Social practice theory as a more-than-human design perspective

Summary

In this teaching activity, students are introduced to social practice theory and how to apply this as an analytical lens to understand the dynamic nature of everyday life is unfolded. Social practice theories represent a particular way of understanding culture, society, everyday life, including embedded, and often hidden, environmental impacts, e.g., material/resource consumption. Framing social practice as a unit of analysis allows us to recognise the relational configurations of practices that include nonhuman entities, materials, and performers of these practices, including their environmental impacts. We further introduce how social practices can be framed as our unit for design.

Motivation

Social practice theory offers a holistic analytic framework for understanding contemporary everyday life, focusing on mundane everyday practices and their environmental impacts, rather than individual human actions or broad societal structures. Making practices a central unit of analysis and design illustrates how mundane practices (cooking, cleaning, washing etc.) can be understood as relational and dynamic configurations of elements describing meanings, competencies, and materials. By centring on practices rather than individual humans or social institutions, the framework offers alternative ways for capturing complex sociomaterial configurations that acknowledge the roles of nonhumans in these practices (e.g., technology, environment, nonhuman actors).

Learning outcomes

After the teaching activity students should be able to:

• Identify elements of everyday practice as configurations of elements of meaning, material and competencies. 
• Reflect on the environmental impacts and the roles of more-than-human elements shaped by social practice
• Identify potential design ideas, which may trigger reconfigurations of practice, focusing on a holistic understanding of meaning, material and competencies. 

Teacher guidance

Step 1: Lecture, Group size: All, Time: 45 min
The teacher introduces students to ideas of social practice theory, how practice can be conceptualised, and how practice shapes consumption concluding by illustrating how practice-orientation is inherently more-than-human. 

Step 2: Group work: Group size: 3-4, Time: 30 min
Students work in groups to practice social practice analysis by describing and reflecting on framing practice as unit of analysis focussing the environmental impacts and more than human aspects. In dialogue with the students, the teacher inquiry how the students are doing and advises on aspects to consider. 

Step 3: Lecture, Group size: All, Time: 30 min
The teacher introduces students to ideas of making practice a unit of design towards shaping meaningful and sustainable change. This includes framing design – not at solutions – but as triggers as a way to explore types of uses and the reflections they evoke. 

Step 4: Group work, Group size: 3-4, Time: 30 min
Students work in groups to practice framing practice as unit of design by considering reconfigurations of future practices and reflections their sustainability impacts. 

Step 5: Share in class, Group size: All, Time: 30 min
The teacher chairs a class discussion, asking for reflections on experiences, and consolidating the lessons learned.

Questions for assessment

• Give an example of an everyday practice and its configuring elements.
• Give an example of performers and co-performers of this practice – including perhaps more-than-humans. 
• What are the (un)sustainable outcomes of performing this practice?
• What roles does design play in potentially changing this practice? 

Recommended readings

Chapter 1 and 2: Shove, E., Watson, M., & Pantzar, M. (2012). The dynamics of social practice: Everyday life and how it changes. Sage Publishing. 

Kuijer, L., De Jong, A., & Van Eijk, D. (2013). Practices as a unit of design. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 20(4), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/2493382