Design & Society Workshop

Design is a dominant paradigm for building and understanding the modern world. The language of design is especially prominent in the digital realm, where its assumptions influence how we interact with the world and with each other. But how has design come to matter? Why does it seem like such an important tool in our current cultural moment? What norms and assumptions inform the design of everyday technologies via design schools like UX? And what are the political implications of interface design?

In this one-and-a-half-day workshop, Media Anthropologist Jordan Kraemer and Implosion Labs Founder Danya Glabau will lead an exploration of critical perspectives on digital and physical design and their impact on society. Participants will leave the workshop with a conceptual toolkit that will help them critically analyze and appropriately use design to ensure that the futures we make will truly be better than the past.

Who Will Benefit
This workshop will be most useful for people with some qualitative research experience, both in-house and independent, including:

• Designers
• Design researchers
• User researchers/UXers
• Practicing ethnographers
• Qualitative researchers
• Market researchers
• Branding consultants and brand managers
• Product and project managers in tech and design

Snacks will be provided for both days of the workshop. Breakfast will be provided on Saturday.