Inward a Demonstrator: Experimental Study to Reach Designer’s Inner Conversations through Internal Family Systems

Sviridova, Aleksandra and Verlinden, Jouke (2024) Inward a Demonstrator: Experimental Study to Reach Designer’s Inner Conversations through Internal Family Systems. In: P/References of Design. Cumulus conference proceedings series, 1 . Cumulus Association, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest, Budapest, pp. 599-613. ISBN 978-952-7549-02-5

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Abstract

Design research is developing swiftly, adopting a lot from the scientific approach. However, rationalistic methods tend to limit their discoveries to ungeneralizable situated knowledge and lead to the separation of practice and theory, leaving unaddressed the tacit knowledge that design massively relies on. In this paper, an experimental tool is developed and tested that allows using design skills to explore their design decisions inward. During the design process, designers tend to adopt multiple perspectives of, for example, a client, a user, and a producer, and quickly switch between them looking for the best solution that suits everyone. We believe introspective methods are important for design researchers as they provide a better understanding of tacit principles guiding these shifts. The Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach suggests that as human beings, designers also have a set of personal perspectives, which might interfere with their design decisions and cause frustration. To reach them, an experimental card-sorting workshop was held with a designer who was still disturbed by one of the demonstrators he designed despite the time passed. Preliminary data was collected by interviewing the stakeholders and used to prepare the topics guiding the discussion. The workshop, guided by IFS techniques, revealed conflicts in the roles the designer plays as an executor, a company owner, and a private individual, which seem to be common in design practice. Further development of the tool might unfold a promising direction in design research towards bridging the gap between theory and practice, as well as design and research skills.

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