To design living artefacts into daily life, designers must know why users would want to live with these living artefacts, and subsequently to understand why humans have historically lived with other living things. In response to these research questions, a semi-systematic review has been conducted on literature from diverse fields, questioning why humans live with other living things.
Through qualitative thematic analysis, it was found that existing literature attributes several motivations for living with other beings. These motivations include hedonic benefits; biophilia; care, meaning, and utilitarian benefits; performance; material provision; knowledge and skill. Based on these six concepts, this paper proposes eight guidelines for designers who wish to foster user acceptance of living artefacts in daily life.
Read more in the full paper in proceedings of DRS2022: Bilbao
‘The ultimate goal is to provide people with the information, skills and tools that enable them to improve the quality of their daily lives.’
Simone van den Broek is a researcher within the Situated Art, Design and Technology research group, and a tutor for the Communication & Multimedia Design programme at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Den Bosch.
The research group Biobased Art and Design capitalises on the role of artistic practice in unlocking the unique potentials of living organisms for everyday materials and communicating these to a broader public. In doing so, the group aims to instigate and accelerate our widespread understanding, further development and usage of such materials. The group’s research approach encourages tangible interactions with the living organisms, such as algae, fungi, plants and bacteria, to explore and understand their unique qualities and constraints through diverse technical and creative methods taking artists, designers and scientists as equal and active partners in the material creation.
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