In experiential design, the “experiences” in focus are usually those of users. Less often talked about is how experiential design is influenced by designers’ embodied experiences of making and sharing the output.
The talk explores how anthropology offers tools for designers to interrogate how their experiences shape their virtual reality (VR) creations and how they may modify these influences where appropriate. As well as distinctly anthropological ways of knowing and understandings of the senses, my techniques also foreground non-normative arts practices, demonstrating how perspectives of disability can power the design process from its heart, rather than simply being tagged on at the end. During this era of widespread remote working, my PhD research has used these methods to examine how artists’ experiences of making VR content is shaping the immersive projects being produced.
More Food for Thought
A text describing how design and anthropology can be in dialogue:
- Otto, T., & Smith, R. C. (2013). ‘Design anthropology: A distinct style of knowing’. In W. Gunn, T. otto, & R. C. Smith. (Eds.) Design anthropology: theory and practice. London, New York: Bloomsbury.
- Two practices I use with designers to help them to interrogate their sensory experiences through adopting alternative ways of sensing:
- Audio describing 360-degree videos
- Imagining how to draw 3D VR models with sound