Design thinking affect us humans in different ways every day. It is a creative approach that builds on design methods and can be implemented for anything from visuals, objects, services, systems, and environment to solve complex problems. The starting point in this text is that the design thinking approach needs to be critically explored in terms of norms embedded in design actions and results. The ability of developing empathy with users is at the core of design thinking. However, privileges and oppression, as in affording some and ignoring others, can counteract the first design principle of contributing to human dignity and human rights. Drawing on theories of social norms, privileges, and oppression in design, and what is described as designerly ways of knowing, thinking, and acting, such design ethics are explored. A framework for nudging designers and design researchers into situated design thinking is outlined, through intersectional axes, the lenses of symbols, objects, interactions and systems, merged with the concept of 'situatedness', i.e. awareness of meaning and representation in relation to participating actors, things, and context. The conclusion discusses how such a framework might contribute in nudging designers into an empathic situated design thinking approach.
ISBN för värdpublikation: 978-042928937-8; 978-036725423-0