Problematizing Human-Centred Design: Notes on Planet- Oriented Design

Abstract

This article is part of the discussion about what to do with regard to the Anthropocene and how to project design in a direction oriented towards caring for the Planet. Overcoming the environmental crisis implied by the notion of Anthropocene involves questioning or, rather, redesigning the culture of design in terms of its ontological, methodological, and ethical suppositions. Specifically, this article proposes analytic displacements in order to problematize the hegemonic paradigm of user-centered design, opening the discussion up to other ways of being and world-making. To that end, we focus on the question of how to deploy planet-oriented design. We develop four points: bringing design down to Earth, situating design, decelerating design and intersectionalities in design. This article is meant to contribute to expanding this research agenda of design for transitions, focusing on the need for design that fosters more careful and ethical cohabitation on a damaged Planet.