Outline of talk:

These days, I talk about the ‘socialisation of design-ing’ because the boundaries and interchange between ‘authorised’ (professionally trained) and ‘non-authorised’ designers (professional amateurs, other professionals and citizens) is being vigorously challenged. This is emergent. We are all aware of its potency. As authorised designers you might be asking ‘What is my role as a designer in our current societal transition?’ Or, you might have concerns about whether you will find a job. To help, I wish to focus you on the notion that designers are ideally placed to (co-)create and explore new roles to challenge existing patterns and modes of working and to catalyse embryonic movements. I will share some emergent practices.

My vision of the design field has always been well beyond markets and public services, often addressing critical, contingent conditions of our societies in a search for better symbiosis with our natural world. Design is a storytelling activity to motivate people to change their perspectives, behaviours or both. It involves fictions about what could be. It must create friction to engage people. And, it should offer functions that meet real needs. Above all, design must not create ever more dependency on stuff, services and experiences (what I call ‘pharmakon design’) but to set alight and raise the capability of people; to increase their autonomy, in- and inter-dependence and adaptability; and to enable them to sustain themselves. Of course, this requires communal, not just individual, endeavour. And it takes time. We need to co-envision possibilities for living and working well, in a more resilient way. We need authorised designers to embrace the non-authorised designers to explore, experiment and motivate. We need radical transition.