Insight 2018 : Design Research Symposium : Book of Abstracts and Bios

Insight 2018: Design Research Symposium November 2018

Book of Abstracts and Bios Programme Chair Dr. Shilpa Das

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SESSION 1: DESIGN RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE

Insight 2018: Design Research Symposium

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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Insight 2018: Design Research Symposium

Š 2018 National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad Design: Tarun Deep Girdher, Vineet Gedam Cover Design: Sindhura Ravindra Illustrations: Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Layout: Vineet Gedam Print Supervision: Tarun Deep Girdher and Yogesh Patil Production: Patel Printing Press Pvt. Ltd. Ahmedabad Printed and bound in India.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

It has been the endeavour of Team Insight at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad to ascertain that all the information presented in this publication is of an authentic nature. However, the views expressed by the speakers/ abstract writers/ contributors are entirely their own and the institute or the department has no role in influencing them whatsoever.

http://www.nid.edu/insight2018 Printed on Imported uncoated stock (April Fine) 70gsm Hansol Art Card 250gsm

Insight 2018: Design Research Symposium November 2018

Book of Abstracts and Bios Programme Chair Dr. Shilpa Das

Insight 2018 is an international design research symposium for design educators, practitioners, design researchers and advocates of design. It brings them together, on a common platform, to reflect upon, discuss and debate what constitutes design research and design epistemology, its multi-faceted nature and forms, research ethics, issues in contemporary design research and its implications for design education and practice. The symposium seeks to share knowledge and perceptions on design research culture, methodology, framework, practice, collaboration and its dissemination.

Design, conceived as a problem solving activity and profession has evolved into a strategic thought process currently influencing most domains of knowledge and practice. While knowledge domains related to the arts, science, technology and management have a structured and established framework for research, design by virtue of its nature and purpose has been evolving its approaches contextually.

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SESSION 1: DESIGN RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE

Themes DESIGN RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE The goals, nature and culture of good design research in academia, design research as unique intellectual culture, research in design education, pedagogy, curriculum, formulation of student exercises in skill/studio/project based courses, new program design, evaluation techniques; domain specific area of interest (e.g. Communication design, Industrial design, Interaction & Information design, Service design, Textile and Apparel Design), implications/ challenges of design research for design education, the ethics of design research in education.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN DESIGN Research in fields of humanities, social sciences, technology supporting or impacting design solutions, cross-disciplinary collaboration and teamwork, creative approaches in design research, examples of multi-disciplinary research in design, dissemination of design research.

CONTEMPORARY & EVOLVING MODELS OF DESIGN RESEARCH Interpretations of design research in various design domains, developing unique customized approaches and models, visual representation of design research.

INNOVATIONS IN DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS Appropriate approaches to developing an understanding of design, creativity in design research methods, innovative tools & techniques, smart research, technologies in design research, and the web.

DESIGN RESEARCH IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE The goals, nature and culture of design research in professional practice, research led design practiced by design studios, design driven industry, importance of the research phase in the design process for informed outcomes, design research as a professional practice, challenges of design research in professional practice, the ethics of design research in professional practice.

RESEARCH AS DESIGN AND DESIGN AS RESEARCH Research and design as circular processes, exploring research as a design activity, exploring design as a research activity, the locus standi of research as design, the case of design as research.

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CONTENTS x Message from Director, NID xii Message from Activity Chairperson (PEP), NID xiv Note from the Programme Chair, Insight 2018 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS xvi Ashoke Chatterjee xvii Mugendi K M’Rithaa xviii Lorraine Gamman xix Preeti Vyas SESSION 1: DESIGN RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE 4 RATHNA RAMANATHAN Design [Education] in a Pluralistic World: A Royal College of Art Case Study 6 KAVITA ARVIND Ethics, Values and the Teacher-Learner: Design, Pedagogy and Research 8 SUE PERKS The Stories that Archives Tell: The Quest to Produce a Symbol Dictionary 10 REBECCA REUBENS A Suitable Methodology for ‘Wicked’ Design Problems 12 SHRADDHA SAKHALKAR Design Pedagogy in India: Hurdles in Practice 14 JASON MURDOCK From Design-by-Inspiration to Case-Based Design: A Four-Part Framework for Teaching Case-Based Communication Design 16 GOURAB KAR Ergo Studio: An Experiential Approach to Teaching and Learning Ergonomics 18 TOOLIKA GUPTA Design Epistemology in the Indian Context 20 A. ROHIT ‘Kili Pola’: Research for Animated Film 22 SUSMITA ROY, ABHIJIT PADUN Teaching Graphic Design to Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Approach on Reflective Teaching Methodology 24 VIBHAVARI KUMAR Designing for Aesthetics and Emotion in Urban Space: An Experiential Design Project on Last Mile Metro Station 26 DANIEL ECHEVERRI A Grip on Interaction and Storytelling: A Phenomenological Approach to Design Research 28 ALISHKA SHAH Revival of the Traditional Card Game of Ganjifa: A Design Approach 30 THIRATHEP CHONMAITREE Using Religious Art to Represent Calmness in Senior Community 32 SHEKHAR BHATTACHARJEE Music and Visual Image Making in India and West 34 SNEHA MUNDARI, ATHUL SN The Mind Behind the Lenses: An Ethnographic Documentary Production 36 SOMYA JAIN Designing a New Pedagogy for History: A Pilot Study 38 ANIKET DEORE Women Stunt Artistes of the Mumbai Film Industry: Design Research for a Documentary Film 40 SITTHICHAI SMANCHAT Investigation of Textile Designs of Siamese Chintz between Gujarat Production and Coromandel Coast Production

SESSION 2: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH IN DESIGN 44 SHIMUL MEHTA VYAS Can Future Studies Help Design Shape a Better Tomorrow?

46 ANA CRISTINA DIAS, RITA ALMENDRA TIES Toolkit: Linking Academia and Business: An Expert’s Assessment of the Tool 48 DAGMAR STEFFEN Transdisciplinarity: A Key Factor in Applied (Design) Research 50 BETTINA MINDER, SABINE JUNGINGER, GRÜTER ELIAN Embedding Design Strategies in Craft-Based Social Innovation Project: A Challenge of Different Understanding of Craft 52 CHINMAYI ARAKALI Designing Films for Change: Lessons from Supporting a Women’s Empowerment Programme 54 AISHWARYA NARAYANA Sensing the Sacred in Self and Space: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Space Perception and Theory of Architecture 56 AMIT SINHA Colour in Design: Discovering the Functional Approaches 58 BHANU PRASAD M N, NANDANA CHAKRABORTY Applying Multidisciplinary and Human-centred Methods in Scalable Social Innovation 60 NAMRATA TORASKAR Defamiliarising the Dwelling Morphogenesis in Parvati Valley, Himachal Pradesh: The Case of Grahan Village 62 SHIGORIKA SINGH, SAMYAK JAIN The Evolution of the Fashion Image 64 VISHWANATH PASUMARTHI Computer Simulations as Design Inspiration: Visualizing Blockchain Consensus 66 KUNTAL SHAH A Call for Forging Alliances & Fostering Process: Tools may not be Changed but Methods can be Developed 68 A BHASKAR RAO Sound Composition, Auditory Storytelling and Communication Design 70 APARNA KALE Mapping the Meaning Making Systems in Site-Specific Installation Art 72 SHRUTI KALE First Principles of Thinking in Design SESSION 3: CONTEMPORARY & EVOLVING MODELS OF DESIGN RESEARCH 76 LORRAINE GAMMAN, PRAVEEN NAHAR AND ADAM THORPE Makeright: Transforming Prison Systems through Reflective Design-Led Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Action 78 NANKI NATH Conceptual Framework of Typeface Applications for In-Vehicle Cockpit Display Designs [Context: Global Car Brands] 80 ANUPAM PURTY Changing Contexts in Design: The Role of Internet 82 NISHITH URVAL Designing Secular Spaces in Juhapura, Using the Medium of Sequential Art 84 GUNJAN AHLAWAT Cover to Cover: Critical Reflections of Designer as a Visual Author

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SESSION 4: INNOVATIONS IN DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS 90 GAYATRI MENON A Creative Approach to Design Research 92 PUPUL BISHT Decolonizing Futures through Inclusive Storytelling 94 AAKASH JOHRY Play Probes: Understanding Children in Play and through Play 96 PRAKASH MOORTHY Learning Animation: Actuality and a Struggle for Utopia 98 NINA SABNANI Animating Ethnographies 100 TEJAS DHADPHALE Ethnographic Decision Modelling: A Framework for Analysing Cultural Co-Creation Activities 102 AMANJOT KAUR SANDHU Designing a Methodology for Accessible User Experiences SESSION 5: DESIGN RESEARCH IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 106 ARCHANA SHAH Sustainable Alternatives: Handcrafted Textiles in the 21st Century 108 ROBERT PHILLIPS, ROBERTO FRAQUELLI Contextual Empathy: The Indian Train Network 110 NEELAKASH KSHETRIMAYUM Meetei Mayek: A Work in Progress 112 GREGOR STRUTZ, FRANZISKA MÜLLER From Four to One: How Germany’s First Inclusive Children’s Book was Created through Cooperation between Various Specialists 114 ANANYA KHAITAN Content With/After/Versus Communication: Design for Legal Research and Policy 116 APARNA RAJAGOPALAN Rapid Design Research for Packaging Graphics 118 SWARUP DEB, AVINASH MEDHE AND ANUJ KUMAR Research for Design of Animated Short Films of Social Relevance at Girgit Studios 120 CARMINA FERNANDES Seeking Sustainability: Ideas, Practices and Experiments from a Lifetime 122 DEEPANI SETH What We Leave Out: An Analysis of Design Research in Professional Practice 124 KARTHIKEYAN GOPINATHAN, AASTHA ADITI Knowing More About Growing Old: A Multi-Dimension Research in Geriatrics 126 PRIYANKA BHARTI Accelerating the Decision-Making Process for a Novice in an Emergency Condition 128 SHWET SHARVARY Contextuality in Design(ing) Research 130 SHARAD DAHAKE Design Valuation & Validation through Hi-Fidelity Mockups 132 RISHIKA NAMDEV Daslakhiya: A Documentary Film on Mass Eviction of Baiga Tribe of Madhya Pradesh 134 SANDHYA RAMACHANDRAN Rewriting the Invisible Stories Portrayed by Indian Films and Videos through Conscious Design Research 136 PICHATORN NUALDAISRI Creative Textile: The Technical Developments in Surface Design from Thai Silk 138 SUNITA DHOTE A Way to Achieve Practical Architectural Spaces and Envelopes 140 AARTI BADAMIKAR Himroo: A Soul Clenched

SESSION 6: RESEARCH AS DESIGN AND DESIGN AS RESEARCH 144 DESHNA MEHTA Acknowledging Contexts while Researching into Design and Designing Research 146 SHRIDHAR SUDHIR Kaithi Ek Itihaas: Film and the Design Process through the Experience of a Documentary Film 148 TULIP SINHA Conversation as Capital: Revitalizing the Practice and Design of Conversations 150 INDRAJIT DE, SAUMYA PANDE Harnessing the Power of Research, Design and Technology to Scale up Social Impact 152 SEBASTIÁN TRUJILLO TORRES Mapping Hybridization: The Design-Research Continuum in Indian Architecture 154 LAVANYA SIRI Research through Design: Evaluating the Prospect of Financial Behaviour Change and Financial Inclusion in Low-Income Communities through Digital Intervention 156 SHREYAS R KRISHNAN Illustration as Investigation 158 KOPAL KULKARNI What does the Material Want to Be? A Case for Systematic Material Investigation Workshop in Design Education 160 POOJA VASU Research in Designing for Social Communication: A Narrative Promoting Healthy Ageing in Menopausal Women 162 NAMRATA DILIP PHIRKE, GOURAB KAR Sparc: Illuminating Homes with Waste Heat 164 GARIMA A ROY Design Researcher: An Observer or a Participant 166 DEBJANI MUKHERJEE Experiential Ethnography: Immersing in the Present 168 NEETA KHANUJA Design as Research and Research as Design: A Case Study of a Smartphone-based Braille-conductive Interface 170 SAURABH DEB Evolution of Modern Day Digital Consciousness 172 DOJI SAMSON LOKKU, PRASAD S ONKAR Doctoral Studies in Design: A Review of Research on Design as a Practice 174 KAUTUK TRIVEDI Why Human Resource Management is Ripe for a Design-led Disruption 176 MUDITA PASARI Beyond Dialectics: Acknowledging Design Research as an Ever Ongoing and Complex Design Practice 178 SURABHI KHANNA Play Memories and Design of Toys and Tales 180 Insight Team 2018 181 Acknowledgments

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

Message

Director, NID NID has completed a long and distinguished innings of 57 years bearing witness to the socio-cultural, economic, and technological changes taking place both nationally and internationally. Based on the recommendations made in the unparalleled India Report by American designer duo Charles and Ray Eames, the Government of India with the assistance of the Ford Foundation and the Sarabhai family established the Institute as an autonomous all-India body in September 1961 in Ahmedabad. The Institute has over time walked the thin line between balancing tradition and modernity, harmonizing traditional age-old practices with the demands of the future. It has been the pioneer of modern design education in India, and its graduates have crossed the portals of the Institute as brand ambassadors for design contributing indelibly to nation building over the decades.

The mandate for NID is to offer world-class design education and to promote design awareness and application towards raising the quality of life by and through certain core values and mission principles. One of these is to undertake fundamental and applied research to create cutting edge knowledge in the diverse areas of design. In the context of today’s increasingly globalized and globalizing times, the earlier understanding of design and design research is changing manifold. Their meaning is rendered complex with issues of environment, sustainability, systems thinking, and contemporary business models.

NID’s unique pedagogy, academic and professional practice, and training and research initiatives were given due recognition four years ago by an Act of Parliament when it was deemed an Institute of National Importance. This

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recognition turned the spotlight on Indian design practices and opened up new avenues for research and exploration for both students and faculty. It validated NID’s steadfastness in improving the quality of life, and promoting multidisciplinary learning. The PhD programme at NID that commenced in January this year was a logical outcome of this development. Insight2018 is therefore, a response to this commitment.

The six broad umbrella themes of Insight2018 have ample scope to be interpreted as per one’s design mandate and thinking and take the form of a wide range of papers on design research. At the same time, I’d like to mention a point of discussion that I feel is crucial. That point pertains to technology.

In the context of big data, robotics, the internet of things and so on, what role does design have to play especially in the context of a developing nation such as India? How can it enable us to better understand the adverse ramifications of technological impact, of an excessive consumption culture that leads often to an erosion of human values and of the physical environment itself? How can it integrate matters of social harmony, inclusiveness, and usher in a better quality of life for everyone? Forums such these merit a discussion on the social context and human values as well.

My best wishes to the Symposium for a successful edition. I hope it becomes a robust forum for researchers, scholars, students, educators, design professionals and those from allied fields, industry personnel to converge and share ideas, good examples and cases, theories, models, and best practices.

Pradyumna Vyas

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Message

Activity Chairperson, Professional Education Programme, NID Design as a discipline is now well established. For today’s innovation economy, design is the starting point for innovation. It is now recognized as an integrating and guiding intelligence within the innovation process. From a systematic problem solving methodology, design now encompasses problem-defining methodology. The designer’s role has thus changed from that of a creative artist to that of a strategic innovator. And design will be the driving force of the creative and experience economies of the future. With increased stakes in design, the focus the world over is on further clarifying, refining and systemizing every step of the design process. Amongst these, design research is an important starting point and guiding force of the process.

Insight 2018, the international design research symposium, organised here at the National Institute of Design, NID on 1st & 2nd November 2018, shall provide a much needed platform to discuss, debate and develop contemporary design research approaches and frameworks, and their contextual applications in design practice and integration in design education. With over 84 research papers from several countries lined up for presentations, the symposium is sure to provide excellent opportunities for design researchers, design practitioners, design educators and design students and scholars from India and abroad to share their experiences, learn and develop new understandings and knowledge in the field.

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Organised at the lush green campus of NID, the symposium offers its participants a window to the unique education model followed at the institute.

India’s premier design institute, now declared ‘Institution of National Importance’ by an Act of Parliament, by the virtue of the National Institute of Design Act, 2014, the institute now offers its programmes at the Bachelors (B. Des), Masters (M. Des) and PhD levels through its 20 disciplines. NID’s active involvement over the last six decades, with varied sectors of Indian industries and society has helped the institute understand and develop sector specific design and design research approaches. These coupled with its project based multi disciplinary design education helps the institute constantly revise and refine its design approaches to be in sync with the rapidly changing demands and aspirations of the industry and economy in general.

All the authors whose papers have been selected for the symposium deserve hearty congratulations for clearing a multi-layered and stringent review process of selection. The compilation of these papers and symposium proceedings is sure to be a key reference for the design researchers, design educators and design practitioners globally. My congratulations and thanks to Dr. Shilpa Das, Senior Faculty member, NID and her dedicated team of researchers, students and staff members for this excellent symposium. I am excited and looking forward to it.

Shashank Mehta

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Note from the Programme Chair

Insight 2018 started out as a natural offshoot of NID’s PhD programme that commenced in January this year and as a successor to Insight 2015, held in NID’s Bengaluru campus where four workshops on design research in relation to the proposed PhD programme were held.

A stringent and rigorous process of double blind peer review has been followed in the final selection of both abstracts and full papers. We received 200 abstracts for Insight 2018 of which 16 were not accepted, as they did not meet our eligibility criteria for selection. Of these abstracts, the maximum number of abstracts received was on the theme of multidisciplinary research on design (22%), followed by design research in academic practice (21%) and design research in professional practice (21%). Research as design and design as research received 18% of the total abstracts, followed by contemporary and evolving models of design research (9%) and innovations in design research methods (9%). Abstracts were received from the US, UK, UAE, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and India. The professional affiliations of the abstract writers totalled 90 colleges, universities, design studios, NGOs and other organisations globally. Of those who wrote abstracts, 39% were professionals, 35% were educators, 19% were students and 7% were others.

16 faculty members across NID’s three campuses were involved in reviews of the abstracts, and about 17 faculty members were involved in reviews of full papers.

In all about 90 papers have been selected of which 81 are being presented at the Symposium. The number of papers selected in each theme are: multidisciplinary research on design (15), design research in academic practice (19), design

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research in professional practice (19), research as design and design as research (18), contemporary and evolving models of design research (4) and innovations in design research methods (7).

The professional affiliations of the paper writers include Central Saint Martins/ University of the Arts, London; Design Against Crime Research Centre, London; UAL DESIS Lab (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability), London; Trilogi University, Jakarta, Indonesia; Competence Center for Research in Design and Management of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland; National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei; Plymouth University, UK; Silpakorn University, Thailand; Graduate School of Creative Industry Design, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taipei, Taiwan; Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, Portugal; Faculty of Architecture, Lisbon, Portugal; School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong; The Royal College of Art, London; Department of Industrial Design, Iowa State University; College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; St. Louis’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University; University for the Creative Arts, Epsom, Surrey; inkl.Design, Berlin; Bauhaus University, Weimar; OCAD University, Toronto, Canada; AccesibleUXD.com, Dallas, USA; Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, USA; Georgia Southern University, USA; Wilcom International, Sydney, Australia; and Ignite Middle East, Dubai.

Indian institutions and affiliations include National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar; CEPT University, Ahmedabad; IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay; Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bengaluru; Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur; NIFT, Bengaluru; NIFT, New Delhi; Department of Design, IIT Guwahati; Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune; Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bangalore; Bandhej, Ahmedabad; Girgit Studios Pvt Ltd, Pune; Icarus Design Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru; Freehand Studio, Goa; Rhizome Studio, Ahmedabad; Samsung Design Delhi; Amazon Fashion India, Bengaluru; among others.

And last but most importantly, we have four distinguished keynote speakers who have an illustrious career to inspire many. I hope we all have a great Symposium with plenty of camaraderie, sharing of insights and ideas, and blended with a rich dose of academic rigour.

Shilpa Das

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Ashoke Chatterjee Former Director NID, Prabhat Education Foundation for Children with Special Needs

Professor Ashoke Chatterjee received his education at Woodstock School (Mussoorie), St Stephen’s College and Miami University (Ohio). He has a background in the engineering industry, international civil service, India Tourism Development Corporation, and 25 years in the service of the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad) where he was Executive Director, Senior Faculty, Distinguished Fellow and Professor of communication and management.

He has served a range of development institutions in India and overseas, particularly in the sectors of drinking water, sanitation, disability, livelihoods and education as well as working with artisans in many parts of the country.

He was Honorary President of the Crafts Council of India for over twenty years and continues to serve CCI as its Honorary Advisor.

Other current affiliations include the Prabhat Education Foundation for children with special needs, Utthan, the Centre for Heritage Management (Ahmedabad University), the India Foundation for the Arts (Bengaluru), Madras Crafts Foundation, Centre for Environment Education and Gandhi Ashram. An author and writer, his books include Dances of the Golden Hall on the art of Shanta Rao and Rising on empowerment efforts among deprived communities in rural Gujarat. He continues to assist design education in India and Pakistan. He lives in Ahmedabad with his son Keshav, daughter-in-law Prativa and grandchildren Kabir and Alisa.

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Mugendi K M’Rithaa Faculty of Informatics and Design, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, South Africa

Professor Mugendi K. M’Rithaa is a transdisciplinary industrial designer, educator and researcher. He studied in Kenya, the USA, India and South Africa and holds postgraduate qualifications in Industrial Design, Higher Education, and Universal Design. He has taught in Kenya, Botswana, South Africa and Sweden and is passionate about various expressions of socially conscious design, including: Design Thinking; Designerly Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change; Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability; Distributed Renewable Energy; Indigenous Knowledge Systems; Participatory Design; and Universal Design.

Mugendi has a special interest in the pivotal role of design thinking in advancing the developmental agenda on the African continent. He is a founding member of the Network of Afrika Designers (NAD), and is associated with a number of other international networks focusing on design within industrially developing (or majority world contexts). He is also President Emeritus and Convenor of the Senate of the World Design Organization (formerly known as Icsid – the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design). Much of his work with the WDO focuses on the importance of supporting the aspirations of younger designers worldwide in our profession’s collective quest to resolve wicked problems in diverse contexts.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Lorraine Gamman Professor of Design, Central Saint Martins, London

Professor Lorraine Gamman is Professor of Design at Central Saint Martins and the Director of the award-winning Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC) she founded at University of the Arts London in 1999 as well as codirector of its Socially Responsive Design Hub. Gamman is co-editor (with Tom Fisher) of Tricky Design – the Ethics of Things – to be published by Bloomsbury in November 2018; the author of Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of Thieves, Bloomsbury (2012) and co-author of numerous recent design research articles on empathy, participatory and socially responsive design, most recently for She Ji journal (2018). She is currently Principal Investigator on the MoJ’s Safer Custody Furniture project 2018-20; she was PI on the AHRC-funded Extending Empathy Network (2014–16) and PI on AHRC-funded Design Thinking for Prison Industries (2014–18), which has developed Makeright an anti-theft design education course in partnership with HMP Thameside in the UK and National Institute of Design and Sabarmati Jail in India. This project has generated the prison-made anti-theft Makeright bag label distributed

by Abel & Cole - see Makeright. Gamman is currently attempting to scale the Makeright project to other UK prisons, alongside the idea that ‘designers in residence’ are needed to help stimulate prison industries.

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Preeti Vyas Chairperson and Founder, VGC

Ms. Preeti Vyas, an independent entrepreneur with humble beginnings in 1997, has steered VGC’s Mumbai and Bengaluru offices to a top position in India as an independent design and communication consultancy with several international associations including the recent strategic alliance with leading Dutch Agency, Total Identity. According to The Economic Times and from the time she began her journey after graduating from the National Institute of Design, she has created some of India’s most iconic brand stories and redefined the design landscape.

She is counted among the 50 most influential women in India according to Impact and Verve magazines, ranked as one of the top creative minds by The Economic Times and named one of the 25 most Powerful Women in Indian business by Business Today. Perhaps more to the point, what characterizes her oeuvre, and impact, whether as the Creative Director of Contract or Enterprise, or as the Executive Creative Director of the Trikaya Grey Dream team, or as Founder of VGC, is Preeti’ s penchant of breaking everything down to its fundamental truth. From making economic sense with design as a management tool, to business and marketing strategy, she has infused them all with the essence of intelligent design thinking. Amongst her other achievements, she has been on the jury for D&AD, the New York Festival and the Cannes Festival, where she was invited twice. A member of the Indian Design Council, she helps in formulating important design policies for the country. She is also on the advisory councils of ISDI Parsons School of Design, MIT School of Design and on the governing council of NID, Vijayawada. In 2010, she launched Designomics a knowledge and awards platform promoting the use of design by businesses effectively.

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DAY 1 NOVEMBER 1, 2018

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Untitled, Acrylic on Canvas - 24˝ X 18˝ 2011

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SESSION 1: DESIGN RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC PRACTICE

SESSION 1 Design Research in Academic Practice

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RATHNA RAMANATHAN

Design [Education] in a Pluralistic World: A Royal College of Art Case Study

With forecasts of algorithmic futures, concern about the disappearing nature of craft, an increasingly pressured art and design education environment, and a geopolitical crisis, this paper questions the purpose of graphic design practice and research in education.

Reflecting on the experience of revalidating the curriculum of the Visual Communication programme at the Royal College of Art, the paper seeks to challenge our role as educators, question our ambitions for our students and discuss what it means to provide ‘learning for an unknown future’ in such a rapidly changing context.

The paper makes a passionate case for reframing education as transformational change and demonstrates the importance of a value-led, rigorous and research-integrated approach to the learning and teaching of graphic design and of diverse ‘communities of practice’ within design education.

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KEYWORDS: EDUCATION; RESEARCH; COMMUNICATION; TRANSFORMATION; CRITICAL PRACTICE; COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE Rathna Ramanathan is a graphic designer and design educator based in London. Her bachelor’s degree is in the history of fine art from Stella Maris College, University of Madras, Chennai. She received her Masters in Communication Design from Central Saint Martins, London, UK. Her doctoral research was on independent and experimental presses and she was awarded her doctorate from the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, University of Reading, UK. She is currently Head of Programme, Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art and runs her own studio Minus9 Design. Her research is in intercultural graphic communication (specifically publishing and typographic practices) with South Asia as the site of investigation.

Contact her at: rathna.ramanathan@rca.ac.uk

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KAVITA ARVIND

Ethics, Values and the Teacher-Learner: Design, Pedagogy and Research

The paper explores the idea of a classroom as a living, thriving, equal, and collaborative space. It attempts to understand the role of a design educator, practitioner and researcher in nurturing creativity; and evolving core, ethical values in both teachers and learners. The paper unpacks the dangers of design thinking methods, design research methods and processes being diminished to merely a reductive, formulaic version. The author acknowledges that toolkits and maps for design thinking are effective, that they help steer multidisciplinary groups or individuals through a process, allowing for a multitude of voices to be heard, helping teams work more effectively and efficiently, by combining analytical and creative thinking approaches.

But, it questions where does one place wisdom, slowness, intuition, traditional skill and ambiguity? The paper examines the way we have begun to view our world… through problems. By taking particular examples from pedagogical practices and interventions that the author undertook at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology; and Buddhi School, Bengaluru, it argues against the hubris of a design practitioner who thinks the world and its wicked problems must be tinkered with to be solved.

The paper emphasizes the idea that the way forward for both the teacher and the learner is to look within first and change one’s own intrinsic values, attitudes and behaviours. It proposes that design must not be viewed in the sole lens of the rational, the logical, but must make place for the the emotional, the intuitive, the deeply reflective, the gentle, the ideological and the organic – and be instead restorative and generative. Through the analysis of several examples of work done with final year students at Srishti, and primary schoolchildren at Buddhi School, it seeks to understand what fosters transformative change both within and without for the learner and the teacher, the researcher and the practitioner.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN, PEDAGOGY, VALUES, EMPATHY Kavita Arvind is an illustrator and design educator from Bengaluru. She graduated with a specialisation in Film & Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has a Masters in Design In Education from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru. Her work revolves around core interests in gender, social design, speculative design and design pedagogy.

Contact her at: kavitarvind@gmail.com

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SUE PERKS

The Stories that Archives Tell: The Quest to Produce a Symbol Dictionary

Archives reveal unexpected truths. This paper describes a journey beginning in the Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection at University of Reading and concluding in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.

The Isotype Collection contains correspondence relating to a proposed symbol dictionary project involving Marie Neurath, Rudolf Modley and American industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. It was known as the “Preparatory Survey on Communication through Graphic Symbols”, a project that formed one of the several failed attempts to produce a symbol dictionary going back as far as 1940. Transatlantic correspondence between M. Neurath in the UK and Modley in America commenced in 1958 and ceased in 1960 after funding beyond a pilot study was not forthcoming. Other symbol dictionaryrelated project proposals followed in America during the 1960s, involving Dreyfuss, Modley and the anthropologist Margaret Mead. Finally, in 1970, Dreyfuss secured US funding for the Henry Dreyfuss Symbol Sourcebook (first published January 1972).

In 2015, correspondence from 1969 came to light in the Symbol Sourcebook Archive at the Cooper Hewitt, between Paul Clifton (Symbol Sourcebook design manager) and M. Neurath, relating back to the “Preparatory Survey”, asking for advice on the classification systems that she and Modley had developed in relation to the Symbol Sourcebook. This evidence prompted my visit to the Symbol Sourcebook Archive. Seen in its entirety, this archive contains a vivid account of the maturing of graphic design from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. As a researcher interested in Isotype, it also provides a glimpse of how Isotype was regarded in America at a time when internationalism was taking hold and symbol-related matters were burgeoning, nearly fifty years since Isotype was conceived in the mid 1920s.

This paper will describe why and how the Symbol Sourcebook evolved and reveal Isotype-related observations discovered in the archive.

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KEYWORDS: ARCHIVES, ISOTYPE, SYMBOL SOURCEBOOK, HENRY DREYFUSS Sue Perks is an information designer and design educator based in East Sussex.

Her bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from De Montfort University, Leicester. She did her Masters in Graphic Information at the Royal College of Art in London. Her doctoral research was on the legacy of the principles of Isotype and she was awarded her doctorate from University of Reading, UK. She is currently Subject leader for MA Graphic Design at University for the Creative Arts, Epsom, Surrey. Her research interests include investigating the legacy of the principles of Isotype in graphic design post 1970, primarily through archival research and currently in relation to the Henry Dreyfuss Symbol Sourcebook Archive at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.

Contact her at: sperks@ucreative.ac.uk

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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REBECCA REUBENS

A Suitable Methodology for ‘Wicked’ Design Problems

This paper centres on Design Science Research (DSR), a relatively new design-oriented research approach that has received much attention in the area of Information Systems research. We argue that DSR dovetails well with interventionist design research because it is a research activity that invents or builds new, innovative artefacts that solve problems or achieve improvements—thereby creating a new reality; rather than simply explaining an existing reality, or helping to make sense of it. This is in stark contrast with most traditional design research methodologies, which advocate not changing reality at all (with the exception of action research variations).

We discuss, against the backdrop of the author’s PhD research—positioned at the intersection of craft, design, development and sustainability—three main reasons why DSR was selected over other, more traditional research methodologies. We argue that DSR is ideal for similar interventionist research which seeks to create artefacts that address wicked real-world problems.

DSR is also a good fit for research that aims to address a larger audience, through selection of a case that is representative of this audience: in the case of the authors PhD research this larger audience was craft-based MSMEs in developing countries working with renewable materials, with which designers were also working. DSR develops and tests interventions in a real-world context and improves them iteratively. It also generates theory that is applicable beyond the intervention scenario, to a larger set of individuals and institutions in the generalized problem class. We discuss the characteristics of DSR, and its generic process, and argue that this dovetails with the generic iterative design process, where research, analysis, synthesis and evaluation—are cyclically repeated until we achieve a satisfying balance between the intended outcome and practical realization. Finally, we discuss the difference between action research and DSR to reveal overlaps, and to clearly differentiate why DSR was chosen for this specific research problem.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN SCIENCE RESEARCH, SUSTAINABILITY, WICKEDPROBLEMS, INTERVENTIONIST-RESEARCH Rebecca Reubens is a sustainability designer and design educator based in Ahmedabad. Her bachelor’s degree is in accessory design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, India. She did her Masters in Industrial Design (Furniture) from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Her doctoral research was on holistic sustainability design for developing country enterprises and she was awarded her doctorate from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. She is currently the founder and principal designer at Rhizome, her sustainability design studio. Her research interests include the elements and the intersection of craft, design and sustainability.

Contact her at: rreubens@gmail.com

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

11

SHRADDHA SAKHALKAR

Design Pedagogy in India: Hurdles in Practice

This paper is located at the intersection of the changing paradigm of design education, education delivery systems or methodologies and culture-specific attitudes and beliefs of stakeholders within design institutes in India.

The author, through reflections on her experiences as an early-career educator, examines the socio-cultural issues and concerns that affect the efficacy and effectiveness of teaching-learning systems in design.

Systems that rely heavily on progressive education methodologies but are contradictory to education systems that most Indians have grown up with, whose hallmarks are competitive excellence, externally enforced discipline and continuous policing to produce desired results. She argues that a culture that relies on such ‘policing’ also creates systems of policing in every sphere of life including design education. In such an environment, the educator is then perpetually torn between progressive education methodologies and a more conventional and culturally accepted approach. The learner too is torn between cultivating a self-motivated approach versus lapsing into old habits that are remnants of having been part of a traditional system of education.

Partly introspective and partly observational, this paper raises many questions around design education as practiced in India and hopes to add to the dialogue of redefining design education methodology and systems within the country.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN EDUCATION, INDIA, CULTURE, ATTITUDES Shraddha Sakhalkar is a communication designer and design educator based in Pune. Her bachelor’s degree is in humanities (B.A, History) University of Mumbai. She did her Masters in Communication Design (Film & Video) from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. She is currently associated with Symbiosis Institute of Design as an adjunct faculty member. Her research interests include, film studies, design pedagogies, culture and craft.

Contact her at: shraddha.sakhalkar@gmail.com

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

13

JASON MURDOCK

From Design-by-Inspiration to Case-Based Design: A Four-Part Framework for Teaching Case-Based Communication Design

It is common for design educators and professional practitioners to use examples of successful solutions to previous problems as creative inspiration for new problems, yet, in communication design, no explicit methods exist for successfully searching for and adapting previous solutions to new problems. Instead, design students are often encouraged to find examples that inspire them, and, at the same time, are warned against appropriation and copyright infringement. In the words of proto-design researcher, Owen Jones, “The principles discoverable in the works of the past belong to us; not so the results.” Essentially, students are being asked to conduct research and analysis without being taught how.

For years, architects and engineers have been adapting analogical and casebased reasoning (CBR) methods to design, and this approach is beginning to find its way into communication design practice. CBR serves as a bridge between the formative research that frames a design problem, and the summative research that helps to refine and evaluate the solution. As such, it makes explicit that part of the design process which is often tacit and mysterious—the so-called creative leap. Two key issues for case-based design are the identification of analogous solutions, and the adaptation of these solutions to new problems. This paper will provide a background to case-based design, and offer two case studies of its application in foundation level communication design courses using a four step framework.

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KEYWORDS: CASE-STUDY METHOD, CASE-BASED DESIGN, COMMUNICATION DESIGN, PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING Jason E. Murdock is a communication designer and design educator based in Statesboro, Georgia (USA). His bachelor’s degree is in visual communication design from the Herron School of Art & Design, Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). He did his masters in visual communication design at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio USA. His dissertation focused on static and dynamic approaches to visual identity design. He is currently Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Georgia Southern University. His research interests include the adaptation of case-based reasoning and generative design methods to typeface design and visual identity design.

Contact him at:Â jmurdock@georgiasouthern.edu

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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GOURAB KAR

Ergo Studio: An Experiential Approach to Teaching and Learning Ergonomics

As a designer by training and an educator by calling, the author has had a unique opportunity to engage with the craft of teaching and learning through the ‘lens’ of a designer. During his stint as a faculty at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad the author was given a freehand in re-making a course on Workspace Ergonomics into a design-build-test project that engaged with theory through the praxis of prototyping. Using an experiential learning approach, the course was re-framed to align real-world situations with learning outcomes. The reasoning was that real-world encounters would enable students to build on underlying theory, exercise choice and autonomy in learning, develop skills and experience to work in teams, engage with scholarship through research-informed design, and find motivation to learn ergonomics in an experiential way.

In formulating a process-oriented learning experience, the author adopted a few strategies based on project-based, active learning. First, one had to scout for real-world contexts that engaged with theory and concepts relevant to the course – contexts were found on-campus and in the city.

Second, in working with ‘clients’, there was need to plan ahead and work out expectations for timelines, deliverables, and roles; the groundwork had to be prepared in advance. Third, the course was re-structured to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to succeed at the more independent stages of experiential learning – students were provided inputs on human-centred design research and introduced to the underlying concepts of workspace ergonomics. Fourth, there was a bias towards prototyping and testing as a means to learning – student teams had to design-build-test workspace prototypes to demonstrate their understanding of the underlying concepts. Fifth, students were active stakeholders in shaping their learning experience – they took the initiative to define research questions, made decisions on design directions and were accountable for the design, fabrication and testing of the workspace prototypes. Sixth,

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teamwork and peer learning were crucial to the teaching and learning experience – students self-organized into collaborative teams, delegated roles and responsibilities, and engaged in peer learning. Seventh, use of video as a medium of expression was encouraged – student teams had to upload a short video to communicate their process and product. And finally, the instructor took on the role of being a facilitator and coach. In essence, the instructor and students were able to co-create a teaching and learning experience that nurtured the idea of learning by doing.

Creating a successful student-centred learning experience requires a fine balance of structure to manage complexities of open-ended, real world situations while providing freedom for students to navigate their course requirements and ambiguities inherent in the learning process. Students were enthusiastic of the design-build-test approach since it built on their prior training in research and design, challenged them to apply knowledge and skills in a real-world context, and offered a sense of ownership. If used effectively, experiential learning can provide opportunities for students to engage intellectually, creatively, emotionally, socially and physically with the course and enhance the teaching and learning experience.

KEYWORDS: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, PROJECT-BASED LEARNING, WORKSPACE ERGONOMICS, ACTIVE LEARNING Gourab Kar is a product designer and a human-factors researcher based in Ithaca, NY. His bachelor’s degree is in architecture from the Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi, India. He has a Master of Design degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India and a Master of Industrial Design degree with a specialization in Universal Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Human Behavior & Design at the College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. His dissertation research, at the intersection of human behaviour, design and health, investigates the efficacy of active workstation interventions to promote physical activity and reduce negative health impacts of sedentary, desk-based office work.

Contact him at: gourab.kar@gmail.com

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

17

TOOLIKA GUPTA

Design Epistemology in the Indian Context

Epistemology, can be described as ‘Theory of Knowledge’ and can be translated in Hindi as ‘Gyan Mimansa’ or ‘gyan paddhati’. The aim of my paper is to study design epistemology in the Indian context. How should research be done in design? Is the process of design research similar to research in science and humanities? Design is a process followed consciously or subconsciously by people to find solutions to various problems. When we are in a process of undertaking academic research in design, what should it be and what areas it can target. Depending on the target, the research models have to be designed. These models can evolve based on theoretical or practical approaches.

Designers are interested in designing products and the general practice that has evolved over the years in design schools is to begin from an inspiration, or stems from researching a product. The practice includes understanding a skill, gathering inspiration, teaching with examples how to take inspiration, and then how to evolve a mood, determining how to choose the colours based on seasons and forecasts and then finally how to create something new with the inspiration. This has become a standard practice. I endorse this practice, but I feel that there could be other ways too. Some people are doers and not thinkers. They think while working on a product, their inspirations could be clear in the head, but they cannot brainstorm on paper. In such a case, the process of research varies. It could start from a rough ‘pilot study’, explore the product made and then re-work on it. Both the modes of design practice are acceptable and should be acceptable. This, then is research led design practice.

Design theories have been evolved by researchers. Academic research in the area of design has evolved out of the need of the current academia. Hand crafting is an area which is in need of research which includes documentation of age old practices, and understanding the core of these practices so

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that they could be applied in the present times to carefully continue with sustainable practices that evolved years ago. This includes understanding the core areas of knowledge of a product or process. This is where in the Indian context, understanding the difference between ‘bodh’, ‘vidya’ and ‘gyan’, roughly translated as knowledge, in the field of design and epistemologically studying where ‘design’ stems from helps, so that we can formulate the correct or rather the plausible processes of design research in the Indian context.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN, EPISTEMOLOGY, INDIAN, RESEARCH Toolika Gupta, Director, Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, is a researcher and educator in the field of crafts and design. With a PhD in History of Arts (Dress and Textiles) from the University of Glasgow, UK; M.Sc. in Textiles and Clothing from Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, India; her association as a PhD fellow with the Centre for Textile Research, Copenhagen, Denmark and a short course in ‘Archaeological Textiles’ from the University of Oxford, UK, she has amassed experience as a researcher in this field. She started her career as a designer in 1996, moving into education as a faculty member at NIFT, New Delhi from 2005-2011. She has been a visiting faculty at NIFT, NID and Pearl Academy. She is also instrumental in setting up the TCRC, Textiles and Clothing Research Centre, New Delhi in 2016.

Contact her at: director@iicd.ac.in

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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A. ROHIT

‘Kili Pola’: Research for Animated Film

This paper aims at bringing out the research and the design thinking and process that went into the making of the animated film, ‘Kili Pola’. ‘Kili Pola’, which translates in English as ‘like a parrot’, is a film about a young boy whose father (a butcher himself) teaches him the art of butchery to carry out the family tradition. The film covers several broad themes: human emotions, growing up, social conditioning, apprenticeship, parroting, and overcoming one’s fears. The main aim of the film was to highlight the fine line between growing up and killing your inner self in the process, between the idylls of childhood and the loss of innocence. It also talks about how we mechanically repeat things after we become immune to the emotions related to actions that at first are disturbing to us but which later, we carry out without thinking. The paper covers the journey of the research process in its entirety: right from selection of the topic, to choosing the broad subject domain, studying and conducting preliminary research on the main theme of the film by means of literature review, participant observation of actual butchers and the way they go about their work in their workspace, meeting and interacting with a few of them, and other fieldwork. Secondary research entailed gaining insights by speaking to people about how butchery is perceived. This entailed speaking to a social psychologist to understand how social conditioning takes place.

All these led in a significant way to the concept and development of the story; the rough script and the various stages of storyboarding. Further, the research process included developing and finalizing a mood board, explorations of style and treatment, explorations of the characters, developing the setting for the story, explorations of set design and lighting most conducive to the plot, overall production design, the best medium of animation, sound design, music, editing, and the like. At every stage, meticulous planning was put into place only after a thorough research had preceded it in terms of what would best suit the subject, the story and

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the characters. The paper also covers the ethical dilemmas and challenges faced during the film making process which the author had to continuously negotiate. The journey through the film imbued the author with several general principles of research tailored to fit the specific requirements of a specific film which shall be shared through the paper.

KEYWORDS: ANIMATED FILM; CLAYMATION; SOCIAL CONDITIONING; ETHNOGRAPHY A Rohit is an animation film designer and design educator based in Chennai.

His bachelor’s degree is in electronics and communication engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, India. He did his Masters in Animation Film Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India.

He is currently Animator and Visual Designer at Cognizant, Chennai. ‘Kilipola’ his student film on which his paper is based won Jury special mention awards at Chitrakatha International Student Animation Festival 2015, India and Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) 2016, South Korea. It was officially selected for screening at Klik Amsterdam Animation Festival 2015; Brasil International Stop Motion Festival 2015; Libelula Fest 2015, Barcelona; 14th Mumbai International Film Festival 2016; Athens Animfest 2016, Greece; Animafest World Festival Of Animated Film, Zagreb, Croatia 2016; Flicks International Student Short Film Festival 2016, Groningen, Netherlands; IndieAnifest 12th Korean Independent Animation Film Festival; and Ratma Global Film Festival - 2016, England. Contact him at: rohit.a91@gmail.com Academic Guide: Shilpa Das is a social scientist, critical theorist and educator based in Ahmedabad, India. Her bachelor’s degree is in English literature from St. Xaviers’ College, Ahmedabad. She did her Masters in World Literature from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, an M. Phil in Critical Theory and PhD in Social Science. Her doctoral research was on social stigma and formation of self-concept in disabled women in Gujarat and she was awarded her doctorate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay. Currently, she teaches in and heads the Interdisciplinary Design Studies Faculty, the PhD Research Programme and the Science and Liberal Arts programme at NID. Her research interests include universal design, design for disability, Western and Indian philosophy and aesthetics, Indian culture, craft documentation, contemporary literary and cultural theory, history of design, history of art, narrative theory, and disability studies. Contact her at: shilpadas@nid.edu

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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SUSMITA ROY, ABHIJIT PADUN

Teaching Graphic Design to Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Approach on Reflective Teaching Methodology

Teaching creative subjects to under graduate students is a demanding and arduous task as it requires both theoretical knowledge as well as adept skills to perform the creative exercises which would be conducive in making the students learn efficiently in relation to what they have been taught.

In Bachelor of Design programme at Central Institute of Technology (CIT), Kokrajhar (Assam), an experimental approach has been adopted to teach the subject “Introduction to Graphic Design� in a six-month period. To make the teaching approach more efficient and rationally productive, a separate studio session on graphic design has also been inducted along with theory and practical classes to ascertain applicability in the approach of reflective teaching. The objective of this study was to assess the importance of theory, practical and studio session that have been introduced into the curriculum and also to evaluate the performance of the students after completing all the three sessions.

The studio session is a project based class where students have explored and reflected their learning from theory and practical sessions. They have been exposed to multilevel activities viz. hands on practice to digital experiments to practical execution of a project with the application of the theory that were taught in the class. The process eventually has been concluded with a tint of novel approach and continuous monitoring. The objective of initiating such an approach is to assist the students to explore ingenious ideas and nurture their creativity. Henceforth, they can utilize their own perspective into other challenging tasks and dissolve it more proficiently.

The approach displayed a positive outcome on the performance level of each student regarding an outright cognition of the subject matter, its practical implications and its future applicability in the real world. Further, the approach also helped in uplifting the team spirit, brainstorming capability and communication skills of all the students as a batch, as an individual and as a team player.

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KEYWORDS: CREATIVE TEACHING APPROACH, TEACHING GRAPHIC DESIGN, REFLECTIVE TEACHING METHODOLOGY, NURTURING CREATIVE SKILLS Susmita Roy is a 3D animator and design educator based in Kokrajhar, Assam.

Her bachelor’s degree is in botany from Gauhati University, Assam. She did her Masters in Visual Effects & Animation (VFxA) from Mahatma Gandhi University, Meghalaya (India). She is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Multimedia Communication & Design, Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar, Assam (India). Her research interests include graphic design, typography, information graphics, motion graphics, illustration, animation, photography, and web design.

Contact her at: s.roy@cit.ac.in Abhijit Padun is a visual communication designer and design educator based in Kokrajhar, Assam (India). His bachelor’s degree is in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, H.P. (India). He did his Masters in Design from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam (India). He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Multimedia Communication & Design, Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar, Assam (India). His research interests include visual communication, typography, 2d/3d animation, web design, interface design, interaction design, product design, branding, design research, info-graphics and virtual reality.

Contact him at: a.padun@cit.ac.in

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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VIBHAVARI KUMAR

Designing for Aesthetics and Emotion in Urban Space: An Experiential Design Project on Last Mile Metro Station

This paper is an extension of a PhD research titled “Socio-Cultural Impact of Metro on People of Bengaluru”. The current paper investigates the process of developing an experimental design project for users of urban public transport in Bengaluru city. This research, however, refers to a very specific aspect within this complex transportation system: Last Mile metro station. Last Mile metro station here refers to the last mile connectivity from the metro station. Its main objective is to evaluate the contribution of a design process based on emotion-driven approaches on the Last Mile metro station concept development. Considerations on urban mobility have already been made by many experts, such as traffic engineers, city planners, politicians, and others.

This research, however, refers to a very specific aspect within this complex system: public transportation metro stations. Its main objective is to reflect on Last mile metro stations concepts that incorporate solutions identified and designed during the project, relating the essential concepts of design as process with design for experience and design for emotion.

Metro stations generally, tend to evoke negative experiences, and the situation is not different in Bengaluru, but it is over emphasized in the Last mile metro station. Anxiety, long waiting time, discomfort and insecurity are negative aspects often associated with these spaces and they affect the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of users. By addressing this problematic scenario, the paper attempts to answer the following research question: Is it possible to design for alternative experiences that would improve the waiting conditions as well as the users’ perception of the quality of the transportation service?

The research is being carried out in three stages: Step1- observation of activities and commuters, interviews and surveys of commuters, Step2analysis of user’s emotional experiences when using public transport; and Step3- the probable design solutions. The first step would feed the design

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process with inputs from real-world situation. The second step is being based on Appraisal Theory (Desmet, 2008) and will help the researcher to understand that the most important emotions to work on are anxiety and irritation. The third step would be metro station concepts, inspired by experience-design analysis and will be presented in this paper. The designed solutions would offer alternatives to prevent unpleasant emotions, namely anxiety and irritation and would be based on a user-centred approach. The research would test the possibility to design for emotions and its acceptance by the metro users.

KEYWORDS: URBAN MOBILITY, METRO STATION, EXPERIENTIAL SPACE DESIGN, EMOTION Vibhavari Kumar is a space designer and design educator based in Bengaluru.

Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from the National Institute of Technology, Thiruchirapalli. She did her Masters in Sociology and Marketing Management from Adam Smith University, USA. Her doctoral research was titled “Socio-Cultural Impact of Bengaluru Metro on People and Spaces” and she was awarded her doctorate from Jain University, Bengaluru. She is currently Associate Professor at NIFT, Bengaluru. Her research interests include design thinking in the Indian context with respect to spaces. During her PhD she assisted on an ICSSR project and was involved in writing three chapters for the book.

Contact her at: vibhavarikumar@gmail.com

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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DANIEL ECHEVERRI

A Grip on Interaction and Storytelling: A Phenomenological Approach to Design Research

This paper presents the methodological aspects of an ongoing practice-led research that employs phenomenology to explore the relationships between interactive narratives and tangible interaction.

It considers the work of different authors; among them Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Paul Dourish. First, the paper puts the considerations of the work of these authors into the analysis of various paper interaction mechanisms of movable books (known commercially as pop-up books) that support an embodied narrative experience. Second, the paper discusses how the experience of being narrated to and involved with the narrative is created by stimulating the audience’s perception and their body though the use of paper mechanics and tangible interaction.

This discussion is placed in the context of practice-led research, also described as project-grounded research or more frequently as Research through Design, as it seeks to conciliate practice and theory by involving the iterative process of design to produce new knowledge. From a practical and creative point of view, the paper i) discusses the creation of an artefact that combines paper mechanisms with different digital components and ii) seeks to find ways to use physical manipulation to sustain interactive narratives and their impact on audience engagement.

From a theory-building perspective, this paper briefly discusses the roles phenomenology can play in interaction and narrative design research. The paper concludes by reflecting on the iterative process of creating design artefacts as a means and context to conduct specific research and make inquiries from discovering tacit knowledge held by the designer.

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KEYWORDS: PHENOMENOLOGY, STORYTELLING, RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN, PLAYABLE STORIES Daniel Echeverri is a graphic designer, PhD student and design educator based in Hong Kong. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the Colegiatura Colombiana, Medellin, Colombia. He did his Masters in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University, Kent, Ohio in the US. He is currently in the second year of his PhD in the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong where he also works as tutor in the program of Interactive Media Design in the same school. His doctoral research is on narratives, memory and interaction and seeks to explore ways in which tangible interaction can support interactive narratives. His research interests include design education and methodologies, ideation and creativity and practice-led research.

Contact him at: 17901330r@connect.polyu.hk

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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ALISHKA SHAH

Revival of the Traditional Card Game of Ganjifa: A Design Approach

This paper reports on research carried out as a part of a design project under the Graphic Design discipline at National Institute of Design, India, on the basis of findings for a visual analysis and semiotic study of Indian motifs.

Adopted from the Mughal Empire that established its rule in ancient India, the elaborate Persian card game of Ganjifa, painstakingly hand painted to put together every set, found its relevance in the Indian context since the 16th century. Held in high esteem as objects of play, objects of art and as objects of monumental narrative value, this trick taking game has flourished lavishly from the Northern to the Southern regions of the sub continent adapting itself to and celebrating the local beliefs, customs and folk practices of these respective regions. However, there is little evidence of research on the skilful art of ganjifa game play as it is unlike any other prevailing card game in its structure, system and format. This paper discusses and presents the evidence of the advent of ganjifa in India, modifications, transformations and versions that evolved as a result of it’s ‘hinduization’ and the relevance of ganjifa motifs in Indian mythology and other extensive Indian belief systems.

The paper covers a broad terrain to investigate the reasons for its exodus in the modern day lifestyle. This approach of data collection also examines the underlying social construct, design system and efforts made in the direction of revival of its exquisite creation and alluring play. The paper elaborates upon the design thinking and approach that went into this project, the design process followed, the design challenge, the rationale underlying the explorations for the card game, the process of contemporizing an ancient card game while retaining its basic essence, and the final design. In doing so, it underscores the design pedagogy at the National Institute of Design.

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KEYWORDS: GANJIFA, REVIVAL, CARD GAME, STUDENT DESIGN PROJECT Alishka Shah is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Her research interests include traditional Indian arts and crafts, sustainability and waste management and women’s issues.

Contact her at: alishkashah@gmail.com Academic Guides: Shilpa Das and Nanki Nath

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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THIRATHEP CHONMAITREE

Using Religious Art to Represent Calmness in Senior Community

The elderly population in Thailand has increased drastically resulting in an aging society as defined by a United Nations classification. The country needs to be prepared for this phenomenon. Shifting into an aging nation leads to an active aging life style. Promoting both physical and mental calmness is a must. A calmer mind can bring peace within and strengthen physical appearance.

This research aims to discover religious art, explore belief and determine pattern of religious art for each belief in the community. Recommendation for each religion to promote calmness in active senior life is planned.

Research methods are ethnography and participatory research. Collecting primary information is proposed through photographic survey and interviewing seniors in finding their true nature. The finding of this research is the blend of people from different ethic groups and religions coming together to create one liveable place. The exchange of each religious teaching mix the belief system into one. The story behind religious art creates a unique design with peace and calmness fulfilment. Appropriated design element and principles along side art aesthetic bring in the right visual message to calm seniors’ minds blissfully.

To sum this research up, the similarities from different religious beliefs can create not only peace within each community, but also visual representation of all beliefs. This visual representation promotes calmness and blissfulness in seniors and strengthens their physical and mental ability. Therefore, the result leads to active ageing in the senior community.

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KEYWORDS: RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE, SYMBOLIC, CALMNESS, ACTIVE AGEING SOCIETY Thirathep (Tom) Chonmaitree is a user experience designer and design educator based in Bangkok, Thailand. His bachelor’s degree is in computer science from the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok, Thailand.

He did his Masters in Computer Science and specialized in Computer Graphic from George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. He is doing his PhD at Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand on wayfinding design for a walkable aging city. His research interests include user experience design, typographic design, graphic design, creative media design, creative city and human-centered design.

Contact him at:Â chonmaitree_t@silpakorn.edu

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SHEKHAR BHATTACHARJEE

Music and Visual Image Making in India and West

The point of departure for this paper was an ongoing discussion during a meeting for the Colour course for under graduate students at National Institute of Design. The topic was multisensory aspects of colour in the context of colour study.

It was discussed that for visual sensory perception, along with visual senses, other sensory perception is important, like touch is important for 3D visualization. For the perception of colour, the role of other sensory perceptions were discussed. It was found that sound and colour have had a connection in visual art in Indian and western art traditions since long.

Visual artists of the western tradition took inspiration from music and Indian Ragamala paintings were painted based on Indian classical music. An effort to investigate the relation of music and colour was made, in order to understand the area and find out ways to convey the findings to the students.

For the investigation, a list of books and articles were studied on art and music. During the course of investigation, it was found that the approach to relate music and colour in western and Indian traditions has differences.

To further investigate, paintings of Kandinsky and Paul Klee were taken from the western tradition, which were based on music and miniature paintings were taken from Indian tradition which were based on Indian classical music.

To transfer music into painting, Klee and Kandinsky took a very analytical approach, they analysed elements of music and translated these into elements of visual design, but in Indian miniature painting, though there is a well defined grammar of painting and well defined structure to address the relation in-between tone and colour; artists of most of the schools took individual liberty and painted the raga (classical musical form) in very subjective, intuitive and synthetic manner.

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These differences can be understood through understanding the nature and development of philosophical schools of thought. This article, focuses on all these aspects and tries to conclude that philosophical schools of thought had an impact on visual art and influenced the visual culture.

KEYWORDS: MUSIC & COLOUR, VISUAL ART, VISUAL DESIGN, CULTURE Shekhar Bhattacharjee is a faculty at NID in the Toy and Game Design discipline. His master’s degree is in painting from Indira Kala Sangit Vishwavidyalay, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh and he was actively engaged with traditional crafts communities in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. He conducted creativity workshops with children in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal before he joined NID’s Faculty Development Programme. At NID, he teaches Design Drawing, Colour and Form, Representation Techniques, Nature Drawing, Character Design, Material- Technique and Model Making, Nature and Design, and Toy Design project. He guides students through specific toy design projects. His research interests include colour, visual design, form and composition.

Contact him at: shekhar_b@nid.edu

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SNEHA MUNDARI, ATHUL SN

The Mind Behind the Lenses: An Ethnographic Documentary Production

This paper is located at the intersection of design, social studies, research and film-making in India. It elaborates on the challenges of making a film about a tribe.

The Munda are one of the ethnic tribes from the Chota Nagpur plateau; which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Chhattisgarh states of India. It is famous for legends such as Birsa Munda who led the millenarian movement against the British.

The paper also focuses on the exploration and the journey of research process carried out by the authors. It shall emphasise on the Munda community’s perspective on life, their culture, their traditions and heritage through the medium of cinema. It talks about the opportunity to question and rediscover the identity of being a tribal holding onto sheer pride in one’s own tradition and culture. It underscores the importance of allowing people to live in their own way leaving behind their cultural footprints in the light of changing times. It analyses the idea of preservation of a folk dance against that of context and relevance through interactions and interviews in the film.

The paper points out the significance of the design process, research methodology, and research ethics while making a documentary film. The paper marks the pivotal role of the perception of the crew in taking the right perspective being benevolent towards the subject. In India, film making as a medium of expression and entertainment has an ambiguous form in its manner of reception. The notion of a documentary film sounds serious, boring and informative to a lay audience up to an extent. The paper brings up various conscious decisions taken by the authors to make the film thought evoking and entertaining.

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KEYWORDS: FILMMAKING, DOCUMENTARY, ETHICS, HUMANITARIAN APPROACH Sneha Mundari is a filmmaker and designer based out of Rourkela. Her bachelor’s degree is in film & video communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London, London. Her research interests include handicraft studies, media, and cultural studies.

Contact her at: mundarisneha@gmail.com Athul SN is a filmmaker based out of Kozhikode, Kerala. His bachelor’s degree is in film and video communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is currently a freelance visual artist and cinematographer working on several visual projects and films. His research interests include ethics and perception of photographers in visual mediums, as well as entomological research as his interest extends to natural history and anthropology.

Contact him at: athulmuchukunnu@gmail.com Academic Guide: Arun Gupta is Principal Faculty, Film & Video Communication discipline at NID. Prof. He has taught various filmmaking courses (Direction, Scriptwriting, Film Language and Film Appreciation) for more than two decades, at NID and elsewhere. He has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Film Direction from FTII, Pune and a BA in English Literature from the University of Delhi. He has had a long stint in Indian television before joining full-time teaching at NID. He has served as Jury in several International Film Festivals, runs a biennial Asian Short & Documentary Film Festival at NID called “Alpavirama”.

Contact him at: guptarun@nid.edu

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SOMYA JAIN

Designing a New Pedagogy for History: A Pilot Study

History has always been a factual subject which requires memory and needs to be revised repeatedly in order to remember. Education is an essential tool of development for an individual as well as society. However, the focus of our education system is on theoretical knowledge rather than on practical learning. Gamification is a design innovation tool which has been recommended in this paper. Gamifying topics of history adds a practical element to an otherwise descriptive subject. This paper introduces a newly designed product which enhances the teaching-learning experience of Indian history.

The board game ‘Combat & Conquest – The Indo-Anglo War’ revolves around the events that took place during the 1900’s, the key people involved and place of manifestation. The purpose of this research paper is to: 1) Manifest the power of gamification in education and its benefits in a classroom. 2) Design a framework to enhance the teaching-learning experience in schools.

Games have been proven as a strong tool to teach children concepts and facts while having fun and interacting with others. Gamifying traditional education allows participants to analyse the situation, use their knowledge and take actions instead of memorizing. Hence, history being a subject which involves memorization, gamifying can help understand the subject to a greater depth.

The innovative board game designed is tested and analysed through two frameworks 1) Mechanics-Dynamics Aesthetics framework, i.e., MDA framework 2) Design-Play-Experience, i.e., DPE framework in real time.

The game is tested with two sets of participants - the first set comprises participants who read the study material as well as played the board game.

The second set comprises of participants who only read and learned the study material provided to them. The new board game designed amplifies the effectiveness of learning Indian history in classrooms, internalizing diverse

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topics, expanding knowledge of events and dates. We present our preliminary investigations of our game-based learning environment that demonstrates its full potential and also claim that the new product can be used to teach factual data without using textbooks and rote-learning.

KEYWORDS: GAMIFICATION, BOARD GAME, HISTORY, INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE Somya Jain is currently a Bachelor of Design student at PES University, Bengaluru. Her specialization is ‘Interaction Design’. She has done her schooling from National Public School, Bengaluru. Her research paper, “Icon Interpretation and Understanding: A Cross-Cultural Case Study of Product Interface” has been published in the International Journal of Ergonomics by MedWin Publishers, USA. Her research interests are customer experience, userinterface and visual design.

Contact her at: somya2205@gmail.com Academic Guide: Ganesh S is a design engineer based in Bengaluru. His bachelor’s degree is in civil engineering from the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Karnataka, India. He also has a diploma in animation engineering and has worked extensively in animation industry on 2D and 3D projects with Autodesk Maya being the area of speciality. He did his Masters from Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design, and Manufacturing, Jabalpur in Product and User Experience Design. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD from Department of Design, IIT Delhi in the field of assistive technology.

Contact him at: ganesh.s@design.iitd.ac.in

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ANIKET DEORE

Women Stunt Artistes of the Mumbai Film Industry: Design Research for a Documentary Film

This paper focuses on the design research journey undertaken by the author while producing, directing and editing a documentary film, named ‘No Less Than Him’. The film is a small attempt to highlight the incessant struggles of women to attain equal status in a patriarchal society. It takes a lot for a woman to step out and make a mark in our society where she is marginalized, underestimated and questioned on different fronts. She is still looked down upon, considered dependent by men; still expected to compromise on her freedom, and aspirations under different kinds of social-cultural pressure.

Although these women belong to a common community, that of stunt artists in the Hindi film industry, their journeys which have landed them in this profession, reflect different social issues women are battling in our society.

Their tales of survival through these adversities, their sense of agency and refusal to succumb to victimisation are empowering of them, and inspiring in many ways.

Generally, women stunt artists work in the shadow of female actors in the Hindi film industry. The female actors for whom they undertake the risk of their lives get all the adulation and appreciation while women stunt artists’ contribution mostly goes unnoticed. There is certainly a dearth of information and films that document the professional and personal lives of these female stunt artistes. The latter is a dire need and so; this project seeks to bridge that gap or lacuna that exists.

As the story unfolds, we get an intimate understanding of the decisions they took to be stunt women, their struggle and survival in the patriarchal setup at home and the workplace, their fears and motivation from which they drew strength to find their own voices. This way the film will sensitise its audiences about the personal and professional lives of these stunt artistes.

Documentary research uses classic research tools which we generally use in any design process. As mentioned above, there was a dearth of written

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information about these stunt artists. My research was mainly done through field visits meeting the stunt artists at their union office and taking informal interviews. The information gathered through this helped me understand the subject in detail and I could streamline my next level of research with more focussed research questions. As far as documentary film making is concerned, access to the source of information or research is really important, because in the end you have to show what you have found. Most of the times, it happens that visual access is denied and then you have to think of other visual mediums to recreate that information. That’s one of the reasons why animation is used in this film. Documentary film making is more of an improvising sort of process, but good research always helps the filmmaker at the pre-production and production stage to decide the structure and narrative flow of the film. The research data also helps in postproduction to connect missing dots in an overall narrative.

KEYWORDS: STUNT ARTIST, WOMEN STUNT ARTISTES, WOMEN EMPOWERMENT, HINDI FILM INDUSTRY Aniket Deore is an independent filmmaker and Assistant Director in Hindi Film Industry based in Mumbai. His bachelor’s degree is in Mechanical Engineering from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune. He did his Masters in Film & Video Communication design from National Institute of design, Ahmedabad. ‘No Less Than Him’ is his graduation film which was shot, directed, edited and produced by him. His paper throws light on his journey while making this film. His interests include films, travelling, cooking, reading and photography.

Contact him at: aniketdwork@gmail.com Academic Guide: Shilpa Das

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SITTHICHAI SMANCHAT

Investigation of Textile Designs of Siamese Chintz between Gujarat Production and Coromandel Coast Production

The design study of Thai Royal textile, particularly in the case of Siamese chintz, contributes to Thai-Indian textile history. This present study expresses a comparative exploration of the textile design of Siamese chintz.

The objectives of this study are: (1) to compare the textile design of Siamese chintz between Gujarat production and Coromandel Coast production, (2) to investigate themes of motif, pattern and color of Siamese chintz from both productions, (3) to review dyeing techniques in the context of Siamese chintz of both productions.

The investigation of Thai Royal textile, particularly Siamese chintz textile samples are from the national museums (Thailand), royal collections, and private textile collections. (1) It was found that Gujarat production of simple chintz design had been made for a commoner, while Coromandel Coast production of splendid chintz design had been made for court members; (2) Motifs of Thai/Siamese royal textiles exhibited the complex composition of various motifs. The themes of design and pattern, a combination of colors, and nature of the material of fabric significantly presented the distinctively symbolic messages of royal hierarchies. The deity motifs, mythical animal motifs, and flame element depicted on Siamese chintz were mainly produced from Coromandel Coast, while the floral motifs were mainly produced from Gujarat area. (3) Textile samples of Coromandel Coast demonstrated the wax-resisted and natural dye techniques with various colors, while chintz of Gujarat showed clay-resisted or reverse-printed techniques with limited colors.

Thai documents classified the fine quality chintz as ‘Pha Lai-yang’ and the common quality chintz as ‘Pha Lai-nok-yang’. Furthermore, the common quality chintz of Gujarat production also known as ‘Pha-Gu-sa-rat’ (Gujarat cloth), ‘Pha-Su-rat’ (Surat cloth), ‘Pha-Yum-ma-wad’ (Ahmedabad cloth)

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during the Ayutthaya period. Later, in the Rattanakosin period after the Bowring Treaty (18th April 1855), these clothes were known by Indian agencies as ‘Pha-Vasi’ cloth, ‘Pha-Baghwal’ cloth, ‘Pha-Malabari’ cloth, ‘PhaMaskati’ cloth, while all of them were known as ‘Saudagiri’ (Trade cloth) in India.

KEY WORDS: TEXTILE DESIGNS, SIAMESE CHINTZ, GUJARAT, COROMANDEL COAST Sittichai Smanchat is Faculty, Applied Arts and Architecture, Ubonratchathani University based in Thailand. His bachelor’s degree is in art-education from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. He did his Masters in Fine Art in Textile from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University from West Bengal, India. He was awarded his doctorate from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University, India. He is a Vice-President of World Craft Council-Asia Pacific Region for Southeast Asia and on the Committee Board of A-WECA (Asian Wisdom, Environment, Culture and Art Foundation), Thailand. His research interests include Thai traditional textile history, fibre arts, and Indian textiles.

Contact him at: wcc.thaitextile.chai@gmail.com

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Untitled, Acrylic on Canvas - 12˝ X 12˝ 2011

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SESSION 2 Multi-Disciplinary Research in Design

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SHIMUL MEHTA VYAS

Can Future Studies Help Design Shape a Better Tomorrow?

Summarizing the words of Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman, authors of the book The Design Way, the world is changing at a rapid pace. Interestingly, according to them the change is occasionally driven by intent, but very often by accident leading to unpredictable outcomes. What is reassuring however is the belief that the desired change can be shaped by human intention. Further quoting the authors, “Human intention, made visible and concrete through the instrumentality of design, enables to create conditions, or artifacts, that facilitate the unfolding of human potential through designed evolution in contrast to an evolution based on chance and necessity.�

In view of the emerging demand on the field of design to shape the world in an informed and responsible manner, the upcoming research domain of Future Studies assumes crucial significance. Predominantly concerned with foretelling probable shifts in society, it is a complex multi-disciplinary approach which highlights important trends that are disrupting and transforming our social, cultural, political, economic, technological and environmental landscapes. It also brings to the fore intangible aspects such as emerging attitudes and values; new sensitivities, and preoccupations and concerns within society. Insights derived from systematic mapping of trends lead to anticipated needs and opportunities for design. Such insights form a critical basis for articulating and informing future design goals and design directions.

Acknowledging its strategic importance, many design-led companies and businesses have strategically started investing in Future Studies to gain a better grasp of what is upcoming so that they can efficiently manage change.

It enables them to pre-empt the likely needs of consumers even before they are manifested, and be adequately prepared to cater to them at an appropriate time. This results in their having an edge over competitors, and maintaining a leadership position in the industry. However, the opportunity

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to integrate Future Studies into design thinking goes far beyond this, and the advantageous potential it holds is yet to be actively leveraged by the profession of design. This paper aims to explore whether this branch of study has the power to influence design for driving holistic change at a macro level.

It attempts to examine whether Future Studies has the true ability to help design envision and shape a better tomorrow which is guided by good intent, and not by accident.

KEYWORDS: FUTURES INTELLIGENCE IN DESIGN THINKING, FUTURES TOOLS FOR DESIGN, BUILDING FUTURE VISIONS, STRATEGIC POLICY-MAKING Shimul Mehta Vyas is an accessory designer and design educator based in Ahmedabad. Her bachelor’s degrees are in Commerce and Law. She did her Associate in Applied Science in Accessory Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.)/State University of New York, New York, United States of America. She is currently Principal Designer and design faculty of Lifestyle Accessory Design at the National Institute of Design, India. Her research interests include future studies, lifestyle trend research, traditional & contemporary forms of jewellery, and craft design & development.

Contact her at: shimul@nid.edu

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ANA CRISTINA DIAS, RITA ALMENDRA

TIES Toolkit: Linking Academia and Business: An Expert’s Assessment of the Tool

This paper presents the evaluation of a proposed toolkit to link academia and society. The toolkit (named TIES) results from the confrontation of theory with empirical research methodology fulfilled and it is part of a PhD research focused on product design curricula’s adequacy to business challenges.

The assessment was made by two groups – an experimental and an expert one. The experimental group involved masters and doctoral students in design, and the experts group involved academics and professionals related to design, innovation and knowledge transfer agencies.

The results of both discussions allowed an iteration in the process of conception and corrections on the initial model, as well as to outline a singular and feasible framework as the final result of the PhD study. Thus, this paper aims to show the importance to auscultate privileged people throughout researching in order to boost the triangle research-educationpractice in the area of design.

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KEYWORDS: PRODUCT DESIGN EDUCATION; KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER; COLLABORATION; TIES TOOLKIT Ana Cristina Dias is a product designer and design educator based in Lisbon, Portugal. Her bachelor’s degree is in industrial design from the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Barcelos, Portugal. She did her PhD in Design from Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her doctoral research focused on the relationship between design education and its professional practice, namely on the adequacy of the academic curricula of product-service design to business challenges. Her research interests include design education, research and practice, and the transfer of knowledge processes.

Contact her at: acdias@fa.ulisboa.pt Rita Almendra is a designer and an Associate Professor with Aggregation at the Faculty of Architecture in Lisbon. She is the director of the Design Department, coordinator of CIAUD’s Design group and member of the Scientific Council of FA in Lisbon. She has an MBA in management with a marketing specialization from the FCEE at Catholic University of Lisbon. Her Master in Design Management was supervised by Prof. Charles Waldman from INSEAD. She lectures at the undergraduate, Master and PhD Programs and teaches several courses in the areas of theory and critics, design studio, sustainable design and design management. Rita has published more than 70 papers and several book chapters.

Contact her at: almendra@fa.ulisboa.pt

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DAGMAR STEFFEN

Transdisciplinarity: A Key Factor in Applied (Design) Research

In recent years, design and design research have shifted from isolated tasks to tackling complex problems such as sustainable development and integrated innovation. These challenges cross the borders of established academic disciplines and exceed the expertise of specialists; rather, they require knowledge, methods, and approaches from several academic fields as well as from scholars and from practitioners.

Proceeding from the definition of the terms 1.) multi-disciplinarity, 2.) pluridisciplinarity 3.) cross-disciplinarity, 4.) interdisciplinarity, and 5.) transdisciplinarity, including Michael Gibbons’ concept of “Mode 1” and “Mode 2”-science, the paper continues with scrutinizing the controversially discussed question of whether design is a discipline or an ‘undisciplinable’ profession.

On that basis the paper presents the program and measures taken at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland, to encourage researchers to engage in inter- and transdisciplinary research projects.

Furthermore, it presents two case examples of inter- and a transdisciplinary research projects, conducted by researchers from the School of Art & Design/ Competence Centre Design & Management, in collaboration with colleagues from the Faculty of Social Work and Faculty of Business. Finally, the paper concludes by pointing out the specific requirements of conducting inter- and transdisciplinary research projects.

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KEYWORDS: INTERDISCIPLINARITY, TRANSDISCIPLINARITY, APPLIED DESIGN RESEARCH, DESIGN AS A DISCIPLINE Dagmar Steffen is a design educator and design researcher based in Lucerne.

Her diploma degree is in product design from the Offenbach School of Art & Design, Offenbach am Main in Germany. Her doctoral research was on practiceintegrating design research as a means to bridge the theory-practice-gap and she was awarded her doctorate from the Institute of Design Science, University of Wuppertal in Germany. She is currently lecturer and mentor in the BA and MA programme product design, and design researcher at the Competence Centre Design & Management at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland. Her research interests include design semiotics, product language, theories and history of design, and human-centred design.

Contact her at: dagmar.steffen@hslu.ch

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BETTINA MINDER, SABINE JUNGINGER, GRĂœTER ELIAN

Embedding Design Strategies in Craft-Based Social Innovation Project: A Challenge of Different Understanding of Craft

Craft has during the past few years developed into a widely acknowledged approach creating social innovation and change. Yet, in spite of a plethora of craft-based projects and approaches, social innovation projects continue to struggle in relation to the transferability and scalability of their initiatives.

In this paper, it is proposed that a lack of focus on craft as design strategy is part of what is hindering development and growing of these projects.

Through a series of problem-centred interviews, it is demonstrated how different understanding of craft, different values and goals creates challenges in relation to embedding design strategies in already existing knowledge and practices. The clarification of such difficulties calls for focus in craft research on description of craft in social innovation and project identity construction.

KEYWORDS: CRAFT, SOCIAL INNOVATION, DESIGN STRATEGIES

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Bettina Minder is a design researcher and design educator based in Zurich, Switzerland. Her bachelor’s degree is in graphic design. She has another bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Slavic languages and literature, film studies and German literature from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Bettina is in the process of finishing her PhD at the Centre for Industrial Production at the Aalborg University, Denmark. She is a staff member of the Competence Center for Research in Design and Management of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland. Her research interests include collaborative design approaches, social design, design thinking and craft.

Contact her at: bettina.minder@hslu.ch Sabine Junginger has a Master in Communication Planning and information Design from the Carnegie Mellon University. Her doctoral research was on change in the making–organizational change through human-centered product development and she was awarded her PhD also from Carnegie Mellon University. She links policy-making and policy-implementation with humancentered design and organisational design practices. She is an expert for the EU program Design for Europe, the EU program DESMA, the EU Sectorial Dialogues Brazil-EU, the External Member of the Faculty of Art and Design for the Research Committee at the Free University Bozen (IT), and member of the scientific board of Alpbach Forum. She is currently Head of the Competence Center for Research in Design and Management at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Contact her at: sabine.junginger@hslu.ch Grüter Elian has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with major value network and process management from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA) based in Lucerne. She is currently Assistant at the Competence Center for Research in Design and Management at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Her research interests include social innovation and crafts as well as supply chain and international cooperation.

Contact her at: elian.grueter@hslu.ch

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CHINMAYI ARAKALI

Designing Films for Change: Lessons from Supporting a Women’s Empowerment Programme

Within the social sector in India, there are a vast number of organisations, institutions and projects working with the mission of women’s empowerment. Mahila Samakhya is one such project, established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education, Government of India in 1986. This pioneering project works with rural women, organising them into ‘sanghas’ or collectives, following the chief motto “education for empowerment”. Could there be a role for a designer in a programme such as this? How does one define empowerment and does visual media have a role to play in aiding empowerment? Could technology support a women’s empowerment programme, and how? What values must guide the design process in the social context? How does the process of filmmaking change while working with women in the villages? These are some of the questions the paper seeks to answer.

This paper draws from personal experience of working as a filmmaker/ designer in the social sector, specifically in the area of women’s empowerment. Two broad questions that it seeks to explore are: a) the identity of a filmmaker/ designer in the social sector and b) looking at video and the process of image making as a tool for empowerment and education.

As a student of film at a design institute earlier, my interest in the social sector defined and governed my approach to learning. When I joined the NGO however, I was the designer among development professionals and researchers. I had very little knowledge of the field, but was armed with an understanding of film and of design process. Being a young woman in the field, trying to understand how women’s empowerment is achieved in the villages, my identity took on multiple shades: designer - filmmaker development professional - researcher. The paper seeks to reflect on these elements that shape the identity of a designer in the social sector as well as narrate the lessons in understanding the context that shaped the films we made.

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KEYWORDS: COMMUNICATION FOR CHANGE, GENDER, WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, VIDEO Chinmayi Arakali is a communication designer and teacher based in Mysore.

Her bachelor’s degree is in journalism from Mahajana’s College, Mysore. She did her Post Graduate Diploma in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is currently an independent communication design professional and a visiting faculty at the Amrita School of Arts and Science, Mysore. Her research interests include communication for change, the non-profit sector and gender.

Contact her at: chinmayiarakali@gmail.com

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AISHWARYA NARAYANA

Sensing the Sacred in Self and Space: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Space Perception and Theory of Architecture

Our research thrives on the humanistic interface of behavioral science, architectural design, and ethnography. Operating on the premise of intersubjectivity in phenomenological experience, this study explored the psychological, sociological and philosophical aspects of the interaction between man and sacred space within the context of Hindu temples. The choice of Hindu temple as the typology for sacred space was clear given its cultural, psychological and historical value especially due to its evolution as native Indian style of facilitating a multi-sensory experience in a multifunctional built space. According to George Michell (1988) “all the cosmic elements that create and sustain life are present in a Hindu temple.” Yet, to what extent is the experience of a visitor in a sacred space determined by the physicality and materiality as compared to its individualistic cognitive interpretation and affect?

This grounded research approach to space perception intended to study the psychological effects of a temple’s architecture on users or visitors as opposed to just passively documenting the built-space and its design.

Interviews were conducted with the visitors across four different temples.

The data was textually analyzed to arrive at an understanding of the intention of the visit cross-referenced with the interpersonal differences in preference and the ideas of spatial propriety as expressed by the respondents. The perceptual parameters of human-space interaction as inferred from the analysis expand not only the scope of the sacred architecture but also provide insights into the dynamic nature of the sacred experience and its relationship between the different styles and expressions of temple architecture.

Environmental psychology and neuroscience have been studying various architectural parameters and their perception whereas in architectural design theory, phenomenology as a narrative is being revisited by the works

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of Steven Holl, Tadao Ando, and Peter Zumthor alongside publications like ‘Questions of Perception’, ‘Atmospheres’ and ‘Mind in Architecture’. With that as the background, our study was conducted at the Music, Culture and Cognition laboratory, IGNCA Bangalore where a growing body of interdisciplinary perspectives has been adding to our understanding of research in social sciences, especially in music and space perception. With this study and the milieu supporting it, the paper yearns to forge the much-needed alliance between psychology, behavioral sciences, and architecture within and beyond the paradigm of qualitative research. Although institutions like the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture have been encouraging empirical research in neuroscience for facilitating evidence-based space design, we posit that exploratory studies rooted in psychology can provide the necessary theoretical and conceptual framework to rectify the apparent misconnections between the highly selective and specialized findings in cognitive and neurosciences and their viability as architectural design determinants. Eventually, we believe that a multi-disciplinary approach could generate more diversity in architectural theory and help mitigate the homogeneity of today’s stylistic and overbearingly retinal aesthetic.

KEYWORDS: PHENOMENOLOGY, ARCHITECTURAL THEORY, MULTI-SENSORY, BEHAVIOURAL RESEARCH Aishwarya Narayana is an architect and an experimental psychologist based in Bengaluru. She has a B.Arch from RV College of Architecture, Bangalore and a B.A. in Psychology from IGNOU. She is currently Research Intern at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bengaluru. Her research interests pan across history, theory, and philosophy of architecture as well as Affective and Behavioural psychology. Contact her at: aishwaryanarayana3@gmail.com

Academic Guide: Deepti Navaratna, PhD is a neuroscientist and Carnatic classical musician based in Bengaluru, who is the regional director of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bengaluru. She also leads the ‘Alchemy of Performance’ - a research and cultural entrepreneurship. Her research interests are the neuro-psycho-biological aspects of culture, specifically musical rhythm, memory and pedagogy. Contact her at: executivedirector.igncasrc@gmail.com

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AMIT SINHA

Colour in Design: Discovering the Functional Approaches

This paper aims at presenting an overview of the need, function and objective aspects of the existing colour related decision-making in design approaches and solutions. It seeks to identify and point out relevance to appropriate colour theories focusing on the functional approach to colour.

The reliability on the colour recommendation process is questionable in the volatile and fast changing world of today where decisions are no more dictated by the design, product or service providers. The paper tries to establish the role of various factors – factual, process oriented or behavioural - which are responsible for choices made about colours by people. It tries to relate with the human response to colour through smaller segments such as everyday communication, usable products and technical as well as social responses that are part of day to day life, focusing on the various aspects of the process – the perception of value and choice-making in product or service selection. The influencing factors such as environment, sociopolitics, culture, economy, mass-media, promotions, psychology etc. and the decision making methods applied in selecting goods, response or service, the ambiguity of trust or reliability, and the timeline considered or taken in each aspects of value judgements of those decisions, all are active parts of the process. There can be undesirable consequences if wrong decisions about colour come into practice while designing a product or service.

The method applied for establishing this research topic is based on secondary resource, where the focus upon cross checking existing methods as well as the established theoretical constructs that support the idea fully or partially, are enquired. As its main content and context, this paper aims to help in developing approaches that can support effective and relevant decision-making about colour by developing a deeper multidisciplinary understanding of it to contribute to processes of design service involved.

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Such a research area and topic can greatly help in approaches to develop and apply a more strategic method by design professionals for initiating and managing colour choices and colour selection processes of people. A variety of multi-disciplinary research are considering the importance of colour as a valuable subject to relate to and to address people. This kind of understanding about colour is established as the ‘function of colour’, [as J. W. Von Goethe (1749-1832) first took attention away from colour as light and focused on physical function or response] and can help the effective process to design. The same approach has been supported with the views of Benso L. (1999). The paper further discusses ‘factors that influence colour related decisions’. However, any single factor is not stressed upon and a mixed, multi-disciplinary approach is proposed.

KEYWORDS: COLOUR, PERCEPTION, CULTURE, DESIGN EDUCATION Amit Sinha is an alumnus from NID and a design educator based in Gandhinagar. His bachelor’s degree is in Sociology (Hon.) from Banaras Hindu University, India. He did his post graduation in Apparel Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Later, he worked with industry for 9+ years and did another Masters in Anthropology from IGNOU, India.

He is currently pursuing doctoral research on cultural influences and colour choices from NID, Ahmedabad. His research interests include colour perception, cultural influence, local meaning, semiotics and design education.

Contact him at: amitsinha@nid.edu.

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BHANU PRASAD M N, NANDANA CHAKRABORTY

Applying Multidisciplinary and Human-centred Methods in Scalable Social Innovation

This paper presents our experience in a multidisciplinary research ecosystem in the pursuit of creating long-term sustainable social impact in India. In this paper we aim to address these complex social challenges through a multidisciplinary research framework primarily having three elements namely Discover, Create and Deploy.

An Open Innovation lab stimulates integrated multidisciplinary research and innovation by bringing together change agents from different disciplines like engineering, design, management, Innovation specialists, generalists and social scientists. Through this approach, the lab is able to deliver very locally relevant interventions while co–creating with the local administration, academia, industrial partners, community assets and other collaborators in a time-bound and milestone driven approach.

The locally relevant intervention created at the Open Innovation Center is adapted to account for variables in the cross-border target ecosystem (a new District or State). Based on our experience of creating effective adaptations, our research proposes a framework comprising two coefficients - an Impact coefficient and a Weightage coefficient.

Weightage coefficients rank the significance of 12 ‘dimensions’ during the lifecycle of an intervention, and impact coefficients help prioritize factors that determine the effective diffusion of services to a beneficiary in a cross-border ecosystem. As a result of this bottom-up, co-creation driven innovation process, we have seen an empowered civil society that is playing its part and taking positive steps ito embrace the new interventions.

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KEYWORDS: SOCIAL INNOVATION, INNOVATION LABS, MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS, PUBLIC SERVICE INNOVATION, RESEARCH AND IMPACT INDICATORS Bhanu Prasad has been associated with TCS in the TATA Group for the last 18 years working on technology innovations related to payments, commerce & customer experience, design thinking, and human-computer interaction. Today, he works on challenging problems in the public services space in India at Digital Impact Square (DISQ), A TCS Foundation initiative in Nashik. In 2016, he was one of 12 Indian leaders to be awarded the prestigious Chevening Fellowship, by the British Government. As a Chevening Fellow, he studied at King’s College London where his research focus was in the area of public policy-practice gap.

Bhanu has a master’s degree in general management from Harvard University, Mass., USA, a postgraduate diploma in values & spirituality from Annamalai University and has completed the CSIA program, Converting Strategy into Action from Stanford University.

He can be contacted at: bhanu@post.harvard.edu Nandana Chakraborty is a communication designer and social innovation design lead based in Nashik. She has been associated with TCS for the last 2 years. Her bachelor’s degree is in communication design from the Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. She has a Master’s degree in Graphic Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has been involved in innovations for social impact in the areas of maternal and child health and education for children with special needs in the past. She is currently working on social challenges in the public service domain in India as Social Innovation Design Lead at DISQ. Her research interests include development studies, information design systems for public service, innovation policy.

Contact her at: chakrabortynandana@gmail.com

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NAMRATA TORASKAR

Defamiliarising the Dwelling Morphogenesis in Parvati Valley, Himachal Pradesh: The Case of Grahan Village

This paper is located at the intersection of social sciences, visual culture and the upcoming dwelling rituals in Parvati valley of Himachal Pradesh. Centred around the concept of ‘image production’ of dwellings, the paper explores the relationship of image production mechanisms to the preservation of traditional dwelling processes. Delving into the various tools of popular image production, the mechanisms of image productions that reinforce a particular image on actors- the natives and the visitors, in Parvati valley are identified.

Due to the repeated bombardment of the new images of the landscape, the actors become habituated to the portrayed image that to leads to the intensification of certain dwelling patterns and the degradation of the others.

Therefore, in the context of preservation, how can we harmonize the elements for ensuring a continuity of patterns that shape the traditional dwelling processes and hence the dwelling design itself? Victor Shklovsky in his book ‘Theory of Prose’ introduces the idea of defamiliarisation as a technique of presenting to an audience common things in an unfamiliar way in order to enhance perception of the familiar by increasing the duration of perception. The paper thus aims at understanding the application of Shklovsky’s defamiliarisation theory on the dwelling morphogenesis in Parvati valley.

In the current decade, the morphogenetic (change driving) mechanisms have dominated the morphostatic (stability enhancing) mechanisms in the dwelling processes of the Pahadis of Parvati valley by various agencies like the government policies, tourism, mass and visual media. In this context of change, the paper narrows down on the remote villages which stand at the threshold of being engulfed by the morphogenetic mechanisms at

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work in Parvati valley. Thus taking Grahan village as the case-study, the paper addresses the irrational change in the dwelling processes in this type of villages at behavioral level which Shklovsky’s defamiliarisation theory allows. Accordingly, the ritualistic characteristics of the dwelling processes in Grahan are observed through a ‘dwelling perspective’. The patterns that derive through this investigation are analysed to identify the institution of ‘devata’ as the leverage of the society at natural-socio-religious level on which the defamiliarisation tool can be used. The defamiliarisation theory is thus applied through the medium of art by showing an unfamiliar image of their dwelling and landscape to the Grahanis through the means of crosscultural juxtaposition.

This attempt at defamiliarisation thus explores the role of an outsider, in this case the author, in bringing in a new perspective to the habituated perceptions of the Grahanis. This might educate and trigger a change in perception of the Grahanis to enable them to see the consequences of the morphogenetic mechanisms at work. This self-driven change in perception of their habituated dwelling processes will lead to preservation of the traditional dwelling processes and hence the traditional dwelling techniques.

KEYWORDS: DEFAMILIARISATION THEORY, HIMACHAL PRADESH, DWELLINGS, RITUALS, ‘DEVATA’ INSTITUTION Namrata Toraskar is an architect and independent researcher based in Mumbai.

Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from Rachna Sansad’s Academy of Architecture, Mumbai. She did her Masters in Interior Architecture and Design with a specialization in Craft and Technology from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Her post-graduate research was on defamiliarising the dwelling morphogenesis of Parvati Valley, HP: a case of Grahan village and she was awarded her Master’s degree from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. She is currently a Sahapedia-UNESCO fellow undertaking independent research on the rituals of traditional liquors in the tribal belt of Dahanu. Her research interests include the study of building crafts, dwelling rituals and visual culture of Indian vernacular settlements.

Contact her at: grahani.gaatha@gmail.com Academic Guide: Shilpa Das

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SHIGORIKA SINGH, SAMYAK JAIN

The Evolution of the Fashion Image

THE CONTEXT: The consumption of fashion evolves with the consumer; once purchased through paper catalogues and in hallowed showrooms, with pieces arriving over weeks, it is now available digitally with products delivered the same day. As this media and purchasing behaviour evolves, the communication to this consumer evolves. The image, often a significantly influential aspect of this communication, is defined by: 1) The selection of merchandise which is data backwards and provides commercial viability for the business.

2) The visual, which is aspirational, and trickles down from a higher creative ethos.

THE THEORY: Merchandise: What the customer likes, already wears, and is most likely to buy informs the selection of the fashion catalogue. This catalogue then is fed back to the consumer and s/he makes the buy due to familiarity and accessibility. This is a confirmation on the nature of the data which becomes an information loop that feeds itself.

Treatment: We imbue this basic merchandise with aspirational visual language that aligns with the top-down approach of fashion to increase the desirability of the product.

Treatment & Merchandise merge: Now the consumer is buying product that s/he is familiar with but in an ambience that is more fashionable. So, his/ her expectation rises from E to E1. When E1 becomes input I1 in the new information loop, it needs to be further imbued with higher fashion visual language, thereby making our information loop an upward spiral, where the input of the customer keeps rising incrementally.

Even though expectation rises in a unitary fashion (from E1 to E2, E3 and so on) and the upward spiral grows in a cylindrical fashion; the perception of

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the consumer finally having become fashionable at the latest buy is satiated momentarily. However, from the customers’ perspective, s/he is moving up in a conical upward spiral, unaware that the vertex moves up as well. At every consecutive loop, the spiral goes one step further… to infinity.

THE OBJECTIVE: What this paper will do is zoom into the aspirational visual language of this process and examine the impact of stimuli that change the creative treatment for a product defined by the various personal biases (impacted by socio-cultural movements, technological and communication upgrade) that one employs deliberately or unwittingly to create this final image, its impact on the final product and the impact of the final product back on collective conscience.

KEYWORDS: FASHION, IMAGERY, ASPIRATIONAL VALUE, CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR Shigorika Singh is a fashion journalist and editor based in Bengaluru. Her bachelor’s degree is in literature from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

She did her post graduate diploma in Fashion Image & Styling from Istituto Marangoni, Paris, France. Her work has ranged from forecasting fashion trends, writing fashion critique to creating fashion campaigns for print and e-commerce. She is currently the Fashion Editor at Amazon Fashion India. Her research interests include history of fashion, consumer behaviour and imagery in fashion advertising.

Contact her at: shigorika@gmail.com

Samyak Jain is a cross-disciplinary designer and a fashion enthusiast based in Bengaluru. His bachelor’s degree is in exhibition & spatial design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. His work spans multi-disciplinary fields such as set design, exhibition design and now visual design. He is currently a Visual Design Lead (Art Director) at Amazon Fashion and works specifically on creating e-commerce experiences for luxury and designer brands on Amazon and also leads the Amazon India Fashion Week for Amazon as the team-lead. His research interests include history of fashion, photography, and consumer behavior.

Contact him at: contact@smyk.in

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VISHWANATH PASUMARTHI

Computer Simulations as Design Inspiration: Visualizing Blockchain Consensus

The revolution with blockchain technology is the possibility of reaching a consensus among a group of strangers without a central authority. This decentralised nature needs to be understood in order to design with and for it. Agent Based Modelling (ABM) is a method to simulate and study decentralised and interconnected behaviour. Using NetLogo, a visualisation of the consensus mechanism is explored in the form of models, networks and graphs. As the world is becoming more decentralised technologically and politically, the paper concludes, necessary additions to the design toolkit must include modelling environments like NetLogo.

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KEYWORDS: AGENT BASED MODELLING, NETLOGO, INFORMATION VISUALISATION, BLOCKCHAIN, CONSENSUS Vishwanath Pasumarthi is an integrated designer based in India. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently pursuing independent research. His research interests include exploring design approaches to complex systems and decentralisation.

Contact him at: vishwanath95@gmail.com

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KUNTAL SHAH

A Call for Forging Alliances & Fostering Process: Tools may not be Changed but Methods can be Developed

Today the design field is emerging at a faster pace than ever before. As is typical with the present-time, we are always in the midst of emerging trends.

For designers, this means either following the trends or setting new ones by being well ahead of the times. As technologies converge and wide-ranging designs become more widespread, elegant and smart tools will aid design to engage, respond and adapt.

The aim of the study is to examine analytically how drawing information together through multidisciplinary research and such activities support the creating of a map. That provides a deeper understanding for future work in the field. It takes a great deal of effort to come to the stage of confirmation.

But, it actually contributes from conceptualization to actualization for a final design.

Thinking design is the ability to exploit opposing ideas and opposing constraints to create new solutions. In case of design, that means balancing desirability, what humans need with technical feasibility and economic viability.

The art has offered much to science and seeing the same relative value that science has to design. But this idea also presents in today’s forward-thinking designers, providing a necessary balance. They may be equally at home, in the studio or the laboratory; just as keen to patiently gather information as they are to challenge it with a playful, imaginative notion.

The study emphasizes multidisciplinary research that relies on shared knowledge through interactions of various fields. Working together on a common subject within the boundaries of all disciplines, it is good to use a multidisciplinary research approach. It gives designers and clients a much more nuanced understanding of who they design for while providing

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knowledge that addresses some of the most fundamental questions we face throughout the process.

Whether research is for design or research is into the design, it relies robustly on the research traditions of different disciplines. Multidisciplinary research may not necessarily provide direct and hard answers, but it contributes other than the development and evaluation for new design methods. That eventually generates good and feasible ideas.

KEYWORDS: COLLABORATION, EVALUATION, PURPOSE, ORIGINAL Kuntal Shah is a town planner, architect and visiting faculty in Rajkot and Ahmedabad. His bachelor’s degree is in architecture from the Sarvajanik College of Engineering & Technology, Surat, India. He did his Masters in Urban Planning from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom. His paper research was published on ‘Perspectives on Cooling Concepts and Alternative Uses: Strengths and Accountabilities’. He presented his paper at SMMCA, Nagpur, Maharashtra. He is currently Town Planner for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna at Bavla Nagarpalika, Bavla. His research interests include design, sustainability, waste management and smart cities.

Contact him at: ar.kuntal@oxfordbrookes.net

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A BHASKAR RAO

Sound Composition, Auditory Storytelling and Communication Design

This paper extrapolates on a design research methodology, which aims at intervening in traditions and transitions associated with storytelling; captured, interpreted and represented through the medium of sound. The methodology focuses on narratives, which form a part of human interaction and communication with the surroundings, as it exists in various forms across analogue and digital platforms and therefore, holds much value in the context of auditory perception and propagation.

The major study areas for these storytelling and communication aspects include interactions, namely human to human, human to nature, silence to noise (and vice versa), along with the changes, modifications and repercussions they pose.

Within the larger sphere of research, further objectives include delving into mapping, manipulating and representing auditory aspects of the above mentioned interactions, categorized into domains such as: Co-existence of natural and man-made sounds within the constantly changing sonic spectrum Communication; languages, speech, communication through/ from natural and human-made sounds Composition; soundscapes, music, poetry and other auditory storytelling traditions

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KEYWORDS: COMMUNICATION DESIGN, SOUND COMPOSITION, EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC, SOUNDSCAPE ECOLOGY A Bhaskar Rao is a sound composer and design educator based in Ahmedabad, India. His bachelor’s degree is in Planning and Policy making from the National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India. He did his Masters in Film and Video Communication Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. His research interests include composed sound environments for experiential storytelling, soundscape ecology, communication design, music technology and computational music.

Contact him at: a.bhaskar.rao12@gmail.com

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APARNA KALE

Mapping the Meaning Making Systems in Site-Specific Installation Art

Installation art has seen an evolution in its perception, and the subsequent allied terminologies. Starting off as an avenue for the inclusion of the viewer as an active participant in art by minimalist artists, the genre of installation art has evolved an offshoot of sculptural practice. This entails encompassing the viewer in the engulfing environments that are created through artistic practices. Its percolation outside museum spaces into the public sphere, with the aim of decentralizing the institutions of art, and making art accessible to all, sees its application in the urban rejuvenation of many places. The terms that have been widely associated with public art installations have been context and site-specific. It is these aspects that construct meaning in the installation in its production stages, while the final artwork is multi-layered, with meanings of the place, of the artist and of the viewers.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between existing contexts, the production of a site-specific artwork and viewer responses to the installation. The two case studies analysed as part of the Sassoon Dock Art Project (2017) in Mumbai show installation art as an embodiment of the context that they are situated in, and the translation of cultural concepts into the spaces they occupy. It employs the framework of semantics and social semiotics to deconstruct the meaning making mechanisms in sitespecific installation art, and its interaction with the viewers, though the analysis of a series of qualitative exercises. It explores installation art as a spatial art practice, at the juncture of art and design and its extension into its surrounding urban context, taking into consideration both the represented and the viewers.

The installation, hence, becomes a reflection of locational identities of the place, which are built by the geography of the place, people and their everyday objects. These become signifieds in the artwork that are communicated through various meaning making systems, as signs for the

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surrounding contexts. This has been analysed through the framework of metaphors, framing Theo van Leeuwen’s social semiotic structure comprising of discourse, genre, style and modality. This led to tracing the intangibles of the place through the tangible artworks analysed.

The study finds its extension in contextual design practice by understanding the inherent semiotic modes that build their identity. The design problem in terms of bridging design and context then becomes the transmission of these semiotic modes into the proposed design as connotations of the immediate contexts.

KEYWORDS: INSTALLATION ART, CONTEXT, LOCATIONAL IDENTITY, SOCIAL SEMIOTICS Aparna Kale is an architect based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from L.S Raheja School of Architecture, Mumbai. Her International Masters in Interior Architectural Design with a specialisation in history, theory and criticism is from CEPT University, Ahmedabad. She is currently Junior Architect at SJK Architects. Her research interests include design research, public art, conservation, urban studies, social semiotics, ethnography, theory and criticism. Contact her at: aparna.kale.miad16@cept.ac.in Academic Guide: Seema Khanwalkar is a social scientist and design theory educator based in Ahmedabad. She did her Master’s in Linguistics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi India. Her doctoral research was on understanding oral narratives and performance cultures from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is currently associated with CEPT University where she teaches theories of meaning in association with design, cultural anthropology, and narrative cultures. Her research interests include space and cultural meaning, and product narratives. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Design CEPT University.

Contact her at: seema.khanwalkar@cept.ac.in

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SHRUTI KALE

First Principles of Thinking in Design

The inspiration for this study comes from the methods used by the scientific community for innovation. Designers use the design process to innovate while scientists work with first principles to innovate. The goal of this study was to understand how first principles behave, what can it offer exclusively to designers and where to implement them in the design process.

Design evolved extensively in the last century, as it was an age of newer materials, exciting production technologies and mass manufacturing. The design field was designed to cater to all of these needs of creation. Internet, artificial intelligence, space travel, human longevity, global warming, cellular medicine are some of these centuries evolving fields. These fields fundamentally belong to science.

Designers are creative, imaginative beings and they will continue to contribute to upcoming scientific challenges. However, there is room for improvising the way designers think during the design process. There are a few set methods, processes and tools in other disciplines that may help designers to participate and to be successful creators in the fields that are highly science based. This paper studies one of the major thinking tools used in science based disciplines in the hope to learn from them and adapt them for a successful design contribution in the upcoming challenges.

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KEYWORDS: FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THINKING IN DESIGN, COGNITIVE SCIENCE IN DESIGN, CHECK FACTS IN DESIGN PROCESS, FRAMING A DESIGN PROBLEM, DESIGN AND SCIENCE Shruti Kale is a product designer and design educator based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in product design from the MIT Institute of Design, Pune, India. She is currently an Associate Professor at ISDI Parsons India. Her research interests include design thinking methods, psychology in design and cognitivephysical performance.

Contact her at: shrutivkale@gmail.com

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Untitled, Acrylic on Canvas - 12˝ X 12˝ 2011

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SESSION 3 Contemporary & Evolving Models of Design Research

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LORRAINE GAMMAN, PRAVEEN NAHAR AND ADAM THORPE

Makeright: Transforming Prison Systems through Reflective Design-Led Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial Action

Makeright started as a socially responsive design research idea at University of the Arts London in 2014 and has developed and tested teaching materials and creative methods to support participatory design with prison inmates in the UK and India. This paper will reflect further on Makeright’s efforts to contribute to rehabilitation and desistance (abstinence from crime). Its proposition is that i designers can catalyse some form of systems change by reaching not just inmates but also prison staff as intrapreneurs (e.g. employees within an organization who can innovate inside) who can/have used their employee roles to promote and sustain change. Ultimately this paper will explore the relationship between design process and practice, between entrepreneurship and intra-preneurship in regards to our activities with Makeright in the UK and India, in order to offer ideas towards design’s role in systems change.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN; PRISON; ENTREPRENEURSHIP; INTRAPRENEURSHIP Lorraine Gamman is a design catalyst, design researcher and design educator based at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London, where she supervises PhD students and teaches both undergraduate and post graduate design students. Her bachelor’s degree is in cultural studies (with specialisation on design issues) from Middlesex University, Cockfosters, London. She did her Masters at University of Kent, England where her 1988 thesis on female viewers and spectators (The Female Gaze) was located and subsequently published by The Women’s Press and is still widely referenced by media studies students.

Her doctoral research on shoplifting led to her Penguin book (Gone Shopping 1996) and her doctorate was awarded by Middlesex University in 1999.

Whilst teaching product design at CSM she also set up the Design Against Crime Research Centre in 1999 that she continues to direct. Dr. Gamman is currently

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Professor of Design at Central Saint Martins/University of the Arts and her research interests include socially responsive design, social justice, and design interventions that work to produce better lives.

Contact her at: gamman@csm.arts.ac.uk Praveen Nahar is a product designer, senior faculty in Industrial Design, and heads the Product Design Programme at NID, Ahmedabad. He also chairs International Programmes at NID. An IIT Delhi and TU Delft Alumni, Praveen teaches and has research interests in systems thinking and its relation to design thinking, design in the public domain, sustainable design/ green design, and appropriate technology. In recent years, he has been actively involved in academic projects with students that are related to sustainability and systems thinking and design that deal with complex issues ranging from healthcare to mobility. With over 22 years of experience in design teaching and consultancy, Praveen has been involved at both micro and strategic level in various sectors of the industry and social sector. Praveen has lectured and conducted design workshops and seminars on the subject all over the world.

Contact him at: pnahar@nid.edu Adam Thorpe is a designer, design researcher and educator based in London.

After studying biology at Kingston University he founded cult fashion brand Vexed Generation Clothing and has consulted to many global brands on integration of social issues and impact into product and fashion design. He is currently Professor of Socially Responsive Design at Central Saint Martins College, University of the Arts London (UAL). He is Co Director of the Design Against Crime Research Centre and Coordinator of the UAL DESIS Lab (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability). He is Principal Investigator of the Public Collaboration Lab delivered in partnership with London Borough of Camden, focused on participatory design for service, social and policy innovation at a local level. Adam’s research focus is collaborative design for social impact.

Contact him at: a.thorpe@csm.arts.ac.uk

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NANKI NATH

Conceptual Framework of Typeface Applications for In-Vehicle Cockpit Display Designs [Context: Global Car Brands]

Typography has played a pivotal role in the modern car cockpit display.

Current trends in vehicle cockpit displays apply modern technologies in coherence with visual features of text and graphics. Therefore, provisions for user interface in which controls can be easily identified and understood by car drivers become a significant design parameter.

In this context, the present paper brings forth an overview on the typographic design and the visual language applied in the cockpit display design components of globally known car brands. The choice of typeface varies with the content belonging to various display systems inside these cars. The observations take into account the visual features of the typefaces coming under ‘Classical Aesthetics’ and ‘Expressive Aesthetics’ for three categories of content, namely ‘Static’ (in instrument cluster), ‘Dynamic’ (in central console navigation systems) and ‘Interactive’ (in head-up displays /HUDs) information displays.

The final discussions describe the conceptual framework that highlights the features and aesthetics of typefaces applied in cockpit displays. The paper also includes an articulation of potential areas of future research required to design effective type displays for vehicular cockpits.

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KEYWORDS: TYPOGRAPHY; COCKPIT DISPLAYS; CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK; PROGRESSIVE AUTOMOTIVE DESIGNS Nanki Nath is a graphic design faculty and Activity Vice Chairperson, Research & Publications at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. Her master’s diploma is in Graphic Design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, India. She did her doctorate in Visual Communication Design from IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India. Her doctoral research thesis was titled, ‘Visual Framework of Colour Analysis of Shop Signs in India’. Her research interests include visual semiotics, visual research methodology, contemporary graphic design thinking methods, typography, pedagogy, design education and merging graphic design issues with upcoming interactive technologies.

Contact her at: nanki_n@nid.edu, nankinath@gmail.com

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ANUPAM PURTY

Changing Contexts in Design: The Role of Internet

This paper looks at the the critical role of context in design research specifically; and design practices in general. The education and conditioning one goes through in a particular academic environment is governed by the prevailing economic situation and resources available. It outlines, using several examples, the changing research methods one goes through when learning has taken place in a particular country and is required to use the same learning in a different country.

It will also emphasize on the cyclic nature of research and practice. There is a growing number of opinions agreeing to the fact that there a definite overlap between creative practice and research. This relationship results in the adaptation and evolution of research methodology when presented with different contexts to the same problem.

This paper reiterates the fact that design practices are a reflection of economy. It is the availability of material or the lack of it, that shapes the final outcome of the design that sees the light of the day. How one’s design process and research is altered with the changing social, cultural and economic context; is what will be consciously addressed to, throughout the paper.

Research techniques have evolved rapidly over the last decade; so much so that the traditional methods of research are being questioned. This paper also explores the possible gaps that may be between what the design students are learning and what is expected of them when they start working in the industry. There has been an active debate within the design circles on whether the time has come to overhaul the design education in a major way, which would also mean incorporation and study of new research methods

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more relevant to the advancement in technology. Recent trends in research methods will be highlighted in the paper, which will underscore the need for the increased and meaningful interaction between design students and industry professionals.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN, RESEARCH, CONTEXT, RESEARCH METHODS, RESEARCH BASED DESIGN. Anupam Purty is a graphic designer and photographer based in Dubai. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is currently Senior Graphic Designer at Ignite Middle East, Dubai. His interests include understanding the culture & traditions of the indigenous people of Jharkhand and landscape photography.

Contact him at: anupampurty@gmail.com

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NISHITH URVAL

Designing Secular Spaces in Juhapura, Using the Medium of Sequential Art

This research paper uses the medium of sequential art to explore and communicate ethnography, site studies and architectural process. Sequential art can not only surpass barriers of language and geographical boundary, but they can cross boundaries created by class, education and age as well.

Architectural language is now restricted to plans, elevations, sections and views which does not easily communicate with the general crowd outside the architectural fraternity. Hence, comics or graphic novels can be a valuable tool in communicating complex architectural ideas and urban narratives to the people, bridging the gap between Architects and the common man.

As a designer of spaces, I felt one has to build context from inside the belly of a city. There are many public spaces in the old-city of Ahmedabad that are used by all communities. All these spaces are genetically coded in the city.

These spaces were great examples where, the spatial quality of the place itself broke the notions of communal barriers in people’s minds. This paper is an attempt to replicate such spaces in Juhapura.

The paper attempts to design secular public spaces in the border area of Juhapura. Case studies of public spaces in the old city of Ahmedabad and ethnographic studies in Juhapura resulted in final programme and strategies to dissolve the physical and notional border in Juhapura.

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KEYWORDS: GRAPHIC NOVEL, SEQUENTIAL ART, ETHNOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Nishith Urval is an architect based in Mangaluru, Karnataka, India. His bachelor’s degree is in architecture from the Faculty of Architecture, MIT, Manipal, Karnataka. He did his Masters in Architecture (Architectural Design) from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India. His research interests include graphic novels and other techniques of sequential art to explore and engage the common people in understanding complex urban and architectural research.

Contact him at: nishith.urval@gmail.com Academic Guide: Seema Khanwalkar

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GUNJAN AHLAWAT

Cover to Cover: Critical Reflections of Designer as a Visual Author

This paper explores what goes into shaping the visual personality of a book cover in the larger context of trade publishing in today’s day and age. With the rapid surge of technology in the last several years as well as the shift in reading trends and buying patterns of readers, it discusses and explains the enormous challenges that confront the publishing industry worldwide.

The question that governs the paper is that in this day and age are we rushing and hastening the process of putting together a cover for a book that deserves its due success, both in terms of research and execution? Moreover, deviating in a major way from bygone years, where publishers enjoyed the luxury of time and personnel resources, are we today able to give the book cover its due creative time and thought? From receiving the cover design brief from the book commissioning editor to discussing the expectations with the author, book cover designers today wage their own battles with sales and marketing teams in terms of convincing all departments what will make the book sell as the cover is the first glimpse of the book for any readership. This goes alongside contending a designer’s personal design sensibilities and aesthetics.

This paper also explores the new parameters of a good book cover. Further, it aims to answer the battles of a designer, who is primarily an artist, and has to combine good aesthetic sensibilities with the demands of trends and reading habits of audiences, and marry the two—art and (commercial) publishing of books—to come up with what speaks to readers, stands out and sells.

With increasing shelf space in book stores (and online stores) and rising cutthroat competition between publishing houses, there is mammoth pressure and responsibility on the designer to make the book cover stand out and compete (and nearly shout) against hundreds of other books, many on the same theme and topic, across various age groups. Therefore, the question

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remains: Has the technique and approach of doing research on what makes a great book cover undergone a seismic shift over the years? Through research, data collection and compilation, this paper will attempt to dig deeper into the ground realities and challenges of designing a book cover in the space of trade publishing.

KEYWORDS: BOOK COVERS, ILLUSTRATIONS, ART + DESIGN, WORKING WITH WORDS Gunjan Ahlawat is a book designer and painter based in New Delhi. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He did his Masters in Design (Graphic Design) from The Glasgow School of Arts, Glasgow, UK. He also spent a term at IndianaPurdue University, Indiana, USA focusing on design thinking, innovation and leadership. He is currently Creative Head at Penguin Random House India. His research interests include the visual authorial interventions and curatorship, along with the many ways and levels at which a designer can take narrative construction forward through type and image. He is also focusing on interpreting existing contents through his own illustrations.

Contact him at: ahlawatgunjan@gmail.com

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DAY 2 NOVEMBER 2, 2018

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Untitled, Acrylic on Canvas - 12˝ X 12˝ 2008

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SESSION 4 Innovations in Design Research Methods

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GAYATRI MENON

A Creative Approach to Design Research

Research has always been an integral part of design process and thinking.

The deep inquiry and understanding of the context is a prerequisite for creating new design ideas. This understanding of methods of inquiry and research has not been formalized and accepted at large. In the absence of such formalized structure or understanding, there is a danger of design research emulating research approaches from other established disciplines thus weakening the very process of design it seeks to strengthen.

In order to understand design research, it is important to understand both the nature of design and the nature of knowledge associated with design.

Design by its very nature is creative, contextual and reflective. Although design connects with knowledge from many other disciplines, it is not the knowledge per se but the building of a creative synergetic purpose driven understanding of the diverse fields of knowledge that lies at its core.

Creativity is considered to be an integral, important factor in design.

Creativity includes an emphasis on uniqueness, diversity, flexibility, associative thinking and imagination. How can we help build a creative approach to various aspects of design research? There are many unique aspects of design research that differentiates it from research in other disciplines. The emphasis on tacit knowledge and embodied knowledge; empathetic, reflective and synergetic thinking patterns; explorative and experimental approaches along with an action focused outlook are some of the key aspects.

This paper will investigate the various aspects of design research through a multiple case study analysis of selected design research studies and propose a conceptual model for a creative approach to design research including for the designing of research studies, research methods and research findings. Innovative design research methods will be discussed in the overall

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framework of a creative approach to design research. It is expected that this model and methods will be of use to design researchers and also help towards establishing design research as a unique form of inquiry.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN RESEARCH; CREATIVITY; RESEARCH METHODS; CONCEPTUAL MODEL Gayatri Menon is a product designer and design educator based in Ahmedabad.

Her bachelor’s degree is in engineering (production) from S.S. Engineering college. She did her Masters in Product Design from National Institute of Design, India. Her doctoral research was titled, “A conceptual framework for opportunity identification in design innovation” and she was awarded her doctorate from IDC, IIT Bombay. She is currently Senior faculty at National Institute of Design. Her research interests include design process, design research methods, play and learning, systems thinking, creativity, strategic innovation and opportunity mapping.

Contact her at: gayatri@nid.edu

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PUPUL BISHT

Decolonizing Futures through Inclusive Storytelling

What does the future look like? Who owns or shapes these images of the future? Whose identity, needs, and desires are not represented in these futures? Storytelling has been omnipresent in human culture, as a crucial tool for preserving memories of what came before and for imagining what could come after.

Over the course of human history, the role of storytelling in transferring knowledge, communicating values and inspiring action has been undeniable.

In the multidisciplinary field of futures studies, various narrative methodologies are extensively used to build impactful images of possible futures. However, the tools and methods used to support the generation of these future narratives often carry the limitations and biases of a ‘western’ worldview. This is evident from the way time and space are perceived, social organisation and institutional arrangements are structured, masculinity and technology are privileged, and non-western cultures made invisible. Since large scale projects rely on these narratives to guide the design of futureready products, policies and strategies, we cannot afford to ignore this gap that further perpetuates inequity and power imbalance between stakeholder groups and alienates underserved, and marginalized communities. As we work towards building a better world for everyone, we need tools to facilitate the process of challenging and re-articulation of hegemonic ideas in favour of more collaborative and place-based approaches.

This paper presents a new method of participatory design research that was developed to address the evident lack of culturally inclusive research methods in futures studies with an intention to bring non-Western epistemologies to a terrain that has existed through a long-exercised White Mythology. The new research method discussed here, aims to challenge the ‘one-future-fits-all’ model by enabling participants from historically marginalized/ underserved communities to reflect on their own

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environments, traditions and beliefs, and envision futures respectful of their cultural needs and coherent with their distinct idea of progress. The futures imagined are thus deeply contextualized. Developed through a multidisciplinary master’s thesis research of six months, this new method draws inspiration from the folk-storytelling tradition, Kaavad, from Rajasthan, India.

This style of multi-temporal storytelling technique was historically designed for social inclusion of lower-caste communities in rural Rajasthan and was found to have many salient features that support diversity and plurality in perspectives.

Further, the paper reflects on the outcomes of a pilot study conducted with a group of participants working in grassroots youth organizing in Ontario, Canada using the new research method. The narratives of the future created in this pilot study were populated with unique cultural, gendered and social themes which are rarely seen in popular futures discourse. The proposed method thus, shows that transformative visions of the future that reflect authentic worldview of participants can be generated through methods and frameworks that support, respect and celebrate epistemological plurality.

KEYWORDS: CULTURAL FORESIGHT, DECOLONIZATION, NON-WESTERN WORLDVIEW, EPISTEMOLOGICAL PLURALISM Pupul Bisht is a futurist and design researcher based in Toronto. Her bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. She did her Masters in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University, Toronto, Canada. Her master’s research was on decolonizing futures through inclusive storytelling and she was recently awarded the Joseph Jaworski Next Generation Foresight Practitioner’s Award by School of International Futures, UK. Through this award, she will be working towards developing her initiative of inclusion of marginalized voices in futures/policy work over the coming year.

Contact her at: pupulbisht@gmail.com

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AAKASH JOHRY

Play Probes: Understanding Children in Play and through Play

Aligning with user-centred design philosophy, one of the significant skills of a design researcher and practitioner is to develop a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the user and context studied, to deliver a useful, usable and desirable experience. This aspect of design process becomes even more significant when designing for play. Play designers often seek to empathize with their users at cognitive, social and emotional levels, to identify the latters’ abilities and preferences, which can guide playful interactions with designed products and activities. Furthermore, designing for play goes beyond the problem solving discourse and involves identification of opportunities for design intervention.

Design probes like cultural probes and empathy probes are specifically designed material packages or a set of evocative tasks which are given to the users to document their understanding, values and preferences, which may otherwise be difficult to capture through standard research techniques. This paper reports a case study of a design project course where students employ a variety of design probes along with traditional user research techniques, leading to design and development of effective play interventions through toys, games and play activities for children across varied contexts.

These probes are termed as ‘play probes’, as they often serve a dual purpose, being a medium of play and a tool for generating relevant user data on their playfulness. Play probes are different from other design probes as they focus on non-intrusive engagement with emphasis on the users experiencing play, more than documenting and self-reflecting, as they engage with the probe.

The paper discusses how students design and select play probes, the nature of information gained from these probes, challenges faced in the field and how the collected information augments their creative ideation process.

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The results show that play probes could be an effective research tool in combination with other research methods in guiding the play experience design process for children.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN PROBES, PLAY EXPERIENCE DESIGN, CHILDREN, DESIGN RESEARCH METHOD Aakash Johry is a play experience designer and design educator based in Gandhinagar. His bachelor’s degree is in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM) Jabalpur, India. He did his Masters in User-centred Design from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India. His doctoral research was on generative playfulness dimensions of play artefacts for children with special needs and he was awarded his doctorate from IDC School of Design, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, India. He is currently an Associate faculty and co-discipline lead of Toy and Game Design discipline at National Institute of Design (NID) Gandhinagar. His research interests include player centric design, design research methods, gamification, design for special needs and interactive media.

Contact him at: johry.aakash@gmail.com

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PRAKASH MOORTHY

Learning Animation: Actuality and a Struggle for Utopia

Does design practice mean to bring among its end users, parity in aesthetics, functionality and some general equality of sorts? Was design ever thought to be some kind of a leveller? Perhaps it was. But then how can designers be apolitical? Did Walter Gropius mean it to sound like that when he said that?

Perhaps he did not. For why else did Bauhaus down its shutters later when the Nazis arrived? An uneasy question may have stared them in the face.

The question of remaining ‘unaffected’. The question is staring at designers again. In fact, it is staring at design students and design teachers in equal measure. In fact, it is staring down at most others too, filmmakers and artists included. Meanwhile, a question that Tom Wolfe raises in his book on art and architecture ‘The Painted Word’ has fresh relevance today. Many modern American architects (then), in Wolfe’s opinion, had no particular goal but to be the most avant-garde! Are we getting there? Or are we going to a sadder space? In the rush to become the most exclusive, the most stylish, the most fashionable, the cleverest, the richest, did we knock off something fundamental to design?

Let us argue taking the case of animation design. Someone really important said that animation was an art form trapped in cinema. Truly so. Everyone agrees to this, knowing well that neither art nor cinema can afford to be apolitical. And animation cinema involves the rigors of film making of an extreme kind with a system (the making process) designed to the peculiarities of the content, each time. New technologies are making ‘the making’ remarkable, where the structure of the ‘process’ itself is design. Do we stand here and only speak of fun and games by using ‘easy to come by’ rubbery elasticity? In the early 80s, as students we were bombarded with genuinely humorous cartoons from the west with their enduring characters designed and fashioned with highly elastic rubbery lines and their candy worlds. Profusely illustrated text books emerged soon after from the Disney

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stables, offering methods to the learners of how to design these cartoons that move, act, dance and speak. The methods are easy to understand and follow, bordering on simple mathematics.

However, like some others in other parts of the world, Binita Desai, Nina Sabnani and R L Mistry of NID pushed another agenda. To send animation students out of the classrooms and make field studies of real people involved in their trades. To hear their stories, to learn their actualities, return to the studios and design characters and scenarios based on those field notes. To base design on actualities learned from truths around us, giving our design an identity true to the times and regions we belong to. What else is this but politics? Yes, design is political; a designer must indeed make choices. I argue for a learning of this kind.

KEY WORDS: ARTIST AS AVANT-GARDE. Prakash Moorthy is an animation film designer and design educator based in Trivandrum. His bachelor’s degree is in fine arts (applied arts) from College of Fine Arts Trivandrum, University of Kerala, India. He did his Masters in Fine Arts (Illustration) from M S University of Baroda, India. He did his Professional Post Diploma in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently Consultant Faculty (visiting) at the Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology, Bengaluru India.

Contact him at: prakash.moorthy@srishti.ac.in; thymoor@gmail.com

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NINA SABNANI

Animating Ethnographies

This paper aims to argue for a place for animation as a way of representing ethnographies through one case study of creating an animation film in collaboration with participants who practice their own visual language and aesthetic.

Our ways of knowing, experiencing and perceiving our world are multisensory and integral to our everyday life. This is as true for the participants as it is for the researcher. Describing Sensory Ethnography as a developing field, Sarah Pink observes that ethnographers have found innovative means of learning about people and their world through collaborative activities and sharing practices like making a film amongst others. So while ethnographers collect data by direct and sustained contact with human agents in their natural settings, in the form of interviews, field notes, observation, records, stories etc., they may also intervene and interact in less conventional ways.

As a design researcher and filmmaker I draw upon the framework suggested

by Sarah Pink where a collaborative approach with the participants offers multisensory findings. This data is then organized in the form of experience which is also multisensory; in this case an animated film. Can animation be a way of doing sensory ethnography? Through the film ‘The Stitches Speak’ I wish to share my experience of doing sensory ethnography in collaboration with the embroidery and appliqué artists of Kala Raksha, Kutch.

The participants create their own records and memories in their art which become mnemonics for a larger narrative.

While film helps preserve instances and events that are “rare and nonrecurring” it also allows us to study non-verbal gestures and expressions of participants who communicate in their own language. The problems of filming as some argue is the underlying assumption that the ethnographic film is as transparent as reality and that it imposes its own aesthetic and

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convention of creating meaning. This is as true for ethnographic writing as it is for film because objectivity is not the aim, it is interpretation based on findings that is paramount. However, inherent in the notion of recording with a camera is the subject position where one is the observer and the other, the observed. We argue that animation transcends such boundaries and limitations. In the case of animation, the camera is not used just as a recording tool; it is a means to move the narrative elements that are constructed together with the participants.

KEYWORDS: ANIMATION, ETHNOGRAPHY, RESEARCH METHODS, INTERPRETATION Nina Sabnani is a visual artist, filmmaker and design educator based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University, Baroda, India. She did her Masters in Film and Media from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, USA. Her doctoral research was on the Kaavad storytelling tradition of Rajasthan for which she also received the Excellence in PhD award from IIT Bombay. She is currently Professor at IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay. Her research interests include exploring the dynamics between words and images in storytelling. Her work in film and illustrated books, seeks to bring together animation and ethnography.

Contact her at: ninamsabnani@iitb.ac.in

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TEJAS DHADPHALE

Ethnographic Decision Modelling: A Framework for Analysing Cultural Co-Creation Activities

Designers in the global era are increasingly challenged to design for diverse cultural contexts. Researchers and practitioners have acknowledged the value of participatory design (PD) for conducting research across cultural boundaries. Participatory co-design activities provide an interactive medium for future users to express their thoughts, feelings and values with designers. Engaging in co-design activities connects what future users’ say, think, do and most importantly articulate the underlying values that guides their actions. Methods in participatory design aim to connect the explicit, observable aspects to the tacit and latent aspects of culture.

This paper presents ethnographic decision modelling as a method for analysing cross-cultural co-design activities. Ethnographic decision model (EDM) is a qualitative analysis tool that predicts behavioural choices in specific circumstances. Participants were engaged in a co-design activity to understand culturally specific preferences of Indian consumers regarding refrigerator design. Participants were provided with a refrigerator layout and thirty images of items typically stored in refrigerators. Participants organized items and articulated culturally specific preferences and values. The codesign activity was followed by an interview that recorded participants’ design decisions and the reasons underlying each decision.

The analytical framework for EDM is based on three distinct aspects: conditions, rules and design outcomes. Data was coded and a decision model was developed that summarizes key conditions for design, the rationale behind the actions (rules) and the resulting design outcomes. The paper discusses challenges, limitations and applicability of EDM for analysing codesign activities.

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KEYWORDS: CULTURAL CO-CREATION, ETHNOGRAPHIC DECISION MODEL (EDM), PARTICIPATORY DESIGN (PD), CULTURAL PREFERENCES Tejas Dhadphale is a design researcher and educator based in Ames, Iowa. He received his doctoral degree in Industrial Design from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. His research critically examines the role of culture in design research, education and practice. He is currently an assistant professor in the department of Industrial Design at Iowa State University. His research interest includes developing a framework for designers and researchers to integrate cultural aspects in the design process.

Contact him at: tejas@iastate.edu

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AMANJOT KAUR SANDHU

Designing a Methodology for Accessible User Experiences

Internet access is a basic human right for individual expression and collaboration. While many tools and techniques exist to help people with disabilities to gain access, the majority of sites and apps are not accessible.

Many gaps still exist between design methodologies, development life cycles, and web accessibility.

To account for this gap, I created a web-based platform which provides a step by step approach incorporating web accessibility into any UX design process from the beginning. It is based upon my research work and user studies performed with design professionals and design students.

Based on the findings I was convinced that the current design process doesn’t include accessibility as a core design element in practice. Design students were also lacking the accessible design knowledge even after graduating from a two year graduate design program.

The solution is a web based design methodology designed to address these issues. This designer’s guide to web accessibility has focused on creating generative tools and techniques for designing accessible user experiences for the screen-based digital interfaces. The end products designed by following this accessible design methodology will help designers to create more accessible products.

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KEYWORDS: WEB ACCESSIBILITY, DESIGN FOR ALL, DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS, HCI, WEB AND MOBILE INTERFACES Amanjot Kaur Sandhu is a Sr UX architect and accessibility expert/advocate based out of Dallas, TX, USA. Her alma maters include University of Texas at Austin, USA (MFA Design, 2015) and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India (PG - New Media). She is a founder of AccesibleUXD.com. Her research for the past five years has focused on creating accessible UX designs to make them inclusive for all, including people with disabilities. She is an accomplished speaker who has presented her research work at multiple national and international conferences. Her work has been published in various journals including ACM and IEEE. She has worked with multiple companies delivering accessible designs and products including HP Labs, Cognizant Solutions, UT Austin, Dell and AT&T. Contact her at: kaur.amanjotsandhu@gmail.com

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Series - “Gravity to Grace - Last Hope” Acrylic on Canvas - 24˝ X 18˝ 2008

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SESSION 5 Design Research in Professional Practice

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ARCHANA SHAH

Sustainable Alternatives: Handcrafted Textiles in the 21st Century

I developed a great interest in handcrafted textile skills while studying at the National Institute of Design and continued to pursue this fascination after I graduated by collaborating with craftspeople to develop a range of textiles products for an urban market. Initially, I travelled to remote corners of the country to study the wide range of weaving, dyeing, printing and embroidery skills practiced by artisans in different parts of the country. Each region offered its own unique skills, distinctive colour palettes and motifs. This gave me the opportunity to interact closely with many craftspeople, often spending days at their homes and workplaces which helped me understand the nuances of what they created. During my interactions, I realized that it would be best to work within the constraints of a craft technique, and skills known to the artisan instead of imposing my own ideas and try to change their ways of production. This was an enriching journey and has had an immense impact on my visual language and design practice.

I started a company, Bandhej in the early 1980s, with a vision to uphold, preserve and sustain the precious hand skills and inherent knowledge of the indigenous artisans through collaborative design intervention. Even as the main business of Bandhej has been to design and produce a range of clothing for its retail outlets catering to an urban market, the underlying concern has always been with the diverse traditions of fabric making and embellishing in India. Over the years we have strived to work with artisans towards building upon their skills and knowledge by suggesting fresh design directions and providing a market for their produce. In the process, Bandhej has played a modest role in rejuvenating many traditional craft techniques.

Artisans continue to have the ability and talent to recreate textiles that we admire in museums. Unfortunately, they have lost their traditional patronage, and therefore commercial viability. In recent times, handloom fabrics have also misplaced some of their distinct tactile qualities and unique character.

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The market is flooded with power-loom imitations of handcrafted textiles, offered at better prices. Beyond heritage value, beauty and the romance of the handcrafted, we need to recreate a unique identity for handcrafted textiles for them to remain relevant in the future. Artisans would continue to peruse their ancestral craft if there is an appreciation and ensured economic sustainability. There is a lot of skill, but artisans need to develop fresh new products that are appropriate for the fashion conscious urban markets that demand newness every season. Design collaborations can play a very positive role in rejuvenating this sector. Designers can equally benefit from this rich repertoire. The craft sector has the potential of creating a very large number of dignified livelihoods and the production is inherently eco-friendly that is good for us and the environment. For the handcrafted textiles sector to flourish again, we need a vibrant platform for new synergies and meaningful collaborations.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN, COLLABORATION, ARTISANS, SUSTAINABILITY Archana Shah graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID) in 1980.

In 1985, she started a clothing company, Bandhej, a label influenced by the traditional textiles and craft skills, created for an Indian woman, with an eastern sensibility. Its vision is to uphold, preserve and sustain the precious handcrafted textile skills and inherent knowledge of indigenous artisans through collaborative design interventions. Over the years, Bandhej has created a distinct idiom in its design, offering a range of contemporary handcrafted, eco-friendly and sustainable fashion clothing that has an understated elegance. Today, Bandhej is a recognized brand, with a chain of stores in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and an online presence. She has published a book titled ‘Shifting Sands, Kutch: A Land in Transition’, a personal journey of discovery and about her association of over 30 years with the land, people and their craft.

Contact her at: archana.bandhej@gmail.com

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ROBERT PHILLIPS, ROBERTO FRAQUELLI

Contextual Empathy: The Indian Train Network

The Indian railway network is the fourth largest in the world, spanning 80,000 miles and supplies trade, tourism and travel to a wide variety of audiences and users.

This paper reports on a series of design activities run on the rail network with the general public in the development of empathetic and meaning-centred approaches within ethnographic and co-design processes.

The authors approached the challenge sensitively, stewarding participants to engage and develop their own local understanding and design strategies.

The research engaged with live on-the-spot public audiences, increasing the unpredictability and serendipitous nature of the inquiry. This added an extra edge to conventionally planned empathic processes, often unexplored within user-centred design. Passengers engaged and responded to real-time ‘live’ design challenges whilst journeying across the Gujarat state of India.

The work yielded insights for ‘open user centred design’ and repeatable lessons for ‘live-working’ emphasising the importance of ensuring direct contextual experiences within creative empathic methodologies.

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KEYWORDS: USER CENTRED DESIGN, DESIGN FOR DIVERSITY, CULTURAL CONTEXT, LIVE WORKING Robert Phillips is a product designer and senior tutor on the Design Products Course at the Royal College of Art, London. His main interests reside in user interactions, and responding to participant observations. During his PhD, he investigated the relationship between open design and citizen science, resulting methodologies and beekeeping technologies. His focus is in social design and user centred interventions. He has worked in numerous design domains from mass manufacturing, material development, user engagement to ethnographic research. He creates user-orientated solutions and generates design workshops intent on educating, using design approaches for commercial and academic situations.

Contact him at: robert.phillips@rca.ac.uk Roberto Fraquelli is a research scholar at Schumacher College and Professor of Design with Plymouth University from 2004 to 2018. Before that he spent 20 years working in practice with IDEO and Moggridge Associates. His research interests focus on new ecological design practices & alternative ways of ‘seeing’ based around Goethean Science, autopoiesis, biomimetics and regenerative paradigms that merge science and spirituality with design thinking. He studied at the RCA and Imperial College London and has directed a number of initiatives and programmes to academic and business institutions in the Europe, India, USA and China, and has been collaborating with the National Institute of Design in India since 2004. His work has received a number of design awards including: International Forum (IF Hanover), Red Dot Essen, IDSA, IDEA and British Design awards.

Contact him at: roberto.fraquelli@schumachercollege.org.uk

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NEELAKASH KSHETRIMAYUM

Meetei Mayek: A Work in Progress

As a result of historical, cultural and political changes in the early 18th century, Meetei Mayek, the indigenous script of Manipur, was burnt and replaced with the Bengali script for writing Meeteilon, the official spoken language of Manipur. In 2005, after almost 300 years, the Bengali script was rejected (literally burnt) and replaced with Meetei Mayek. This incident marked the revival of the Meetei Mayek script — the resurrection of a lost identity.

This paper documents the personal journey of the author as a graphic designer and later as a type designer in his attempts to contribute to the revival of Meetei Mayek. It records the processes, research methodology and experiences during his journey. Given the context, the paper discusses the intersection between identity, script and typeface. It examines the symbiotic relationship between the three, and the role of each when addressing the revival of Meetei Mayek. The paper aims to study the script as embodying the identity of its place of origin and seeks to understand how it retains the culture, history, beliefs and insights of its people. The primary focus of the essay is on the type and typography of Meetei Mayek and the significant role new typefaces can play in its restoration.

The essay briefly discusses the peculiarities of Meetei Mayek and investigates the history and evolution of its letterforms, from inscriptions to the digital medium. Through this, it compares the change and development in the structural anatomy of the letterforms and examines the variety of processes and technologies used to print the script. Finally, it reports the current scenario of Meetei Mayek in Manipur today and focuses on the scope and possibilities of Meetei Mayek’s future.

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KEYWORDS: REVIVAL, IDENTITY, SCRIPT, TYPEFACE Neelakash Kshetrimayum is a type and graphic designer based in Goa. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He did his Masters in MA in typeface design from University of Reading, United Kingdom. He is a partner and co-founder at Brand New Type, an independent type and typography design studio. His research interests include identity, script and multi-script typeface design.

Contact him at:Â neelakash.k@gmail.com

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GREGOR STRUTZ, FRANZISKA MÜLLER

From Four to One: How Germany’s First Inclusive Children’s Book was Created through Cooperation between Various Specialists

Inclusion is nowadays on everyone’s lips, worldwide. However, many of their solutions are not yet inclusive; at best they remove some barriers for people with disabilities. After all, this is already a step forward, but real inclusion can and wants to achieve much more. Genuine inclusion creates solutions and products for people with disabilities and people without disabilities that can be used as simultaneously and jointly as possible. Only in this way can the participation of all people be ensured, which has been defined as a fundamental human right in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The task of inclusive design is therefore to provide all people without stigmatisation with an offer that is as attractive as it is aesthetically and financially pleasing. This requires completely new approaches and design processes. In some cases, even completely new production processes are needed. The path to inclusive design solutions and products is long and difficult. Lasting success is only achieved when people with and without disabilities cooperate in inclusive design projects as equal experts of design and specialists of everyday life.

The inkl. Design GmbH is consistently guided by these requirements.

Inkl. Design is a Berlin based design agency of people with and without disabilities. Founded four years ago, we have since then realised several ground-breaking design projects for Germany. We have received a lot of recognition for this from experts in recent years. Our latest work is Germany’s first inclusive children’s book “Die Bunte Bande” (The Colourful Gang). It can be read equally and jointly by children with average abilities, blind and visually challenged children, children with learning difficulties and cognitive limitations, children with immigration biographies and children with hearing disabilities. The book is the fifth volume in a series of children’s books. It tells the story of five very different friends who live with and without disabilities.

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While the previous editions were published as separate books for different reader groups, the new book now combines four different readings in a single book for the first time. The fifth volume of “The Colourful Gang” combines everyday language with easy-to-read language, is designed to be accessible to the visually challenged and includes a transparent braille that is applied onto the layout. The project was developed in cooperation with Aktion Mensch (Germany’s largest aid organisation for people with disabilities), the publishing house Carlsen-Verlag and a whole series of specialists and experts from everyday life.

KEYWORDS: INCLUSIVE DESIGN, UNIVERSAL DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY, DEMOCRATIC DESIGN THINKING Gregor Strutz is a communication designer and design educator based in Berlin, Germany. His German Diploma degree is in communication design from HTW Berlin, Germany. He is CEO and Graphic Design Head at inkl.Design, Berlin.

His research interests include all-inclusive design solutions for people with and without disabilities. He specializes in researching and developing inclusive design solutions for blind and visually impaired people.

Contact him at: gregor.strutz@inkl.design Franziska Müller is a communication designer based in Berlin, Germany. Her degree is in communication design from HTW Berlin, Germany. She is currently working at inkl.Design, an agency for accessible design based in Berlin, Germany. Her research interests include the implementation of inclusive books for all age groups.

Contact her at: franziska.mueller@inkl-design.de

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ANANYA KHAITAN

Content With/After/Versus Communication: Design for Legal Research and Policy

This paper describes the role of design investigation in communication design practice, as applicable to the domain of legal research and policy. Its fundamental premise is that the field of legal research is one of remarkably important content, but not of equally competent communication. Wellresearched and -referenced content still requires the identification of its core communication, to best convey information. To this end, the paper outlines three related but distinct ways in which effective design investigation adds value to content, drawing upon case studies as the basis for discussion.

CASE STUDY 1: CONTENT WITH COMMUNICATION: BOOK DESIGN FOR ‘TOWARDS THE RULE OF LAW’ The first case is that of the design of a book of recommendations for legal reform, which range from strengthening transgender rights to crafting space policy to regulating virtual currencies. On the basis of this project, this author illustrates how legal content can be made more potent by leveraging visual cues and artefacts from the canon of legal literature. An exploration of the visual and lingual landscape of the law can inform the design by adding layers of meaning, strengthening content with meaningful communication.

CASE STUDY 2: CONTENT AFTER COMMUNICATION: REPORT DESIGN FOR ‘FROM ADDICT TO CONVICT’ The second case study dissects how a vast amount of content can be made more accessible and engaging when preceded by its distilled, primary communication. Taken into consideration is the report design for an extensive legal study of the drug problem in Punjab, India, highlighting the lacunae in the law of the land that contribute to the perpetuation of a deeply damaging public health crisis. The author describes how, in such a sprawling study, a deep-dive investigation is vital to cull out communication from content.

Content of this volume needs to be preceded by this singular communication, to orient and alert the audience. Identifying this key intent, and then situating

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that within the specifics of the project—the impetus behind it, its expected impact, and the extent of its dissemination—defines the role that design must play.

CASE STUDY 3: CONTENT VERSUS COMMUNICATION: GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNING PRIVACY POLICY DOCUMENTS The third case study deals with an instance of content actually being at odds with effective communication, and how the two can be reconciled. The Privacy Policies of internet services are infamous for being impossible to peruse and comprehend. They are ‘Agreed To’ with unthinking promptitude, and this dubious provision of ‘consent’ to data-managers is a very real and dangerous problem of the digital age. In this case, design is embedded in the research product, and is not just a vehicle for it. This author elaborates on the study of myriad references and use-cases to arrive at a set of best practices that can be applied at scale. In its current form, the content actually obfuscates the communication. Addressing this friction through communication design is crucial, for consumers to be able to assert autonomy over their own data.

In these ways, legal research content is introduced to the notion of thoughtful communication. The onus of making this introduction is on the communication designer, and through the employment of relevant design investigation and processes, they can carve out a permanent space for effective communication amidst this abundance of content.

KEYWORDS: COMMUNICATION, DESIGN, LAW, RESEARCH, POLICY Ananya Khaitan is a graphic designer based in New Delhi. He received his bachelor’s degree in communication design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2017. He has worked at Codesign, a brand consultancy, and with Struckby, a design firm. He has also interned at Itu Chaudhuri Design and Fisheye Design Studio. His interests currently lie in book design and brand identity design, and he is currently engaged in the legal domain, working with universities, think tanks and research centres.

Contact him at: ananya@ananyakhaitan.com

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APARNA RAJAGOPALAN

Rapid Design Research for Packaging Graphics

All visual elements on the packaging of an item, from the colour, typography, imagery and symbols are part of packaging graphics. In the case of FMCG products, while the packaging itself is critical in providing structure, protecting and informing the consumer, on a crowded shelf, it is its graphics that grab attention.

Graphic designers carefully craft these visual elements in order to communicate the product and brand story in a coherent and engaging manner. In the process, design research becomes critical, as it helps understand the consumer’s perceptions and thereby evolve the design meaningfully. However, the Indian FMCG market is extremely competitive, with brands working against time to launch products. A design consultancy that is engaged with FMCG clients is under immense pressure to deliver design within very real time and budget constraints.

Using examples from commercial packaging design projects, this paper illustrates the implications of these constraints on design research strategy.

With a focus on stimuli based design research, it further examines the tools devised at various stages of the design process; to understand consumer type in the diverse Indian market, identify brand expression for a new product, evaluate design concepts for a brand proposition and finalise design for launch. Through these examples, the paper indicates the presence and underscores the need for rapid design research for packaging graphic design.

It identifies the potential to develop an ingenious, rapid design research toolkit that is based on experiences from the Indian design practice.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN RESEARCH, PACKAGING GRAPHICS, GRAPHIC DESIGN, DESIGN IN INDIA Aparna Rajagopalan is a designer and researcher based in Bengaluru. Her bachelor’s degree is in accessory design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai. She did her Masters in Lifestyle Accessory Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is currently Senior Lead, Research and Strategy at Icarus Design Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru. She is deeply inspired by stories of people, places and cultures.

Contact her at: aparna@icarus.co.in

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SWARUP DEB, AVINASH MEDHE AND ANUJ KUMAR

Research for Design of Animated Short Films of Social Relevance at Girgit Studios

Designing an animated film with the objective to have a social impact throws a unique set of challenges requiring customized and meticulous research.

Our research methodology broadly consists of a three-pronged approach that includes passive, active and technical research.

We begin with Passive research that includes analysing pre-existing content on the subject to add to our present understanding. We gather facts, data and vocabulary around the subject. We map our target audience, gather references of their lifestyle and surroundings available in offline and online literature. This helps us get a hold on the topic and sets the foundation to take the research further.

During Active research, we interact with all possible stakeholders including our target audience, government and non-government officials, field agents, subject matter experts, etc. We understand their interpretation of the problem, hear their perspectives and opinions and gather probable solutions for the issue. The active research phase also includes collecting visual references of the socio-cultural environment of our target audience through field visits, interviews and photographs. This helps in demolishing many stereotypes, pre-conceived notions and biases we have. It also helps us prioritize and focus on the key aspect, problem or solution of the maze that the subject presents.

We design a unique art style and medium of production depending on the project requirement. This calls for Technical research. Films for social issues do not have budgets as high as corporate audio-visuals (AVs) or television commercials (TVCs). Our technical team conducts research to design a production pipeline using animation techniques, open-source software and rendering styles to keep the production cost low without compromising on the artistic requirement and impactful output. After the pre-production we

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share the design document and animatic with a select focus group. This is done to test the story and visual designs. We then incorporate their feedback to ensure the desired impact.

Our films thus appear simple and achieve a huge connect with the audience and are appreciated by the stake holders who widely use it as a tool to bring the desired behavioural change.

KEYWORDS: ANIMATION, SOCIALLY RELEVANT FILMS, GIRGIT STUDIOS, DESIGN RESEARCH Swarup Deb is the Co-founder/Director/ Designer at Girgit Studios Pvt Ltd since 2011. His bachelor’s degree is in Mechanical from College of Engineering Pune, India. He did his PG Diploma in Animation from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. His research interest includes design research for socially relevant films.

Contact him at: swarup.deb@girgitstudios.com Avinash Medhe is the Co-founder/Director/ Designer at Girgit Studios Pvt Ltd since 2011. His bachelor’s degree is in Physics from University of Mumbai, India.

He did his PG Diploma in Animation from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He co-founded Girgit Studios with Swarup Deb and Anuj Kumar in 2011. His research interest includes visual storytelling in India.

Contact him at: avinash.medhe@girgitstudios.com Anuj Kumar is the Co-founder/Director/ Designer at Girgit Studios Pvt Ltd since 2011. His bachelor’s degree is in Applied Arts from College of Art, Delhi, India. He did his PG Diploma in Animation from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He co-founded Girgit Studios with Avinash Medhe and Swarup Deb in 2011. His research interest includes production design for non-narrative storytelling.

Contact him at: anuj@girgitstudios.com

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CARMINA FERNANDES

Seeking Sustainability: Ideas, Practices and Experiments from a Lifetime

This paper reflects upon my life’s work and the many journeys I’ve taken to pursue sustainability through craft. The first section of the paper invites the reader to my childhood, where my love for fabrics and sustainability begins.

Having grown up with eight siblings, with me as the seventh, for my young widowed mother, sustainability was a deliberate way of life.

Sitting patiently on her manual Singer sewing machine, as a child I watched my mother sew clothes for all her children and saw later as an adult, for her grandchildren as well. She also stitched home furnishings for her and her children’s homes, complete with embroidery, her second love. Knitting was another craft she was exceptional at and I would sit with her, trying my hand at using different needles. Picking up all the leftover scraps around her, I would make clothes for my dolls. This is how my love for fabrics began - by using leftover cloth to create interesting products.

The paper then introduces the reader to my professional journey, mapping sustainability perspectives as a student at NID to then as a crafts practitioner. For over thirty years I’ve been fascinated with the life cycle of handmade fabrics. Each fabric is filled with multiple stories and processes.

They are grown, dyed, printed and passed through many hands. By the time a piece of fabric reaches you, it has been touched by several craftspeople, whose skill, love and dedication to their craft is reflected in vibrant colours and masterful techniques.

Over the years, I’ve picked up interesting pieces of cloth - seldom in running lengths but often in bits and long strips, in the oddest sizes one can find.

Here is when this paper focuses on my next joy and challenge - to creatively and sustainably seek an end purpose for found fabrics.

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As designers we find ourselves living in an interesting time – where on one hand technology provides the opportunity to push our creative boundaries and bring unknown stories to light. But on the other hand, the same technology also threatens the existence of the very crafts we are striving to protect. So, as we begin retracing our steps, connecting our past to future paths, let us be mindful of the stories at the core of our quest for sustainability– the life and livelihoods of the many craftspeople, without whom, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.

Through my work over the past three decades, I’ve found that it’s the simple, smallest changes in our design thinking and processes that can transform the lives of a community and the craft they practice. In this paper, you will read about key examples where I have used a personal sustainability framework that has upgraded skills, secured livelihoods and conserved craft for the future.

Fabric is my canvas and I look forward to sharing my art with you.

KEYWORDS: SUSTAINABILITY, TEXTILES, LIVELIHOOD, CRAFT Carmina Fernandes is a textile designer and design educator based in Ahmedabad. She was awarded a Professional Education Diploma in Industrial Design with a Specialization in Textile Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 1979. Her specialization lies in the craft sector with a key focus on sustainable livelihood programmes. Currently, she works as an independent designer and design educator. Over a career spanning three decades, she has worked closely with craft clusters, master artisans, NGOs, communities, brands and companies.

Contact her at: carminafernandes@gmail.com

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DEEPANI SETH

What We Leave Out: An Analysis of Design Research in Professional Practice

Design research today exists as a professional practice primarily in the forprofit or consumer goods sector and in the not-for-profit or development sector. In each sector design research is limited in what it sees and the solutions that it creates due to the implicit and explicit objectives and functioning principles that govern the sector. Each sector hands the design researcher a pair of blinders to wear through which we learn to omit information, analyses and problems that do not sit well with the sectoral objective, thus creating a reductionist version of both respondents and their needs. This paper is an attempt to look at the omissions I have carried out in my own practice as a design researcher in both sectors, to dig through what these omissions might signify, and to try and imagine a space for design research (and for design) where it is not bound by the constructed limits of these two sectors.

In spite of the contrasting objectives of the development and consumergoods sectors, the questions that we leave out in each are very similar at their core: structural, systemic issues such as social hierarchies and injustices which are often the central reason for the very challenges that we may be attempting to solve.

With the development sector, where the focus is on delivering basic necessities to those who don’t have easy access to them, there is a sense of moral responsibility and the necessity of assured impact. Labelling the respondent-subject as ‘beneficiary’, we render them primarily as someone who is supposed to receive the ‘benefits’ of what we create and omit their agency. The consumer-goods sector places great emphasis on brand image and connect. Here, the respondent-subject is termed a ‘consumer’ and the emotional connection that the consumer has with her need is used to try and sell them a product, often down-playing the question of the product’s ability to fulfil their need. By creating these labels and these omissions

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we sidestep, ignore altogether or even reproduce the problematic social realities which may not be easily solved through a design project, but which are a critical part of understanding the respondent-subject, her world and needs. Perhaps this is in part due to the emphasis on ‘problem-solving’ in design, compounded by the rules of professional practice where a visible, measurable, executable output is required.

Through this paper, I would like to question the emphasis on problem-solving as an objective of design research and introduce the idea of necessarily problematizing our engagement with the subject, to imagine design research as a way to engage with the difficult questions we encounter and a way to think through them, as a way of imagining a utopia that is not necessarily ‘executable’ or limited to a project. I would like to explore how design research can act as a tool in the hands of the respondent-subject (the participant) for engaging with, articulating and even confronting the difficult social realities of her existing world and towards attempting to create her own utopia(s).

KEYWORDS: FEMINIST STANDPOINT THEORY, DESIGN RESEARCH, PHENOMENOLOGY Deepani Seth is a design researcher and illustrator based in Mumbai. She completed her post graduation in Design for Digital Experience from National Institute of Design, Bengaluru. She has since worked on projects in the areas of healthcare services, finance and banking, branding for consumer goods, early reading, and livelihoods. She presently works as project staff at IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay. She is interested in looking at public spaces, the idea of home, and drawing as a mode of research.

Contact her at: deepani_seth@hotmail.com

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KARTHIKEYAN GOPINATHAN, AASTHA ADITI

Knowing More About Growing Old: A Multi-Dimension Research in Geriatrics

Ageing in India weaves in threads of spirituality, wisdom and ignorance over the course of one’s life, and acceptance of death as a lurking companion. This is in addition to the biological weakening of one’s body and its repercussions on the quality of life of the person, one’s family and society. Ageing is a broad aspect of life and so is its complexity and wickedness. This population spends deals majorly with medical and relationship concerns, both costing the individual financially and emotionally.

The purpose of this research is to understand how to build effective products and services for the ageing Indian population and improve their quality of life and also prepare the population entering their 60s towards healthy ageing.

We started this research with the support of a sponsored fellowship under the department of Biotechnology, Government of India and mentored by Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

The methodologies involved are mapping the ageing ecosystem through literature studies, identifying and interviewing key influencers and stakeholders in this space, shadowing ward rounds and consultations of geriatric patients in various hospitals across Karnataka. The social aspects of ageing are captured by interviewing the elderly in different contexts of hospitals, old age homes and homes with varying levels of socio-economic status in various regions of Karnataka. We intend to use the data collected to arrive at need statement for a social enterprise that would be supported by a grant for producing a proof of concept and possible future support for development and market readiness.

We are broadly seeking to engage universal design principles in developing service models and product offerings while being sensitive to the need for independence of the elders and the dynamics of adult children and their ageing parents. The information gathered will help create an awareness tool

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for caregivers and adult children of ageing parents to be better informed and prepared.

Another subtext of this research to make the elders we come in touch with to be aware of the existing services and schemes that could improve their quality of life. Thus, creating a channel of information exchange over longer durations to engage in conversations that will mutually benefit both us and the elderly population.

This space requires solutions to be multi-dimensional to improve the compliance and acceptance of solutions. The elderly population is quite neglected and thus the duration of research interview is a social engagement opportunity for the elders to indulge in and release emotions. The oldest among the old tend to face challenges in articulating their concerns effectively with age related conditions. This paper aims to show the research journey in understanding the elderly population in medical and social contexts.

KEYWORDS: ELDER CARE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, OPPORTUNITY MAPPING, SOCIAL MEDIA Karthikeyan Gopinathan is a product designer based in Bangalore. His bachelor’s degree is in electronics and communication from the BNMIT, Bengaluru, India. He did his Masters in Product Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently doing a fellowship to develop solutions to improve the quality of life of the elderly population in India.

His research interests include healthcare innovation, elder care and circular economy.

Contact him at: karthikeyangopinathan@gmail.com Aastha Aditi is a Design Research student at NIFT Bengaluru. Her bachelor’s degree is in economics from the St. Xaviers’ college, Ranchi, India. She is pursuing her Masters in User-centered Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology Bengaluru, India. Her research interests include design for special needs and social design.

Contact her at: aastha.aditi@nift.ac.in.

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PRIYANKA BHARTI

Accelerating the Decision-Making Process for a Novice in an Emergency ConditionÂ

Design solutions always work better when they are context based. Context explicitly describes the critical requirements for the concerned issues that are required to be met for an effective, sustainable solution. It has become one of the primary reasons for the transition in design as it helps in defining the intensity of the problem and its impact on the users.

A context like an emergency holds absolute trivial importance in design for the novice. It is an unexpected prospectively fatal real-life situation which may inflict severe ramifications on both human life and material possessions unless appropriate measures are taken instantly. In such conditions, our cognition gets negatively affected due to immense time pressure and stress.

So, to overcome the fatalities and loss of possession, users in such condition commonly look for or try to recall the point or clue that can help them to get rid of the situation, immediately.

User groups dedicated to deal with such situations efficiently are known as experts and the literature dealing with their decision-making models are known as natural decision making (NDM). Decision making depends largely on context and prior experience. As prior experience plays a crucial role in decision making, the novice falls under a vigorously challenged group, when they face an emergency situation. As per existing literature, visual form of information accelerates the decision-making process; it is capable of rapid comprehension. Hence, visuals can facilitate appropriate decision making during an emergency, but it still fails in serving the purpose in real time emergency situations. The myriad visual instruction does exist around us, but the comprehension gets strongly challenged during an emergency. Thus, this paper attempts to explain the degree of complexity involved in the emergency situation with respect to the novice and why it is still a challenge to deal with it despite existing visual instructions.

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KEYWORDS: EMERGENCY, VISUALS, DECISION MAKING, NOVICE Priyanka Bharti is a visual communication designer and research scholar at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Her bachelor’s degree is in textile design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai. She did her Masters in User Experience and Visual Communication from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Her doctoral research is on the visual perception of 2D stimuli in isolation enhancing designerly knowledge for effective comprehension.

Contact her at: pbharti.design@gmail.com

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SHWET SHARVARY

Contextuality in Design(ing) Research

Our environment and our past experiences influence our behaviour and our preferences. They impact what we like or dislike, what delights us and what is a pain-point. Multiple ‘aspects’, such as social, economical, cultural, past events, experiences, and dependencies, contribute in shaping us, the way we are. These ‘aspects’ together form a context for a person and are unique to each individual and situation. These aspects are also interconnected like a complex web of multiple dimensions. A change in one dimension affects the other ‘dimensions’, thus forming a new context and new preferences.

So, each time during design research, while we empathise with the end user, it is also important to study all the dimensions that form the context.

It requires us to go beyond empathy. Knowing the context helps in strategic research, holistic understanding of consumers and contextual designs.

The significance of ‘interlinkage of various dimension to form a context’ is derived from a project case study, that was sponsored by CGAP (housed at the World Bank), to introduce customer centricity in a micro finance institute, Janalakshmi Financial Services. Ethnography during the project uncovered an important insight that “When it comes to banking and finances, it is not a single person that banks need to understand (or target) but their complete family, their needs, attitude and environment”. This led to the development of a 360 degree profiling tool - ‘KALIEDO’ to help financial institutes. The paper aims to explore this rationale of contextuality through the KALIEDO tool and find its application in strategic design of research for consumer product companies, across industries.

In this fast paced world, where businesses are striving to differentiate themselves through innovation, it is very important to be context centric in addition to being customer-centric. For many businesses, user insights driven innovation is still a distant goal. But, in some consumer product

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companies, user research has established its importance during the product evaluation phase of the innovation process. The need identification and product innovations are still largely driven by market statistics, assumptions or technology innovation. However, companies often fail to get a multi faceted perspective, due to quick turnaround time of projects and highly product focussed research. Product testing are sometimes surface level focussing only on what worked & what did not, without comprehending people’s unarticulated reasons behind their choices. This also compromises the quality of findings or at times, leads to incorrect findings. For companies, to align their offering with consumer’s needs, it is imperative to have a 360-degree consumer understanding.

Based on the logic of contextuality, the paper discusses the development of a versatile research tool, which is industry agnostic. The applicability of the tool is discussed in two different scenarios. The aim of the tool is to help define the context and aid research design such that, companies quickly get a holistic understanding during research, without compromising on the quality of finding.

KEYWORDS: CONTEXTUALITY, RESEARCH DESIGN, HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING, SENSE MAKING, RESEARCH TOOL Shwet Sharvary is a design and innovation strategist based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from Nagpur University, India. She did her Masters in Strategic Design Management from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Currently, she has an independent innovation and research practice named Everything by Design; is an innovation consultant to a few businesses and a design thinking trainer. She is a part of Atal Tinkering Lab as a ‘mentor of change’ and is working on introducing design thinking in schools by engaging with students, teachers and parents through workshops. Her interests lie in design driven innovation & user research; studying as well as designing processes and methodologies to catalyse the innovation process; and, crafting tools and approach for collaborative workshops.

Contact her at: shwet.sharvary@gmail.com

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SHARAD DAHAKE

Design Valuation & Validation through Hi-Fidelity Mockups

The role of hi-fidelity mock-ups as design validation tools and adding value to manufacturing business had remained non-synthesised by both designers and manufacturers, though the need was high for cost-sensitive manufacturing. Design representations to stakeholders are done using various tools from pencil sketches to interactive graphics, CAD modelling, digital renderings, 3D printing, prototyping and hi-fidelity mock-ups.

The choice of tool usage depends upon designer’s capability, design execution experience and cost involved. As we move towards the vertical transformation of design, the process becomes rigid that demands more careful detailing of product aesthetics. To reduce ambiguity with real product representation from a fuzzy front end of idea generation to hi-fidelity mockups, the cost increases exponentially due to use of actual production techniques and requirement of high processing skill sets. It is therefore important to understand the financial valuation of design through systematic validation and testing of design acceptability in terms of its aesthetic value.

An educational gap of process understanding between industrial design and engineering design had adversely impacted design transformational capacity for new product development. Accounting of design and development cost as an operational expense instead of long-term capital investment and improper practice of understating business profits have resulted in an unclear valuation of design and returns on design investments. The traditional trading mind-set of majority stakeholders and manufacturers that are unable to use sophisticated investment practices had reduced investment for aesthetic design testing and had negatively affected growth in professional design industry of India.

For design students, an experience of using professional quality mockups in design execution is restricted due to the cost involved. Also, many

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professional designers including business stakeholders, fear to invest in hi-fidelity mock ups due to unresolved manufacturing concerns, illdefined design solutions and lack of accuracy or predictability with design outcome. Product appearance resulted through Industrial Design is the key contributor to the manufacturing industry. It requires high investments by company shareholders till acceptable design is capitalized. Due to the risk associated with future uncertainty in product success, disconnect of equity holders in a design process, and errors nature of investment in design, design valuation & validation through mock-up becomes critical before proceeding for further investments in engineering development. Hi-fidelity mock-ups are used as effective tools for design testing with final resolved appearances. High level of design commitment with reduced ambiguity can make stakeholders understand better risk assessment around finalized industrial design outcomes. This article theoretically explains how hi-fidelity mock-ups are effective design communication tools for both lateral and vertical transformation of design concepts to final design deliverables. Since the subject is related to design validation, investment in mock-ups should be justified for required valuation. For this purpose, the financial model around design investment must be studied in an Indian context, so that it becomes easy for designers and manufacturers to see the appropriateness in design validation through hi-fidelity mock-ups.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN VALUATION, HI-FIDELITY MOCKUPS, COMMUNICATION, INVESTMENTS, NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Sharad Dahake is an industrial designer and founder director at Ideal Mockups Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur. His bachelor’s degree is in Electronics from KITS, Ramtek. He did his Post Graduation Diploma in Product Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He has worked as designer and manager in consumer durable industry with BPL and Electrolux, and has been Design Head at LG Electronics, India. He is currently working in Ideal Mockups Pvt. Ltd, which supplies mock-ups to various industries in India and abroad. His research interest includes model making, prototyping, industrial design and strategic design management.

Contact him at: sharaddahake@idealmockups.com

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RISHIKA NAMDEV

Daslakhiya: A Documentary Film on Mass Eviction of Baiga Tribe of Madhya Pradesh

Research for documentaries is different from contemporary industrial design research. One must rely on personal contacts and human connect more than primary resources. The documentary film ‘Daslakhiya’ is a result of such a research approach.

‘Daslakhiya’ is a film which addresses the issue of mass evacuation of the Baiga tribe in Madhya Pradesh. Fences are often built to create boundaries, to determine ownership and to create partition. However, the most heartwrenching are the ones which imprison the protected. The same scenario is being witnessed in the Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh, India. A disputed territory where humans and nature, both are imprisoned within these fences. Kanha was a virgin abode of nature where humans and animals lived in harmony. Indigenous tribes have been dwelling in these forests since ages. However, they are being forced to evacuate the forest as it belongs to the government. The boundaries were built, and the ownership of the forest was announced.

The Baiga tribe has been affected the most due to this evacuation process.

Baigas have lived more closely with nature than any other tribe in Madhya Pradesh. Their livelihood is largely dependent on forest resources. They were offered compensation while evacuation, which made them more vulnerable to corruption and politics. ‘Daslakhiya’ is the story of these tribals as they struggle to overcome the process of eviction.

I started my research by exploring about Baigas through reading. I read a book called ‘The Baiga’ by Verrin Elwin which gave me insights about the Baiga tribe, their culture and tradition. I read news articles and blogs to understand their current situation and issues. Thereafter, I started connecting to various reporters and social workers who have been working for the welfare of Baigas. Next, I decided to travel to Kanha National Park to

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witness the condition of the tribe. When I reached Kanha, I decided to stay in a mud hut which I rented for three weeks. The hut was merely 500 metres away from Baiga villages. The next day I decided to go to nearby villages to connect with the tribals. However, when I reached there, none of them were ready to talk to me. They looked at me as if I was an alien from Mars. They assumed that I was yet another tourist or a thug to manipulate and harass them. It took me more than three weeks to establish a bond with them.

The officers of Kanha National Park became aware of my presence and they tried to threaten me to stop my research. However, I was determined to stay and continue the research. I travelled to many villages and spoke to many tribals during my research. The research itself took one year as I had to keep on traveling to various locations and villages. Thereafter, I made a list of interviewees for the film. The film has an interview based narrative approach unveiling the plight of Baigas and juxtaposing it with the scenic beauty of the Kanha.

KEYWORDS: RESEARCH FOR DOCUMENTARIES; BAIGA TRIBE; HUMAN CONNECT; RISK TAKING Rishika Namdev is an independent filmmaker based in Bhopal. Her bachelor’s degree is in electronic media from Makhanlal University of Journalism and Mass Communication, Bhopal. She did her Master’s in Film and Video Communication from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is currently Assistant Professor of film studies at Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal. Her research interests include investigative documentary films, women empowerment, social issues, tribal rights, etc.

Contact her at: rishikanamdev10@gmail.com Academic Guide: Arun Gupta is Principal Faculty, Film & Video Communication discipline at NID. Prof. He has taught various filmmaking courses (including Direction, Scriptwriting, Film Language and Film Appreciation) for more than two decades, at NID and elsewhere. He has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Film Direction from FTII, Pune and a BA in English Literature from the University of Delhi. He has had a long stint in Indian television before joining full-time teaching at NID. He has served as Jury in several International Film Festivals, runs a biennial Asian Short & Documentary Film Festival at NID called “Alpavirama” and has been writing a book on Hindi Film Villains.

Contact him at: guptarun@nid.edu

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SANDHYA RAMACHANDRAN

Rewriting the Invisible Stories Portrayed by Indian Films and Videos through Conscious Design Research

This paper explores how storytellers can employ conscious design research to reframe the unsaid but understood ideas of body-image, gender representation and morality portrayed by popular media. It aims to explore the current state of popular media and the underlying invisible stories of society that it narrates. Popular media comprises advertising, photography, television, film and video, new media and games.

Mostly intended to engage with viewers to sell, entertain or deliver a message, popular media is more pervasive in our lives today than ever before. With media-on-demand services and mobile video apps, people are consuming popular media even on-the-move, thanks to better internet connectivity and cheaper service costs. Apart from the overt themes portrayed, popular media through various tropes take a moral high-ground, often subliminally dictating its ideas on the right and wrong of existence.

Through text, visual motifs, tone, representation, narrative styles and other technical choices, media feeds us distorted stories every day. Over the years, these biases, stereotypes, misrepresentations, misinformation, etc., tend to take root in the viewers’ minds’ unconsciously, skewing our opinions on truth, body-image, gender representation, morality, society, etc.

As communicators and storytellers, if we wish to be true change makers, it is imperative to introduce conscious design research into our work. The paper explains how we can rewire our approach to tell more inclusive, less judgemental and purposeful stories through a series of processes. From questioning intent, research and analysis to constructing with consciousness, understanding impact and more, the paper will build a basic template for storytellers to use and review every time they want to tell a story.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN, RESEARCH, MORAL RESPONSIBILITY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, VALUES, MEDIA, GENDER, IMAGE, ETHICS Sandhya Ramachandran is a multimedia storyteller based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from Anna University, Chennai. She did her Masters in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is currently a multimedia Content Developer at QLC.io.

Her research interests include storytelling, gender, representation, culture and society.

Contact her at: sandhya321@gmail.com

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135

PICHATORN NUALDAISRI

Creative Textile: The Technical Developments in Surface Design from Thai Silk

Nowadays, Thai silk fabric has been represented as a cultural product.

The typical look of Thai silk fabric is flat, with a traditional pattern, with a vivid colour and being non-functional apart from being used in traditional costume. This might be affected by limitations of hand weave technique, lack of knowledge in material combination and low technology in finishing process.

According to research on silk properties and benefit, there is the possibility of development in surface design and functional textile from Thai silk. This research aims to experiment in depth on Using Multivotine silk (Original Thai silk species) in both Mulberry silk and Eri silk to create a new texture from handweave technique called “Collapse weave� which can create new threedimensional cloth by using material combination knowledge and textile finishing process.

This research will help Multivotine silkworm farmers to well utilize the materials because Multivotine silkworm is local materials. It can hatch several time a year. It is not susceptible to diseases, can grow perfectly under Thai weather conditions and the yarns produced from it has outstanding characteristics which tends to provide new innovative textile surface and also useful functionality. Above all, new functions and creative textures created from its traditional yarns will be developed with a contemporary look. In addition, these developments will be analysed to the present market and also aspire to be one of the creative Thai economical fabric for fashion in the future.

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KEYWORDS: THAI SILK, COLLAPSE WEAVE, SURFACE DESIGN, MATERIAL COMBINATION Pichatorn Nualdaisri is a textile designer based in Bangkok. Her bachelor’s degree is in textile and surface design from Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Thammasat University Thailand. She did her Masters in Textile Design from Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, UK. Her doctoral research was titled ‘Creative Textile: The Technical Developments in Surface Design from Thai Silk’ and she was awarded her doctorate from Silpakorn University, Thailand. She is currently a freelance textile designer and textile consultant. Her research interests include material selection and fashion design.

Contact her at: nampichatorn@gmail.com

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137

SUNITA DHOTE

A Way to Achieve Practical Architectural Spaces and Envelopes

Design is a process as well as a product which is present everywhere in the nature around us. Humans are themselves, perfectly designed functional entities made by nature. From evolution, life has beautifully designed itself to become what we have today around us. Humans, animals and our whole earth, they are elements set in a manner, to nurture itself and one another.

The birth of a child from the constrained space inside the mother’s womb, taking shape from a pre-coded natural element named DNA, reflects designing of the character and physics of the individual. When a child first stretches her or his limbs in the space out of the womb, the vastness of space is recorded in the sub-conscious mind. With passing time, ‘actions’ and ‘appropriation of spaces’ is practiced throughout the life-span of an individual and by society in collective. [Re]discovery of spaces, its character and appropriation, is associated with the physical form of an individual.

Are humans sub-consciously designing spaces and materials or, (re) discovering the design which already exists around ‘un-coded’? This has a phylogenetically determined attitude of humans towards space-design. The paper tries to state that the design of space and its appropriation, is an act of rediscovering phenomena already existing in nature around and making it useful and aesthetical in various combinations, which depicts a natural subtle connect, between ‘what is designed’ and ‘its designer’. The element of initial research is a hidden process. Discovery of gravity by Sir Isaac Newton, was realization of the phenomena already existing in nature as apples were falling on ground since very very long time laying ‘un-coded’. The sensitive awareness of the phenomena followed by, research on the subject of spaces and envelops, has encouraged human civilization to achieve various combinations of design approaches and solutions. In the professional field of architecture and urban design, it is the sub-conscious as well as rational study of people and it’s surrounding over the period of practice, that helps achieve these spaces and its envelopes, beneficial to the users.

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This paper tries to explore some basic theories surrounding human nature, space and its science along with an exploration of a building material ‘Aluminium’ to understand the intricacies involved in profession where, ‘Research through Design’ and ‘Design through Research’, show occurrence throughout the lifespan of practice as a constant process. Designing or discovering spaces for buildings or urban spaces, are enriched and strengthened with research ‘beforehand’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ the process, which further helps to design newer spaces in future. The paper tries to draw attention towards continuous and subtle relation existing between research and design. How decisions involving their application in professional practice helps in creating spaces? How far is it practically possible with the learning from experiences or incidences, sometimes unpleasant? This paper tries to shed light on how research and design nurture each-other continuously within the constraint of factors: time and economy in the professional practices.

KEYWORDS: [RE] DISCOVERY OF SPACES, HUMAN SPACE, AWARENESS OF PHENOMENA, PHYLOGENETIC, BIOLOGICAL, SYSTEMS, ALUMINUM Sunita Dhote is an architect and urban designer based in Kolkata. Her bachelor’s degree is in architecture from SMM College of Architecture, Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. She completed her Masters in Urban Design from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India. She is currently an architect at Salient Design Studio, Kolkata.

Contact her at: sunitadhote@gmail.com

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139

AARTI BADAMIKAR

Himroo: A Soul Clenched

Himroo, that began as a classroom discussion and a casual conversation with my mother about her memories of a Himroo shawl, spurred me to take it up as my craft documentation project which further built up into a manuscript.

An age old weaving tradition of Aurangabad, Himroo has an interesting history of rising to royal favour at times, and almost receding to obscurity today.

In the present scenario, it is a challenge for Himroo weavers to get back to its roots in terms of quality and design and then move in the direction of contemporary needs. Like many other crafts, the skill of Himroo weaving is wedged in handloom – power loom conflict. It is struggling to make a mark as genuine hand-woven Himroo over fake Himroo that is sold in the markets of Aurangabad. Moreover, it has much to learn from the Himroo being woven in Hyderabad. Hyderabad - because craft study and research is not limited to the current geographic location but it unfolds its territories based on history, technique, material and interest. An on field craft study and research is all about self-driven inquisitiveness, identifying the dots and connecting these dots in a structured pattern and most importantly with a humble attitude.

This paper aims to put forth the craft research undertaken from 2008 to 2012 in building a student craft document into a manuscript. It focuses on the challenges faced by Himroo and the learning opportunity it has in terms of design development for its further advancement as a craft and community.

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KEYWORDS: CRAFT, WEAVING, LEARNING, TRADITION, AURANGABAD Aarti Badamikar is a textile designer and design educator based in Mumbai.

Her bachelor’s degree is in textile design from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.

She has done her masters in textile design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She currently works as a textile design consultant for industrial and craft projects, and takes visiting lectures in National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and National Institute of Fashion Technology, Navi Mumbai. Her research interests include crafts and design training.

Contact her at: aartibadamikar@gmail.com Academic Guide: Swasti Singh Ghai is a textile designer and design educator based in Ahmedabad, India. Her bachelor’s degree is in textile design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. She worked for seven years in the area of social development and then took to full-time design education by joining NID in 2006. She is currently Discipline Lead, Textile Design at NID, Ahmedabad. Her research interests include craft cultures, sustainability, creativity and design for social empowerment.

Contact her at: swasti@nid.edu

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Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas Float series - III Acrylic on Canvas - 12˝ X 12˝ 2010

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SESSION 6 Research as Design and Design as Research

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DESHNA MEHTA

Acknowledging Contexts while Researching into Design and Designing Research

One stumbles upon or is introduced to theories, philosophies and concepts through all that might be seen, read, observed, experienced, transmitted and sometimes even inherited. This paper focuses on some of these concepts that resonate ideologically and act as anchors and inspiration for researching into design and for designing research. These also serve as frameworks to assess the designer’s relationship with his/ her inspiration in the processes of creation, reception and evaluation of effectiveness of designed communication.

Some of the concepts internalised and applied, very often articulated in hindsight after completing a body of work include self organisation, emergence, ‘anekantvada’ and sacred geometry. Inspiration for classification and subsequently opening avenues for visual responses from disciplines and subject matter such as quantum mechanics and eastern mysticism influencing the approach to research and sometimes forming the content for the research and visual work is evident on connecting dots and observing patterns. Aping, globalisation and exoticism are the recurrent matters in question that surface which are highlighted through narrated, witnessed and found examples. This study aims to analyse these intricacies through different approaches and frames by employing different lenses. Some of these have emerged as a post reflection, however certainly retain the potential of being looked upon as ‘lenses’ which when used afresh will offer insights in order to research into design and for designing research. The attempt is to heighten the awareness of contexts and explore these ‘lenses’ not only to respond to briefs but also to reflect upon the design practice at large in resonance with the core principles and ethics.

Examples of implementation and evaluation are derived from projects undertaken over the past 12 years as a design student, an artist, a design practitioner, a curator, a design academic, a design writer and a photographer.

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From ‘Kumbh’ landscapes that house the largest human gatherings on earth to solitary meditative spaces, participatory and emergent processes to predetermined outcomes based on strict timelines and constrained briefs, projects manifestations and everyday observations that feed and evolve from these, all seem to have a trace of the concepts, belief systems and ideologies spoken of earlier. This study expands upon the presence of these in the form of case studies within projects and the general functioning of the design practice. Research methodologies are built in response to research in action rather than following pre-determined methods. This is true of most projects undertaken and is pointed out in detail case by case.

The intention for us as visual communicators and designers is to become aware of the unconscious bonds and perceptions of our own culture to develop a more self-conscious position for practice. With these self-critical and purpose-driven reflections, our audiences surely have a lot to gain.

KEYWORDS: LENS, CONTEXT, PERCEPTION, EVALUATION Deshna Mehta is a communication designer based in Mumbai with an interest in visual art, writing, curation and research. She holds a BFA in Applied Art from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art (Mumbai, India). She did a Masters in Graphic Design from the London College of Communication (London, UK) followed by a Masters in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art (London, UK).

Her dissertation titled ‘The Indian Frame of Reference: Contextualising the Current State of Graphic Design in India in Order to Situate it in the Past for it to Appropriately Fit the Indian Context’ was awarded a distinction by the Critical and Historical Department at the Royal College of Art. She is the co-founder of Studio Anugraha and project anchor for The Kumbh Mela Experience Documentation. Her research interests include design history and using design to express and experiment with philosophies.

Contact her at: deshna@studioanugraha.com

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145

SHRIDHAR SUDHIR

Kaithi Ek Itihaas: Film and the Design Process through the Experience of a Documentary Film

‘Kaithi Ek Itihaas’ is a 27 min long documentary written, directed, shot and edited by me as part of a fellowship by the Public Service Broadcast Trust in partnership with Prasar Bharti. The film talks about a lost script, Kaithi, and traces its history throughout the history of India and its internal struggles for power, the relationship between language and a people, and the politics of the same. It then looks at the present aftermath of this history, and what lessons there are to be learned if one looks back. The script and its loss is one of the key studies in understanding the communalization of language and script, which defines life as we know it since partition.

How does one go about researching for a film like this? Something very special about the medium of film is that time is an integral part of its experience. Unlike a book or a research paper, a film can’t and shouldn’t be stopped midway for processing, be watched faster or slower, or only be limited to a single sense. How does the process of designing a film begin, where one has to sift through 150 years of history, and its contemporary remnants, and still limit it to a coherent and processable amount of information, while at the same time keeping the aesthetics, form, and structure that any good film requires?

A film is a piece of designed art, in the process of which it finds itself at the overlapping of two opposite ends of a tug of war. Art, like nothing else except itself, seeks to express emotion. One must first understand that any film is an edited and focused depiction of the experience of the filmmaker as s/ he inculcates and processes information and knowledge, and as with each experience, processes its emotions. The challenge with the film was to depict the narrative as a feeling rather than a happening.

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At first sight, the content of the film, and especially the research, pushes the narrative as an intellectual argument and a cerebral exercise, rather than being an emotional one. The loss of a script for a people is also a loss of their language, communication, and culture, creating an inability to express oneself, which is a deeply difficult and emotional experience.

The final structure then relied heavily on juxtaposing the cerebral with the emotional, to bring a theory and make it human, and hence relatable. In the bringing together of these two things, the film shines a light on something so basic and vital yet invisible as script and language in everyday life.

And in recognizing this insignificant structure, the film reflects upon the relationship of the politics of script and language with the sense of identity of the individual, the community and the country, therein, recognizing the effect of the collective on the individual and the role of the individual in the collective, bringing us closer to knowing where we came from, and where we are heading.

KEYWORDS: FILM, KAITHI, DESIGN PROCESS, DOCUMENTARY Shridhar Sudhir is a filmmaker, artist and design educator based in Mumbai.

His bachelor’s degree is in visual communication from the College of Art, New Delhi, India. He did his Masters in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently a freelancer and consultant working out of Mumbai. His research interests include nationalism, history, design education and application, and film education.

Contact him at: shridhar.sudhir@gmail.com

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

147

TULIP SINHA

Conversation as Capital: Revitalizing the Practice and Design of Conversations

A practice-led project looks at exploring the art of conversations as an effective oral-aural engagement, its potential as an intellectual capital and its role as a pedagogical tool. The choice of practice has emerged in retrospect of my previous practices – as an experience designer, a craftdesigner and now a pedagogue. Conversations and cultural story-telling have always been an integral part of these alliances, more so, in the first two cases. However, in the role of a pedagogue in the field of art and design, the reliance has largely been on ‘making as a mode to think’, which has, more often than not used ‘culture and its elements as a pivot’ to develop the course content. In relying on making, conversations as a mode of engagement and thinking, have minimal prominence, although a large part of my previous practices had drawn from such oral-aural exchanges and worked well almost in the capacity of an informal qualitative research method.

My classroom and outbound experiences with the students of art and design have revealed a visible discomfort in engaging in face-to-face communication, between the students and with the world outside, resulting in heavy reliance on only secondary sources of information in the name of research practice. This phenomenon, when seen in the light of the hyperconnected world of technological advancements in a predominantly alithic society such as India, demands a re-evaluation of the teaching-learning experience. It must enable the learners to freshly get introduced to the art of communication, cultivate it, practice it, leading up to being sensitive to and regarding a fellow human-being as a repository of knowledge.

My practice lay in having conversations across various formats, with a diverse group of people on the notion of culture. By investigating culture, its facets and how it is understood through these conversations, I was actively also recreating the ‘culture of conversations’ itself, making it a reflexive practice.

The construction, maneuvering and archival of the practice of conversations,

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followed by insight generation finally led to a design intervention in the form of a conversation toolkit for facilitators. This toolkit may be used by facilitators at the level of high school or above to not only start conversations as a collective on a topic as expansive as culture, but to also recalibrate the ‘classroom culture’ with the inclusion of meaningful conversations. This form of institutional usage of conversations as a mode of inquiry would not only facilitate critical questioning and thinking, but would also necessitate a shift in the roles of both the students and the facilitators. Using the toolkit would create a space for co-investigation and a collaborative creation of knowledge on a given topic, instead of a unidirectional instructional format of enquiring about it.

The project, on one hand uses practice and the design of that practice as research and then the insights from that research become a source for design interventions, thereby making ‘design’ oscillate between a ‘maneuver or a choreography’ and an act of ‘problem-solving’ as it is popularly understood.

KEYWORDS: CONVERSATION, INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL, PRACTICE AS RESEARCH, PEDAGOGICAL TOOLKIT Tulip Sinha is an industrial designer, maker, researcher and educator, based in Bengaluru. She has a bachelor’s degree in product design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and a master’s degree in Design in Education from Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bengaluru. She has worked closely with various craft clusters, craft organizations and social enterprises across India in the capacity of a researcher, skill-trainer, designer and entrepreneur. She currently teaches at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Bengaluru. As an educator, her interests lie in the areas of developing pedagogic tools, contents and methods that simplify the dissemination of creative intelligence and design skills. Her other areas of interest are craft, artisanal practices, cultural studies & storytelling, product design, and design research.

Contact her at: tulip.del@gmail.com

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149

INDRAJIT DE, SAUMYA PANDE

Harnessing the Power of Research, Design and Technology to Scale up Social Impact

Design is a constant ‘search’ for collective elaboration and acts as a ‘research’ laboratory of possible horizons. It is as much the means to transform our environment as the manner of questioning it. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how a team of academic-design practitioners working on a social entrepreneurship project, used the methods of “research prototyping” to meet the dual needs of contributing to the academic discussion and problem solving on the ground through design practice.

The paper is a reflection on our ongoing women empowerment initiatives in Kishanganj district of Bihar. Kishanganj is home to two different ethnicities; the native Surjapuri and the Shershabadi who have migrated from the state of West Bengal and blended seamlessly with the locals. The migration not only brought people from one state to another but also their visual vocabulary and craft of quilting layers of used saris or ‘lungis’ setting them apart from the rest. To understand the evolution of their unique style of quilting unlike the more famous ‘kantha’ in Bengal or Sujni in Bihar, we undertook months of fieldwork and research circumscribing the visual vocabulary of the Shershabadi community and documenting nearly eight unique recurring traditional patterns in their quilts mostly inspired by their indigenous architecture and basketry traditions. Each pattern following a stitched guideline and carefully embroidered with precise intuitive calculation, leads to an extremely sophisticated design process never documented before.

However, when our team replicated these nine traditional patterns on the computer, the ensuing permutation and combination gave us almost infinite unique patterns; many of them were shared with the Shershabadi women leading to numerous hitherto unseen unimagined creations of quilts or ‘kheta’ as they came to call them. Though our design research was guided by the conviction that the context informs the structure, language and form of crafts, however the use of technology interface for conducting research

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into the designs also highlighted that the traditional craft product can not only serve as an end but also as a seed for new possibilities and directions.

Shershabadi women’s mathematical genius without any formal education, their uncanny understanding of materials combined with mastery of the tools, techniques and processes have evolved over the centuries through social and cultural interactions. Today this craft continuum constitutes an enormous resource that can be harnessed for the future development of their fragile ecosystem in Kishanganj.

KEYWORDS: KHETAKISHANGANJ, RE-SEARCH PROTOTYPING, TECHNOLOGY INTERFACE, INTUITIVE CALCULATION Indrajit De is a design educator, management consultant and social entrepreneur based in Delhi. His bachelor’s degree is in fashion design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology Kolkata. He did his PGCHE from Nottingham Trent University and MBA in strategy and marketing from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He is currently Manager, Education Services at 9.9 Group Pvt Ltd and Coordinating Editor at Samarth magazine for elders. He is also the co-founder of a social collective named Zameen Astar foundation working towards women empowerment in Kishanganj, Bihar. His research interests include non-profit leadership and craft conservation in India.

Contact him at: indrajit_de2017@pgp.isb.edu Saumya Pande is a design educator, design consultant and a textile artist based in New Delhi. Her bachelor’s degree is in fashion design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. She did her Masters in Fashion and Textiles from Nottingham Trent University, UK. Her present research is in the embroidered textiles from Kishanganj, Bihar, India. She is also the co-founder of a social collective named Zameen Astar foundation working towards women empowerment in Kishanganj, Bihar. She is currently the founding course leader of the fashion design programme at Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD), New Delhi. Her research interests include textile crafts in both their traditional and contemporary forms.

Contact her at: saumya.pande@iiad.edu.in

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151

SEBASTIĂ N TRUJILLO TORRES

Mapping Hybridization: The Design-Research Continuum in Indian Architecture

This essay discusses the historic relation between design and research in India, from the formation of the profession on to contemporary practice. In so doing, it argues how this relation has been incrementally reinforced into synergies of practice that utilize hybrid methods to act upon space.

Aside from briefly referencing historic landmarks of this relations, it brings forward several case studies in contemporary practice wherein design and research are utilized interchangeably in multiple and diverse ways.

The objective of this essay then, is to reinstate such methodologies as legitimate protocols of acting-upon-space, which can be incorporated into academic environments as a manner to address lagging binary preconceptions of the discipline in the country.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN-RESEARCH STUDIES, ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA, HISTORIC NARRATIVES, DESIGN HISTORY, INDIAN MODERNITY, EMERGING Sebastian Trujillo is an architect and design educator based in Ahmedabad and Bogota. His bachelor’s degree is in architectural design from the National University of Colombia, Bogota - Colombia. He did his Masters in Architectural History, Theory and Criticism from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India. He is currently a visiting faculty at CEPT University, a research associate in the CEPT University Press, and an independent practitioner. His research interests include the utilization of ‘play’ as a design-research tool, understanding ‘jugaad’ technologies as potential architectural methodologies, the potential of public architecture and infrastructure as catalysers of agency, the political role of architects in contemporary scenarios and so on.

Contact him at: sebastian.trujillo.torres@gmail.com

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153

LAVANYA SIRI

Research through Design: Evaluating the Prospect of Financial Behaviour Change and Financial Inclusion in Low-Income Communities through Digital Intervention Both research and design are endeavours that improve the understanding of our control over the human condition. This paper describes the evolution of the design process in one such design endeavour carried out in a research lab (Microsoft Research lab, India) to address the following research question: “Can a tech-intervention help auto rickshaw drivers have better-informed choices about their auto rickshaw loans and eventually help them pay off their loans faster?”

‘Prayana’, is a unique, intermediated, financial management solution designed for users in resource-constrained settings. It is a mobile application which shares the principles of many persuasive technologies, such as education, motivation, nudges, but is designed for users with a range of print, technical, and financial literacies and embodies the core design sensibility of enhancing users’ agency.

This paper captures the process around the design of the drivers’ interface of the ‘Prayana’ application. The generative research began by drawing in from the rich body of knowledge from the fields of human-computer interaction, ICT design, and game design. The interactive prototypes thus designed were put through the evaluative research process of multiple user tests and interviews which revealed various accords and discords with the very body of knowledge which guided the design choices made in the process of building those prototypes.

The paper goes on to discuss the strong interdependence between design practice, research and ethnography by illustrating how the activity of designing creates knowledge which helps uncover the vital factors which affect the success of the design, thus helping designers to act. It argues that the creative exploitation of this interdependency plays a key role in strategizing for the success of any design intervention.

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KEYWORDS: FINANCIAL INCLUSION; RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN; ACCESSIBLE UI; BEHAVIOUR CHANGE THROUGH DESIGN Lavanya Siri D is a design researcher and strategist based in Bengaluru. Her Master’s Degree is in Universal Design from the National Institute of Design, Bengaluru. She is currently Associate Design Strategist at Societe Generale, a global giant in Banking and Financial Services, where she works on service transformation, innovation, and design. Her research interests include human behaviour in design, design in the age of AI, human centred design for financial inclusion, design for digital transformations and contextual innovation methods.

Contact her at: lavanyasirid@gmail.com Industry Guide: Jacki O’Neill is Senior Researcher in the Technology for Emerging Markets (TEM) area at Microsoft Research India. In the HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) space, her research spans the future of work, from new labour platforms (crowdwork, Uber, Ola) to workplace AI; digital currencies and financial inclusion. She uses ethnomethodologically-informed ethnography to inspire the design of technologies which enhance, rather than remove, agency and create sustainable futures, and her goals include having not just academic but societal impact. She has 50 peer-reviewed articles, 16 patents, and two innovation awards.

Contact her at: Jacki.oneill@microsoft.com

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SHREYAS R KRISHNAN

Illustration as Investigation

With the recent publication of ‘History of Illustration,’ the first illustration history textbook, Illustration has claimed a firmer foothold as an area of academic study separate from graphic design and art.

At the same time, it risks falling into the same trap that writing on design and art have encountered – that of generating inaccessible academic discourse instead of evolving dialogue. ‘Accessibility’ poses its own problem. The easy access and democracy of the internet has thrown forth a multitude of blogs and instagram accounts catering to short attention spans with quick lists and features, making it easier to simply look at illustration as an end result rather than as a practice.

This paper advocates for the use of Illustration as a tool to investigate itself.

To ‘illustrate’ is to provide an example that clarifies or proves. Illustration has been used in such a manner in various documentary contexts, from scientific drawings, graphic journalism, to editorial illustrations, but never in a way that turns the focus inward. Comics, graphic narratives, and other types of illustration can be used to delve critically into illustration itself in order to generate critical inquiry which fulfils a larger role than conventional written scholarship.

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KEYWORDS: ILLUSTRATION; CRITICAL INQUIRY; DOCUMENTATION; COMICS Shreyas R Krishnan is an illustrator, designer, and educator based in St. Louis, Missouri. Her bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. She did her Masters in Illustration Practice from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Washington University in St.Louis’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Her research interests include the construction and endurance of memory, and the intersections between gender studies and visual culture.

Contact her at: rkrishnan.shreyas@gmail.com

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KOPAL KULKARNI

What does the Material Want to Be? A Case for Systematic Material Investigation Workshop in Design Education

Material investigations have been carried out by different disciplines across the globe with a focus on sustainability, healthier lifestyle, creating delight.

As designers take on materials to create products, they experiment and manipulate the materials with an intent. This intent could be to save labor, to perform better, to reduce the ecological impact, to optimize material or just to refresh a brand.

Currently, advance materials are being developed by scientists, enterprises, inventors, creative communities, and material industries which can push the boundaries of functionality. However, a very few succeed to genuinely turn into innovative products or systems. This is largely due to the limitations with the conventional process of product design and material selection where the designer chases user needs, designs concepts, formulate plans to realize it and then selects the material. It ultimately leads to wide gaps in the appropriateness of the material within the product, thus leaving the material either over-utilized, under-utilized or simply not suitable. With this, at times materials lose their meaning and products lose their value. Designers have the responsibility to ensure that there is honesty in transformation of material into the product.

Evolving a systemic understanding of materials along with use-case scenarios might help designers to create genuine and purposeful products that are a part of the system and also respect the system. So, the idea is to explore an iterative method to systematically research materials, inspired from the design thinking process. The method would let designers understand how to explore old, new and evolving materials, and contextualizing them within a wider socio-cultural and economic scenario. It would evolve through a series of experimental workshops, where we would take materials as the starting point of the design process. To begin with one of the methods identified for systematic probing of material is design driven material investigation

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methodology (designed by Lecce, Chiara & Ferrara, Marinella for European SME’s). The paper discusses this method, learn from it, evolve it and explore its applications in design education.

KEYWORDS : MATERIAL EXPERIMENTATION, DESIGN DRIVEN MATERIAL INNOVATION, MATERIAL INNOVATION Kopal Kulkarni is a product designer and a design consultant based in Mumbai. His bachelor’s degree is in architecture from Priyadarshini Institute of Architecture and Design Studies, Nagpur India. He did his Masters in Furniture Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad India. He was a design lead at Godrej Innovation and Design Center and now is a consultant to Studio Everything by design and product start-up Honest Structures. His research interest includes material innovation through design investigations, design driven innovation and product development for circular economy.

Contact him at: kopalmkulkarni@gmail.com

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POOJA VASU

Research in Designing for Social Communication: A Narrative Promoting Healthy Ageing in Menopausal Women

This paper lies at the intersection of research, communication design and healthcare in India. It examines the degree or lack of awareness in the Indian societal context, towards menopausal healthcare and its repercussion(s) on women’s health and wellbeing.

Further, this paper explores the existing gaps in communication, with respect to the socio-cultural barriers, myths and misconceptions that prevail in our communities. The focus being on women’s perception of reproductive and intimate health (even among educated, urban women).

The research conducted sheds light on how menopause extends beyond physical health, to psychological wellbeing. It affects the family; often the children and the spouse who are equally in the dark about the sudden changes occurring in their mother or wife or family member. The paper underscores how the insights from the research phase of the project, formed the basis of design for the social communication around the topic.

The storytelling format was a video telling real life stories of women across contexts, to create awareness and sensitize women, spouses, children and society overall towards menopause. The paper addresses how sharing the research findings in a more experiential form (video), highlighting the general lack of awareness of its cause, effect and management, directly in the form of a social message, is a design intervention in itself.

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KEYWORDS: DESIGN RESEARCH, COMMUNICATION DESIGN, WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE, MENOPAUSE, SOCIAL INNOVATION Pooja Vasu is a communication designer and design researcher based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in Applied arts from Mumbai university, Mumbai. She did her Masters in graphic design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Her final degree project was on menopause and healthy ageing. She is currently working as a Design Researcher at Studio 5B, Innovation and Design centre at Dr Reddy’s Lab. Her research interests lie in understanding human behaviour, research in complex healthcare systems and social innovation sector.

Contact her at: pooja.octaves@gmail.com Academic Guide: Shilpa Das

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161

NAMRATA DILIP PHIRKE, GOURAB KAR

Sparc: Illuminating Homes with Waste Heat

Sparc is a product that harnesses energy from waste heat to illuminate homes. The product was designed as an affordable solution for communities at the bottom-of-the-pyramid who have limited or no access to uninterrupted electricity at home. Sparc uses a thermo-electric generator (TEG) to transform waste heat from cooking stoves or ‘chulas’ into usable electricity that can power lights and recharge mobile phones. This paper describes the process of co-creating Sparc with community partners through the adoption of an iterative, research-informed-design development cycle.

This iterative cycle encompassed the following stages: a. The design team analyzed TEG technology and its product-level applications. b. A focused ethnographic study with communities in semiurban and rural Maharashtra was conducted to understand patterns of energy consumption at home; frequency and duration of power outages. c. Insights from the ethnographic study helped identify unmet user needs and develop a contextual design brief focused on use of TEGs to harness energy from waste heat. d. TEGs were tested in laboratory conditions to examine their feasibility to harness waste heat from cooking stoves and ‘chulas’. e. A range of product concepts was sketched and prototyped using TEGs. f. Prototypes were tested in real and simulated conditions to identify strengths and weaknesses of each concept; shortlist concepts based on product viability and technical feasibility. g. Based on test results, a battery-powered torch concept was selected for further design development. h. The working prototype was demonstrated to the users at different locations to gather their inputs and reactions. i. Four rounds of iterative prototyping and testing were conducted to improve product performance and finalize product form. j. User feedback was incorporated to develop the final prototype. k. The final product tested again with users to solicit feedback and gauge their potential for adoption of the product in their day-to-day life.

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The iterative loop of research informing design, and design propelling further research was the backbone of this project. Using a human-centered design approach, the design team was able to combine empathy for the user with appropriate technology to craft a contextual design solution that addressed an untapped market need. At an organizational level, the project demonstrated that a bias towards prototyping iteratively and testing ideas with users was the key to successful product development within a short duration of time. At a personal level, the project provided an opportunity for the lead designer to reconnect with her personal experiences of growing up in a small town in Maharashtra, subject to frequent and long durations of power cuts. Her experiences inspired her to take up the challenge of designing this solution to address the energy needs of the people at the bottom-of-the-pyramid.

KEYWORDS: THERMOELECTRIC TECHNOLOGY, HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN, DESIGN FOR BOP, ENERGY FROM WASTE HEAT. Namrata Phirke is a UX designer based in Sydney. Her bachelor’s degree is in product design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She did her Masters in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, USA. She is currently working as a UX designer at Wilcom in Sydney, Australia. Her recent thesis work analysed eating behaviour and its impact on human health. Her research interests are maternal and child health care, sustainable living and design for social impact. Contact her at: phirkenamrata@gmail.com.

Academic Guide: Gourab Kar Â

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GARIMA A ROY

Design Researcher: An Observer or a Participant

This paper questions the possibility of a true design research by drawing parallels between two subjective streams, those being history and design research. History is the past seen from the historian’s perspective. Similarly, is design research a study from the researcher’s perspective?

The author is in complete agreement with the idea that design research cannot stop at hard facts and has to look beyond and look deeper into human behaviour, societal webs in order to be truly insightful. The paper debates whether a subjective research like this is limited by the vision and understanding of the researcher or if the research can break through the boundaries of our understanding of people through experience.

Design research is often uncomplicated for a designer who designs within familiar settings like people, economic strata, and communities. The hard facts are relatively less complex as science can come to the rescue when needed. As an insider one can often hit the nail right on its head. However, a design researcher is often studying unfamiliar territories. In this case, can research fill the void that only participation can fill or is observation enough?

The paper is intended to bring the two aspects face to face without pitching them against each other. The paper touches upon successful offerings from both categories.

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KEYWORDS: PERSPECTIVE, LIMITATION, PARTICIPANT, OBSERVER Garima Aggarwal Roy is a furniture and interior designer based in Goa. Her bachelor’s degree is in civil engineering (construction technology) from Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad, India. She did her Masters in Design (Furniture and Interior Design) from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Her final Diploma Project at Outreach Programmes with Tripura Bamboo Mission has been widely acclaimed nationally and internationally and has been published widely including in a book on Indian Design by Phaidon publications. She currently designs spaces and products for action based play for children under her brand “Other-Wise”.

She also co-founded ‘Freehand Studio’ in partnership with Anindya Roy to work on projects under other design verticals like product design, interior design, and craft based interventions. Her research interests include crafts, methodology and their social impact, children-centric design.

Contact her at: contactfreehand@gmail.com

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DEBJANI MUKHERJEE

Experiential Ethnography: Immersing in the Present

The paper aims to introduce the concept of ‘experiential ethnography’ as an immersive way of re-thinking ethnographic methods to the extent that the researcher becomes one of the subjects, during the course of data collection.

The paper gives an overview of how the above methodology is designed, what are its rationale, principles and the research tools it employs. It states examples from the study of the indigenous art pedagogy practices of an aboriginal artist community of Madhya Pradesh, India.

The knowledge of creating indigenous ritual painting is transferred through generations, within closed communities over ages. However, in the present time and context, ritual painting practices have become disconnected from their original context, transformed to commercial art and promoted as a cultural emblem of indigenous artists. In the present times, the art of teaching the indigenous art form co-exists with the ritual painting practices alongside one another. The study of this ‘parallel’ pedagogy is approached through experiential ethnography methodology as an application. Analyzing the intricacies of the art and its process demanded approaching the study as a design experience. The language of collaboration and communication between artists, needed to be ‘art’ itself. Hence, experiential ethnography research methodology, of the researcher learning the art from the artist, was designed and the process of ‘art teaching’ was documented as a research activity. Thus, research and design fed into one another where research was approached as a design activity and design was approached as a research activity.

Experiential ethnography is essentially not re-inventing ethnography but rather reasoning and re-thinking of traditional ethnographic methods. It is an extension of participatory observation that explores new innovative approaches to engage with the participants. The SELC principle of situatedness, experiential, learner and collaboration detail the above. Thus,

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the ethnographer does not aim to become invisible to the community but rather acknowledges his or her presence and initiates participation so that the creation of new knowledge is a collaborative effort between the ethnographer and the participant.

KEYWORDS: EXPERIENTIAL ETHNOGRAPHY, PARTICIPATORY OBSERVATION, ARTIST COMMUNITY, BHIL ART

Debjani Mukherjee is an animation filmmaker, sand performance artist and design educator based in Mumbai. Her bachelor’s degree is in economicsstatistics-mathematics from the Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta University, Kolkata. She did her Masters in Animation Film Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She is presently pursuing her doctoral research on indigenous art education from IDC, IIT Bombay, India. She is also the cofounder of BOL, a non-profit organization working in the area of indigenous art therapy. Her research interests include indigenous art, art pedagogy and animation. Contact her at: debjani.animate@gmail.com

Academic Guides: Mazhar Kamran is a filmmaker and presently a Professor at IDC, IIT Bombay, India. His research interests include Indian styles for animation, contemporary cinema and exploring the form in historical film.

Contact him at: mazhar@iitb.ac.in

Disha Nawani is presently the Dean of Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her research interests include action research in education, curriculum, education, materials design and development.

Contact her at: disha.nawani@tiss.edu

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NEETA KHANUJA

Design as Research and Research as Design: A Case Study of a Smartphone-based Braille-conductive Interface

It is estimated that more than a third of the world’s blind population lives in India. With increasing access of more people to screen readers and accessibility tools that offer audible information, braille literacy rates in India are reducing. In contrast, smartphones are ubiquitous and increasingly affordable in India. Smartphones offer accessibility features enabling that enable an easy interaction for blind users and is, therefore, a technology that is widely used by the target audience. Considering the low learning curve involved in smartphone usage, the idea for this project was to develop a braille interface over a touch-enabled smartphone screen to enable equitable access to of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for people with visual impairments and increase the exposure of braille in their daily interactions.

This paper is a case study of the design research process to develop a tactile interface overlaid on a smartphone that enables braille typing. The case study consists of four stages. A study of existing research and available tools was done to understand the challenges, concerns with existing technologies and user’s expectations. A requirement list was created based on gathered insights from user research and from a review of literature in the field study. A technology study was done to validate the utility of the idea, material attributes, and costs involved in prototyping. Building a prototype involved two parts: 1. Designing and developing a keyboard application, and 2. Developing a physical layer that would be overlaid on the phone screen.

While application development was done with adobe illustrator and android studio, developing the overlaid silicon layer required some facilities from the fabrication lab in the CEPT University, Ahmedabad. The next phase was to gather insights from the target audience. User testing was done with L.V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad. Lessons from this session of interaction directed back and provided inputs in populating the list of user’s requirements.

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This process where research-informed design and design propelled research was fundamental to get a closer look at the user’s needs and technical feasibility of the idea. A co-design participatory approach where users guide design decisions by giving feedback, questioning and discussing the tool features plays an important role in usability design. This co-design environment can be created by presenting to them a raw prototype and giving the freedom to mould it without the hesitation and fear of breaking.

Though this approach is useful for any design project it is significantly important in design for disability where empathy and user understanding act as the foundation for the design process. With this, the paper stresses the importance of design and research as overlapping processes with feedback loops to guide decision making within both phases.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN RESEARCH, INCLUSIVE DESIGN, INTERACTION DESIGN, USER-CENTRIC DESIGN Neeta M. Khanuja is an interaction designer from India and works in the field of user experience design in Frankfurt, Germany. Her bachelor’s degree is in computer engineering from Gujarat University. She did her Masters in New Media Design from National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India. Currently she is enrolled in a double degree program in Masters in Media Architecture at Bauhaus University, Weimar and MSc in Architecture at University at Buffalo, New York. She has worked with Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access at University at Buffalo as a research assistant and has volunteered with Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University, Canada. Her research interests include interaction design, inclusive design and user-experience design.

Contact her at: khanujaneeta@gmail.com

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SAURABH DEB

Evolution of Modern Day Digital Consciousness

This paper is located at the intersection of user experience and the evolving digital consciousness among users, right from from the GUI (Graphic User interface) and visual interaction to universal understanding for a singularunified OS (operating system), evolving to provide a seamless experience, an improved harmony among the connected devices we are surrounded with. The paper explores the possibilities of evolving user-interaction and engagement in the paradigm of connected devices and explores the social science aspects responsible for the evolution of users’ digital consciousness.

It lays out several examples that illustrate values and users’ dilemmas of interaction or communicating with the machine and the design process required to deliver a more friendly, easy to use machine language.

It extrapolates on an in-depth user research from the Indian consumer’s point-of-view to identify the need and unique use-case scenarios, and design opportunities. The paper covers a broad terrain to investigate the nature of user-interaction from diverse backgrounds and their expectations from connected devices. It seeks to understand the development of a unifiedsingular consciousness among the present day digital user. Will it help in bridging the gap among the countries that have access to technology and those who don’t?

The paper takes account of the profound theories of communication and science such as quantum physics, which explains the notion of consciousness, where the physical world is a complementary aspect of the virtual reality. It draws from the perspective of machine learning and consciousness is therefore presented as a sort of meta-cognition involving higher-order thought processes.

It begins by examining the issues and concerns pertaining to the ethics of digital interaction in general. It contextualizes this in design practice through

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the author’s experiences as a user experience designer in an Information & Technology company (Samsung) by extrapolating on several examples. Taking particular examples of device convergence from a unique Indian perspective, use case scenarios and evolving user interaction trends, it explores the complexity of this dialectical dynamics which at times finds resolution in a symbiotic relationship between the two strains of user expectation and user engagement; this is carried out in the social sciences and in other disciplines, leading to a relationship of conflict. Through the examination of examples, the paper culls out certain observations on the nature of device-to-device interaction and UX practice itself.

Further, it underscores the specific problems faced by domestic (Indian) users in multi-device-scenarios given that there is little written or articulated research on the ethics of user interaction in the terrain of diversified user profile. A corpus of writing and theoretical perspectives that articulates the voice of digital consciousness is imperative. Reflecting on the ethical aspects of design work, merits a dialogue between technology and the user’s behavior to evolve and practice Interaction design and communication. The paper urges the need to promote commitment, awareness and connecting UX design to other fields such as the social sciences.

KEYWORDS: USER EXPERIENCE; DIGITAL CONSCIOUSNESS; CONVERGENCE; INTERACTION DESIGN Saurabh Deb is visual communication specialist practising UX design in New Delhi. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is currently working as the Chief Designer in UX innovation advanced solutions at Samsung Design, Delhi. His research interests include the internet of things, device convergence and multi-device experience.

Contact him at: deb.saurabh@gmail.com

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DOJI SAMSON LOKKU, PRASAD S ONKAR

Doctoral Studies in Design: A Review of Research on Design as a Practice

Design research has always been an integral part of design as a practice.

This has been evident since the inception of DRS (Design Research Society) in 1966. The doctoral studies in design have been the focus only during the past about 20 years. This clearly shows that though design research exists for more than 50 years formally, the doctoral studies in design is relatively new, as it has the scope of investigating the practice of design itself.

Several stalwarts of design have spotted this anomaly and have started spreading the need for exclusively undertaking doctoral studies in design.

The proposed paper is about composing these particular reviews of research, in order to orient doctoral students of design towards clearly pursuing their academic goals and help them steer away from the kind of design research that is essentially part of design practice.

In view of the increased rigor in doctoral studies, the emphasis on research methodology while undertaking design research (aimed at investigating design) has also been discussed in the proposed paper. The various research priorities that are possible, keeping in view the several research streams corresponding to a variety of design practices, are included in the proposed paper. The paper concludes by referring to the maturity levels of design practice and the associated categories of doctoral studies in design.

KEYWORDS: DOCTORAL STUDIES, DESIGN RESEARCH, DESIGN PRACTICE, RESEARCH REVIEW

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Doji Lokku is a principal scientist and design scholar based in Hyderabad.

His master’s degree is in engineering design from IIT, Kanpur. His doctoral research is in the area of design innovation and he is pursuing his doctorate from IIT Hyderabad. He is currently Principal Scientist at TCS. His research interests include business systems, service innovation and ensuring creation of value through design.

His email contact: doji.lokku@tcs.com Prasad S Onkar is a design educator and researcher from Hyderabad. His bachelor’s degree is in mechanical engineering from Karnatak University Dharwad, India. He did his Masters in Product Design and Manufacturing from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, India. His doctoral research was on computer-aided conceptual design and sketch based interfaces, and he was awarded his doctorate from CPDM, IISc Bengaluru, India. He is currently Assistant Professor in Design Department at IIT Hyderabad. His research interests include design theory and methodologies, design innovation, design cognition and creativity, interactive design support tools with virtual reality and haptics.

Contact him at: psonkar@iith.ac.in Academic Guide: Deepak John Mathew is a photographer, visual designer and design educator based in Hyderabad. He did his Masters in Fine Arts (Graphic Arts) from the M.S. University, Vadodara, India. His doctoral research was on design education and he was awarded his doctorate from the Centre for Advanced Studies in Education, M.S. University, Vadodara, India. He is currently Professor and Head of the Design Department at IIT Hyderabad. His research interests include design education, preservation of heritage and culture, photography, print making, painting, history of design, history of art, colour and form, graphics and illustration.

Contact him at: djm@iith.ac.in

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173

KAUTUK TRIVEDI

Why Human Resource Management is Ripe for a Design-led Disruption

HR is an Industry (and a Business Vertical) that has remained largely unchanged for the past 60+ years. Like any other ‘old trade’ (such as education), HR still relies on the intuitive expertise of legends or rockstars or super agony-aunts in the HR field to take decisions. This is something, that isn’t true on the business side of things anymore. Data rules, as much as human expertise (if not more) in decision making. Why is this so? Businesses succeed by creating value for customers. That value almost always takes the form of money; money saved and money made. But businesses are built by people. For people, true value is rarely money. This is where it becomes tough to quantify the value created by the HR function, while being an active enabler for people and hence businesses to succeed. Due to this, HR has almost always played catch-up with business. Always reactive, rarely pro-active.

So how does design help? The tools used in design for enquiry don’t try to find ways around subjective human needs and motivations, but through them. In this process, they make such data more objective and easier to act upon. ‘Subjective human needs and motivations’ is the exact kind of data HR practices generate, but are clueless as to how to collect, analyze and use it to become a strategic partner to business and be two steps ahead.

This is where what we do at Belong comes in. We’re a technology company trying to change HR and I head HR (People Function) at this company. So everything we do in the People Function is from a first principles perspective.

We ask ‘how is the organization feeling right now?’ We have experimented with multiple ways of onboarding new employees to the organization, and measured the impact for each along the way. We’re trying decode employee personas so their needs can be catered to in a more targeted way. Each one of these experiment/inquiry is done within a typical fast-paced, highflux Indian start-up environment, where we’re always going out of business

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and seeing tremendous growth at the same time. This is what makes it unique. This paper is an outcome of the work that is/was done at Belong Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru and owes an intellectual debt to the organization.

KEYWORDS: HUMAN RESOURCE, ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, WORKPLACE EXPERIENCE, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE Kautuk Trivedi is a designer based in Bengaluru. His bachelor’s degree is in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He is currently Head of People Function at Belong.co. in Bengaluru. His research interests include participatory design techniques, culture, systems thinking, organizational design and employee experience.

Contact him at: kautuk3vedi@gmail.com

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MUDITA PASARI

Beyond Dialectics: Acknowledging Design Research as an Ever Ongoing and Complex Design Practice

This paper introduces an approach to questioning conceptual dichotomies attributed to the professional practices of design research. As young students and professionals, designers are taught to look at research and design as two consecutive parts of a problem-solving process. This dialectic fails to acknowledge the role of a designer as a constant new-age strategic thinker. Here, Design (as) Research is presented as the crucial (and often unacknowledged) ongoing step of a holistic design practice. Design research is also distinguished from designed research, a step seen much later in the design process (not to be confused with the former). The paper starts by building a case for design (as) research, as a very natural process for a trained brain. Through examples of her own work, the author showcases how constant observing, analysing, learning, and assimilating is an integral part of her design practice. Leading from this, the author argues that Design research is an ever-ongoing, spontaneous activity, largely dependent on observation and consumption of content. It is akin to any other skill, which can be honed through continuous and conscious practice. Hence, applicable to any brain which looks at creative problem solving or strategic thinking processes. In light of the above argument, we see that designers among other creative people, often face intertwined complexities which present the need for a more evolved system of contemplation. Hence, the paper expands the accepted dialectic of Research and Design into an interconnected and cyclical quadralectic between: 1. Design (as) Research (ever-ongoing; drawing on experience database) 2. Research (theoretical; technical; critical) 3. Designed Research (planned; practical; on-ground) 4. Design (assimilation; creating; building)

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According to the author, the aforementioned system of contemplation, is borne of the ability to be constantly immersed in design research. To be an observer and accumulator of instances, content and practices, is one of the unique abilities which help design researchers contribute to the changing role of design in today’s world. Although a common (sometimes natural) process, this dynamic is often rejected as an esoteric concept; resulting in a misleading oversimplification of an integral and very complex design practice.

The author acknowledges that based on context, every creative individual has their own methodology to navigate through these intricacies. Hence, this paper delves deeper into the morphology of the author’s own design practice; thereby discerning a pattern in a seemingly ad hoc methodology. Further, taking cues from her practice, the author, bifurcates the aforementioned quadralectic into 6 distinct roles played by a designer at different stages of a project.

This division of roles is elucidated in detail, and mapped to demonstrate the foundational part played by design (as) research as an everyday knowledge creation activity. Finally, to reflect on real life applications of understanding design research, the paper looks at possible permutations of a design brief.

Analysing the variables of a project, a four step syntax system is suggested to help identify and address the possible missing links in the much needed groundwork built through design research.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN RESEARCH, BIFURCATION, QUADRALECTICS, DESIGN MORPHOLOGIES Mudita Pasari is a communication designer and design educator based in the NCR. Her bachelor’s degree is in exhibition and spatial design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. She did her research masters in Design Education from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA. Her research at RISD was on the role design education plays in understanding and accepting ambiguities, in the hope of rebuilding social perspectives. She currently works with interventions for conservation and initiatives for environmental awareness. Her research interests include understanding the human need to create definitions in twos and looking at possibilities of further bifurcating these dichotomies, to better understand the existing complexities and multiplicities of the world. Contact her at: muditapasari@gmail.com

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SURABHI KHANNA

Play Memories and Design of Toys and Tales

“The best thing a child can do is to break a toy; the next best thing is to make it; even better is to create it.”

My first experience of play research was a small elephant made by my mother from ‘atta’ (kneaded dough) when she was rolling ‘rotis’ (bread). Then she would tell me stories and we would create many forms. This was the first lesson of creativity and playful design. Isn’t this also a research initiation, unknowingly done by us as children?

Research as Design: Design and research seem to be naturally and organically connected. A few years ago, we started conducting workshops on introducing design through “Toys & Tales” for educators, special need therapists, child development specialists, and children of various age groups. These design workshops are based on research in play heritage. Childhood play memories of participants are explored as a valuable resource. Such research is the basis of design related to play, education, installation, skill development, and cultural resource.

Design as Research: Our workshops focussed on heritage of play, toys and games. We attempt to create a platform for participants to experience the process of design and development. The participants bring out a variety of ideas of toys and tales, starting from one toy idea. It has been fascinating to see participants develop many different design ideas while starting from the same point of research.

A few findings of the workshops, conducted over the years, provided the following insights: a) Participants with no prior background of design gained confidence to utilize the process of toy and game design as a resource for learning. b) This helps integrate design, art, technology and social input, which seems possible especially, while working with toy and game design. c) Participants also feel empowered to utilize this informal design-research

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method in their interactions with students.

The presentation will explore the relevance of player/user-based research in design and development of toys, games and play. Some of the experiences of design workshops and courses with various groups of schoolteachers and children, university faculty and students will be shared. This will also indicate that there is a natural and organic relationship between design and research.

KEYWORDS: DESIGN, RESEARCH, PLAY HERITAGE, TOY & GAME, CHILDHOOD MEMORIES Surabhi Khanna is a design educator based in New Delhi. Her bachelor’s degree is in Architecture (B.Arch) from Indubhai Parekh School of Architecture, Rajkot, India. She did her Masters from Toy and Game Design, National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, India. She is currently Assistant Professor and Program Head at Product Design department at Sushant School of Design, Ansal University, Gurugram, India. Her research interests include design process, design education, play therapy, and user interface.

Contact her at: khanna.surabhi@gmail.com.

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Insight 2018 Team Programme Chair Dr. Shilpa Das Research Associates Bineka Sadhnani Amee Rajyaguru IT Support Ankit Mehta Registrations & Logistics Vijith Kurian Mahendrasinh Dabhi Identity and Branding System for the Symposium Shoghi Bagul Prabhu Gangadharan Dr. Tridha Gajjar (Mentor) Publication Vineet Gedam Design Mentors Tarun Deep Girdher Dr. Tridha Gajjar Print Coordination & Support Yogesh Patil/ NID Print Labs

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Acknowledgements Special Thanks

Abstract Reviews

Pradyumna Vyas,

Dr. Bibhudutta Baral

(Director, National Institute

Shashank Mehta

of Design)

Mamta Rao

Shashank Mehta

Jagriti Ghalpade

(Activity Chairperson, Professional

Nijoo Dubey

Education Programmes)

Balaji Rengarajan Rishi Singhal

Tarun Deep Girdher

Dr. Mihir Bholey

Dr. Tridha Gajjar

Dr. Jignesh Khakhar

Siddharth Swaminarayan

Praveen Nahar

Viral Rajyaguru

Dr. Gayatri Menon

Dr. Subir Das

Krishnesh Mehta

Neelima Hasija

Tanishka Kachru

Praveen Nahar

Sekhar Mukherjee

Mohammed Naim Shaikh

Dr. Nanki Nath

Swagata Naidu

Dr. Subir Das

Shrinkhala Aren

Dr. Vikram Singh Parmar

Prahlad Gopakumar

Dr. Shilpa Das

Dr. Nanki Nath Rakesh Kumar Pravinsinh Solanki Purandar Datta Jasswini Bet Kavya Agrawal Vineet Gedam Kanjibhai Dasadiya NID staff, students and faculty

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

181

Full Paper Reviews

Illustrations

Dr. Bibhudutta Baral

Jagadish Dhyan Shreyas

Shashank Mehta Mamta Rao

Ceramic memento design

Nijoo Dubey

Sachin Gupta

Rishi Singhal Dr. Mihir Bholey

Compering

Dr. Jignesh Khakhar

Madhuvanti Maddur

Praveen Nahar

Pramati Anand

Dr. Gayatri Menon

Shemal Pandya

Tanishka Kachru Sekhar Mukherjee

Volunteering

Dr. Nanki Nath

Priyanka Shah

Dr. Subir Das

Sachin Gupta

Dr. Aneesha Sharma Jonak Das

Insight Badges

Dr. Shilpa Das

Kaagazi/ Kavya Agrawal

Symposium Session Chairs

Insight post-back-a-memory kit

Shashank Mehta

Battees/ Shivani Saran

Arun Gupta

Harnehmat Kaur

Swasti Singh Ghai Tanishka Kachru

Conference Assistance

Shrinkhala Aren

NID Print Labs

Dr. Ranjit Konkar

Ceramic & Glass Design, NID

Dr. Gayatri Menon

Research & Publications, NID

Neelima Hasija

Film & Video Communication, NID

Shimul Mehta Vyas

Film and Video Lab, NID

Sekhar Mukherjee

Auditorium, NID

Jonak Das

DVC, NID

Ramakrishna Rao

CMR, NID

Swagata Naidu

IP&P, NID

Bhaumik Nagar

Outreach, NID IT Centre, NID

Book of Abstracts and Bios

Wood Workshop

Tarun Deep Girdher

Photography Lab

Vineet Gedam

Accounts, NID

Sindhura Ravindra

Administration, NID Director’s Office, NID

182

INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

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INSIGHT 2018: Design Research Symposium

185

www.nid.edu/insight2018