow beings and more-than-human things that are part of the design space. ​

To fully understand the assemblage, we should invite knowledge, wisdom and techniques from different perspectives instead of relying on our own perspective only. We do so by applying different lenses.

Once we feel we have gained a deeper understanding of the assemblage, we can identify, invite and listen to the more-than-human actors of special relevance to the design, which is done in the constituency. Once again, by applying the different lenses we can invite and listen to those previously unheard.

The insights gained from these interactions shape the continuous and iterative more-than-human design process through application and may instill a need to enlighten other designers to the need for more-than-human design.

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