2.1 Designing for and with Taboo

Corresponding Chairs

Ana Correia de Barros, Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS, Comprehensive Health Research Centre (PT)

Yoni Lefévre, LUCA School of Arts - KU Leuven (BE) and Edinburgh College of Art - University of Edinburgh (UK)

Co-Chairs

Petra Salarić, pstaboo (HR)

Isabel Prochner, Virginia Tech (US)

Abstract

The expansion of the Design field along with sociotechnical changes in societies, such as emerging technologies, new social movements or political changes, have led to an increasing number of design researchers from various parts of the world working in taboo topics, often with vulnerable populations. A conversation at DRS2022 (Prochner, 2022) elicited these design researchers’ unmet needs and pointed future directions. All the while, design researchers keep publishing their findings, reflections and impact (Correia de Barros et al., 2022; Diehl & Salarić, 2020; Lefévre et al., 2023), albeit scattered across different venues.

This track builds on those efforts and on that prior work, inviting design researchers from various geographies to a dedicated space for in-depth and provocative discussions about the role of Design, across cultures, in addressing taboos, about epistemologies of design and taboo, as well as practices and skills required for design researchers working in this space (Lee, 1993). Therefore, authors are invited to submit papers on topics such as:

• Operationalising definitions of taboo in design research and practice; 

• Educating and training design researchers to work for and with taboo topics; 

• Ethical implications of designing for and with taboo; 

• Discussing evidence of design research methods used in design for and with taboo; 

• Conceptualising the role of Design in working in and around taboo. 

The expectation is that the theme track can contribute to strengthening the ties within the community designing with and for taboo, and invite new researchers to the community, while identifying a future agenda for the field.

Keywords

Taboo, Sensitive topics, Design Methods

References

Correia de Barros, A., Couto da Silva, J., Ramadani, N., & Mendes Santos, C. (2022). Towards the inclusive design of a digital sexual health promotion programme. Proceedings of 11th Inclusive Design Conference, 18–34. 

Diehl, J.-C., & Salarić, P. (2020). How to design for taboos? A design intervention to overcome the taboo of menstruation in India. In E. Duarte & C. Rosa (Eds.), UNIDCOM/IADE Conferences (pp. 213–222). UNIDCOM/IADE. 

Lee, R. M. (1993). Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. Sage. https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/doing-research-on-sensitive-topics/book204085 

Lefévre, Y., Hendriks, N., & Wilkinson, A. (2023). We’ve never learned to talk about it’: Considerations for design researchers to address intimacy and sexuality. IASDR Conference Series. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/iasdr/iasdr2023/shortpapers/23 

Prochner, I. (2022). Supporting design research on taboo topics. In D. Lockton, S. Lenzi, P. Hekkert, A. Oak, J. Sádaba, & P. Lloyd (Eds.), DRS Biennial Conference Series. Design Research Society. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2022/conversations/1