Design researchers are exploring noticing as a means of including more-than-human perspectives. Sketching can support concentrated observation, detailed documentation, and visualise complexity, making it particularly suitable for noticing. However, transitioning from observing to noticing requires reflection, which can be challenging without guidance on how to unearth the information buried in the sketch. The first author developed a set of elements to scaffold reflection on sketches for noticing through a four-month residency, adopting a first-person perspective. This practice was later introduced to nine participants, who reflected on their sketches, including breaking down compositional choices, influence of the medium, and the subjects they focused on. We found that this guided noticing practice can foster attentive engagement and reflection, exposing blind spots in their perspective that motivate further noticing. This pictorial offers guidance on how sketching can become an ongoing noticing practice, along with a way to structure reflection for multi-species ethnography.

Many design researchers have been exploring what it means to take a more-than-human design approach in their practice. In particular, the technique of “noticing” has been explored as a way of intentionally opening a designer's awareness to more-than-human worlds. In this paper we present autoethnographic accounts of our own efforts to notice solar energy. Through two studies we reflect on the transformative potential of noticing the more-than-human, and the difficulties in trying to sustain this change in oneself and one's practice. We propose that noticing can lead to activating exiled capacities within the noticer, relational abilities that lie dormant in each of us. We also propose that emphasising sense-fullness in and through design can be helpful in the face of broader psychological or societal boundaries that block paths towards more relational ways of living with non-humans.

How more-than-human gatherings configure and change to support designing is not well understood. In the more-than-human theory of designing-with, these gatherings are called constituencies. This paper aims to shed light on the practices of a constituency, by analyzing the moving of a plant studio from one city to another. The plant studio includes over 250 plants and is where living-with and designing-with plants are conceptualized. The move offered an opportunity to understand the dynamics of the plant studio as a constituency using design events, a vocabulary and analytical tool, for understanding practices and temporality. In our analysis, we surface the role of humans as speaking subjects and five repertoires or considered actions that together articulate the practice of a constituency. We also illustrate the use of design events as an analytical tool for nuance and critical reflections on more-than-human design.

As design researchers committed to more-than-human designing, we found we were increasingly moving our research activities outside of our institutional studios and labs into yards and balconies where we lived. In this paper, we investigate this emerging pattern through collaborative autoethnography to arrive at the notion of backyard practices. These are distinct practices that signal the value and necessity of being there in more-than-human worlds to design-with over time. We describe the features of the practice that include time as duration and intensities, liminality as more-than-human presences, and proximity. We also describe commitments that emerged that include practice decentering, consistently engage more-than-humans as participants in the process, act with not-knowing and humility, queerly design alongside, and learn to be affected.

This studio explores methods for prototyping with and for intimate and sexual experiences, focusing on a diversity of bodies and understandings of pleasure. We aim to both explore how to communicate people's somatic (sexual) profiles while engaging in creative making processes. Participants will engage in a full day workshop consisting of three distinct phases: trying out methods for representing somatic experiences, tangible ideation and making, and group reflections. Through these activities, we not only aim to enhance individual awareness of erotic bodies but also share advice and experiences on how to design for sexual experiences from feminist and intersectional perspectives. This studio seeks to promote inclusivity and challenge normative beliefs about sexual bodies, designing for intimacy and contributing to a more equitable discourse on pleasure.

We share an emergent repository of nature-entangled methods-to-be shared, experimented with, and discussed during a conference workshop. We present them in-use, as they are in formation. We do not seek to theorise or even fully articulate these methods-to-be. Rather, to make them approachable and actionable for others by showing them not fully polished. By doing this, we advocate for increased transparency in the difficulties of creating new methods, techniques, tools, and approaches. Our contribution is threefold: we provide 1) an annotated portfolio of methods-to-be; 2) illustrative examples of how cross-pollination of these methods can enrich their situated use; and 3) a discussion of ways to further articulate the methods and deepen reflection on their roles in nature-entangled design processes.

Surveillance is at the core of today's monitored society. Privacy is becoming a fluid regulatory process the values and expectations of which are being actively rewritten, deconstructed, reconstructed and negotiated as new technologies open up novel forms of social relations and identity construction opportunities. Our proposal is based on using our bodies as tools for identity expression and personal proclamation, seeking to pervert surveillance and its embodied data as a site for opportunity, disruption and resistance. We asked XXX, a writer and journalist, to work with us on a design exploration, to understand new implications of what being an “influencer” means by shaping identities through technologies in an extreme way. After analyzing some of the most commonly employed surveillance technologies worldwide and the main biometric parameters used to monitor the human body, we came up with a series of prostheses and garments in order to exploit XXX's algorithmic presence.

Digital Craftsmanship, and other explorative design research practices using digital fabrication, depend on sample making and material exploration. Rather than describing a method of making use of the information present in samples co-inhabiting a timeline, this pictorial reports on the loose ends that may emerge out of the main journey, when taking a traveler's approach to making. By loose ends, we mean successful samples that are not suitable to the main inquiry of the present design research process, but that under certain circumstances can become starting points for new investigation lines. We describe four examples of such loose ends and introduce the concept of fellow travelers as a metaphor for describing the process of co-inhabiting a timeline and a journey while ultimately having diverging goals and outcomes.

This pictorial is the result of a long-term research project focused on finding opportunities to use Apple Face ID software and infrastructure to build new hybrid identities, exploring its potential as a drag, queer and trans technology design tool. The aim of the project is to validate new paradigms for identity ambiguity, multiplicity and fluidity, using biometric artificial intelligence systems and technologies of control as tools for free identity expression, definition and personal proclamation. To do that, we present our motivation, methodology, approach to exploration, workshop results and validated outputs, and analyse the physical and digital implications of the research. The prostheses shown in this paper are functional, and allow users to train Apple Face ID software to design their own identities connected to their name, Apple ID Number, bank account, social networks, and any other data or online activity digitally associated to this persona.

In this introduction to the special issue on First-Person Methods in (Human-Computer Interaction) HCI, we present a brief overview of first-person methods, their origin, and their use in Human-Computer Interaction. We also detail the difference between first-person methods, second-person, and third-person methods, as a way to guide the reader when engaging the special issue articles. We articulate our motivation for putting together this special issue: we wanted a collection of works that would allow HCI researchers to develop further, define, and outline practices, techniques and implications of first-person methods. We trace links between the articles in this special issue and conclude with questions and directions for future work in this methodological space: working with boundaries, risk, and accountability.

In this paper we investigate how a combination of "speculative" design methods can be used to generate theoretical understandings for dynamic, colour-changing fabrics for garments. Specifically, we combine a first-person, autobiographical, research through design (RtD) approach that draws strategies from speculative design. We call this approach alternative presents, inspired by the work of James Auger, and explore it as a way to generate theoretical propositions for dynamic fabric that emphasize the lived experience over technological innovation. The contributions of this framing are twofold. Firstly, we offer a theoretical contribution to the literature on dynamic fabric. Secondly, we make a methodological contribution for how autobiographical design and RtD can be oriented speculatively to generate intermediate knowledge, with particular emphasis on social-technical aspects.

Wearables combine practical and conceptual challenges related to electronics, clothing and interaction design. Research through design in this area is commonly done iteratively through prototypes of increasing levels of fidelity, often relying on manual fabrication. However, manual fabrication presents challenges when comparing prototypes due to their varying levels of realization and the inaccuracy of reproductions. We discuss how using digital machine embroidery, combined with chemical embroidery technique, supports fabricating consistent high-fidelity prototypes for soft wearables in the form of research products. Our approach involves creating the textile substrate together with integrating and embedding electronic components through a unified process whilst keeping high control over alterations between prototypes. We illustrate this approach through the design process of the Smart Sock, a sensorized sock for rehabilitation. We detail the challenges behind our process and reflect on the opportunities emerging from using digital machine and chemical embroidery techniques combined to craft research products.

Schön describes the way a designer engages with their materials as a "conversation". In clothing design this typically involves tangible and situated actions such as draping, ripping, and cutting-actions that evoke responses from the fabric at hand. Dynamic fabrics-surface-changing fabrics that combine digital and physical states-are still novel fashion-design materials. When working with the digital, intangible qualities of these fabrics, how does a dialogue unfold for designers accustomed to working physically with fabrics? In this paper we examine the design process of Phem, a collection of garments that use dynamic fabrics that function similarly to augmented reality. We reflect upon the improvisations required to satisfy a productive dialogue with the digital forms of these materials. We conclude with a discussion that proposes revisiting Schön's notion of a conversation in the context of digital forms, and use Ingold's perspectives on making to inform this inquiry.

Data is changing how we design consumer products. Shoe production is a prime example of this; foot size, footstep pressure and personal preferences can be used to design personalized shoes. Research done around metamaterials, programming materials and computational composites illustrate the possibilities of creating complex data & material relationships. These new relationships allow us to look at future products almost like software apps, becoming a kind of product service systems, where the focus is on its iterative personalization improvement over time. Can we create systems of such data driven objects that in turn allow us to design new objects that are informed by the data trail? In this paper we report on four RtD project iterations that explore this challenge and provide a set of insights on how to close this new iterative loop.

Wearable and e-textiles as a field has tended to overlook its own documentation, as notions and overarching ideas are developed over time and across individual projects. We would like to begin addressing this by charting the development of Digital Craftsmanship through a number of projects over time. Practically, we propose to show a small selection of garments and samples alongside a simple framework for future documentation of work.

Personalization of shoes is of increasing importance to designers, design researchers, and manufacturers as mass customization progresses towards ultra personalized product service systems. Many attempts have been made to design co-creation platforms that allow end users to personalize their own shoes. Those co-creation platforms primarily concentrate on color selection. This research takes a different approach and designs a toolkit for maker-oriented users to co-manufacture their own shoes. The toolkit was designed in different levels and deployed to makers via crowdsharing worldwide. Backers were surveyed before deployment and interviewed after two years to understand personalization over a larger amount of time with the research product. We find that users who have greater bespoke tools and materials in their toolkits are more likely to personalize their shoes while co-manufacturing. The research provides guidelines for researchers and designers creating toolkits, designing personalization product service systems/configurators and engaging in tangible bespoke processes.

Embodied design ideation practices work with relationships between body, material and context to enliven design and research potential. Methods are often idiosyncratic and due to their physical nature not easily transferred. This presents challenges for designers wishing to develop and share techniques or contribute to research. We present a framework that enables designers to understand, describe and contextualise their embodied design ideation practices in ways that can be understood by peers, as well as those new to embodied ideation. Our framework developed over two conference workshops provides a frame for discussion of embodied design actions that leverage the power of estrangement. We apply our framework to eight embodied design ideation methods. Our contribution is thus twofold: (1) a framework to understand and leverage the power of estrangement in embodied design ideation, and (2) an inspirational catalogue demonstrating the diversity of ideas that embodied design ideation methods can foster.

The value of engaging sensory motor skills in the design and use of smart systems is increasingly recognized. Yet robust and reliable methods for development, reporting and transfer are not fully understood. This workshop investigates the role of embodied design research techniques in the context of soft wearables. Throughout, we will experiment with how embodied design research techniques might be shared, developed, and used as direct and unmediated vehicles for their own reporting. Rather than engage in oral presentations, participants will lead each other through a proven embodied method or approach. Then small groups will create mash-ups of techniques, exploring ways that the new approaches might be coherently reported. By applying such methods to the problem of their reporting, we hope to deepen understanding of how to move towards nuanced and repeatable methods for embodied design and knowledge transfer in the context of soft wearables.

This article describes tests that have been conducted with Tactile Dialogues, a textile pillow that can react to touch with vibrotactile stimuli and haptic sensations. Tactile Dialogues is designed to stimulate movement and interpersonal contact for patients in the late stages of dementia, their family members and their caregivers. The most recent prototype of the pillow has been tested during 15 separate visits of family members or caregivers with patients. The aim of these tests is to find out whether personalization of the vibrotactile stimuli is appreciated over a mirroring vibrotactile behavior. We propose a three-scale measurement to help family members and caregivers examine the responses of the patient: muscular relaxation, physical movement and interpersonal contact. Through the semi-structured interviews we identified that family members and caregivers do appreciate the opportunity to personalize the vibrotactile behavior and that the pillow mainly functions as a way to establish communication with the patient.

In this pictorial we visualize the growth plan for an inspirational test-bed of smart textile product service systems. The goal of the test-bed is to inspire and inform the Dutch creative industries of textile, interaction and service design to combine their strengths and share opportunities. The pictures exemplify the characteristic tools, approaches and prototypes for three phases of growth: Incubation, Nursery and Adoption.