Culturally Sensitive Design Tool Kit Developed Through Global Co-Design

Area of Science:

• Design Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Social Innovation

Background:

• Designers increasingly work in diverse, translocated contexts, requiring sensitivity to host communities.
• There's a need to move beyond surface-level engagements towards long-term, community-owned design impacts.
• Concepts like 'design tourism' highlight ethical challenges in cross-cultural design projects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review co-design workshops focused on culturally robust and contextually innovative design interventions.
• To develop co-designed guidelines for ethical practices when designers engage with unfamiliar communities.
• To create strategies for avoiding 'design tourism' and its negative implications.

Main Methods:

• Organized co-design workshops involving global design experts, students, and academics.
• Facilitated sharing of experiences and approaches for designing with diverse communities.
• Collected and analyzed co-designed guidelines and workshop outcomes.

Main Results:

• A collection of co-designed guidelines to support ethical co-design practices was produced.
• Strategies to avoid design tourism, parachute design, and design imperialism were discussed and formulated.
• Tools, techniques, and knowledge for culturally sensitive and adaptable design projects were generated.

Conclusions:

• The generated guidelines prompt designers to reflect on user involvement and community impact.
• The paper provides a valuable resource for navigating design with cultural sensitivity and adaptability.
• Outputs facilitate actionable responses for sustainable futures in design.