Challenge: The need for external, multi-perspective feedback to evaluate a concept’s strengths and weaknesses, and to identify steps to move forward.

Method: A structured session where designers and other professionals engage in open discussion, critique, and idea-sharing to analyze and refine a set of concepts.

Result: Actionable feedback informed by diverse viewpoints.

Challenge: When designing for a futuristic or undefined technology, and a highly personal divergence is needed to explore the design space.

Method: A hands-on workshop where participants are invited to create imaginative machines that explore a future technology in a playful way, followed by discussions around personal and emotional connections to the technology.

Result: A rich set of imaginative and personal insights, leading to a diverse range of concepts that reflect individual desires and visions on the technology.

Challenge: When the experience of interacting with a specific material is central to the design, and understanding how materials can shape user behaviour is necessary.

Method: A process where design decisions are led by the qualities that arise from physical experimentation with the material.

Result: A set of material-focused concepts that offer new ways to shape user experiences based on the tactile, visual, and emotional qualities of the material.

Challenge: The need for testing a new technological concept a in real-world environment, without having to realize the entire concept.

Method: The deployment of an simplified, flexible prototype to observe how users interact with the technology in its natural environment, capturing real-world behaviour and inspiring new design ideas.

Result: Insights gained from prolonged use inform both technical refinements and a deeper understanding of user desires.

Challenge: As concept complexity increases, there is a need to quickly iterate on form, function, and interaction without the limitations that come with physical prototyping.

Method: Digital Prototyping involves using CAD tools and rendering software to create detailed, virtual models that allow for fast iteration and exploration of complex geometries and interaction possibilities.

Result: Refined concepts with greater attention to form, function, and interaction, ready for further development or physical prototyping.

Challenge: Expanding the design space for interactive objects often requires exploring their expressive, aesthetic, and emotional potential without being limited by predefined purposes.

Method: The creation of creating purposeless prototypes that explore provocative qualities, especially in interaction and expression, to expand how we think about human-computer interaction.

Result: Designs that challenge conventional ideas of functionality, enabling new emotional and sensory experiences with interactive systems.

Challenge: When designing for a sound-sensitive environment and need to deeply understand the existing soundscape.

Method: A practice of walking through an environment while attentively listening to and mapping its sounds, revealing opportunities for auditory interaction.

Result: An enhanced understanding of the sound environment, leading to designs that are sensitive to and in harmony with their auditory context.