Coffee Farms as Design Labs: Manifesting Equity x Design Principles in Practice

Abstract

New forms of co-design, as a mechanism for collaboration with historically marginalized communities, continue to emerge. From short academic experiences to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, these programs attempt to highlight the value and importance of co-design in reducing equity gaps, producing relevant outcomes, and broadening participation across stakeholders. In doing so, these initiatives run at risk of reproducing a variety of challenges related to power, ethics, and gender among others, therefore requiring continuous examination and experimentation to address such issues. In this paper, we analyze the implementation of an interdisciplinary course in design carried out at two coffee farms in rural Colombia. Using the EquityXDesign framework, we critically analyze how the course approaches these known challenges in community-based design, and discuss modifications to the framework towards more inclusive and equity-driven design.