Diversifying Future-Making Through Itinerative Design

Abstract

“Designed in California” is a brand statement used by high-tech manufacturers to denote provenance and cachet of digital innovation and modernity. In this paper, we explore philosophically alternate design perspectives to those this statement embodies, reporting and reflecting on a long-term multi-sited project that seeks to diversify future-making by engaging communities of “emergent” users in “developing” regions. We argue that digital technologies are typically created with a design lens firmly focused on “first world” populations, assuming a base set of cultural norms, resource availabilities, and technological experience levels that do not strongly align with those of emergent users. We discuss and argue for inclusive technology design methods, present our approach, and detail indicative results and case studies as an example of the potential of these perspectives in uncovering radical innovations. Distilling findings and lessons learned, we present a methodology—itinerative design—that pivots between emergent user communities across multiple regions, driving digital innovation through the periphery of mainstream design’s current remit.