This paper critically discusses the concept of use in design, suggesting that relevant relationships other than use are sometimes obscured by the user-centredness of design processes. We present a design case from the medical device domain that displaced the concept of use from the centre of a human-centred design process. We identified alternative design-relevant relationships between people and devices that are not specifically tied to the functions/uses of the devices, e.g. relationships between the healthcare professional and the device, between doctors and patients, and between patients and their own medical conditions. Displacing use can be a valuable strategy for design, revealing some of the contextual conditions that influence an artefact's use, and broadening the space of alternatives explored in design. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
CITATION STYLE
Kelly, J., & Matthews, B. (2014). Displacing use: Exploring alternative relationships in a human-centred design process. Design Studies, 35(4), 353–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2014.02.001
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