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In 1998 Jannet Jessel conducted a project exploring communication with designers. Her findings pointed to some observations including: (a) designers do not read (particularly lots of text), (b) designers don't always listen, (c) designers think with pictures, (d) designers think in “blobby” often unrelated thought patterns, (e) designers often have trouble translating imagery back into non-visual communication. At the same time, all designers engage in communication professionally and personally on a daily basis.The complex nature of communication within the design practice and design research, between these communities and with the outside world formulates the basis of this paper. How can we engineer communication that transcends language barriers and hierarchies?As design professionals and researchers we have dedicated our efforts to the exploration of gender and sustainability. The choice of subjects gives our investigations political connotations. Under these conditions, a space for unbiased, open interactions between researchers and practitioners can be difficult to create. We propose the artefact as a door to, or 'a cultural probe' for unleashing a wealth of narratives that we argue are a non-confrontational way to communicate. Through artefacts, the elicited narratives can simplify complex issues and give a human face to abstract knowledge. Within areas of sensitive nature, these characteristics make artefacts and resulting narratives excellent facilitators of communication.The current literature situates artefacts as metaphors for the self that create a point of autobiographic self-discovery. Through their application, artefacts are strong participants within socio-cultural practices of individuals that use language to attribute or explain meanings of artefacts. Our investigation of artefacts is inspired by co-operative inquiry methodologies, where the researcher's own experiences are a valid source of information, and where the research is carried out with rather than on people. Of special interest is the notion of an 'extended epistemology' and different ways of knowing. They reach beyond the conventional propositional knowing, through theories and ideas, into experiential knowing, practical knowing and presentational knowing. Acknowledging these wider spectra of learning and communication is especially relevant in the design context where inspiration, intuitive and tacit knowledge play an important role and where problem solving is often non-linear and heterarchical.Based on our research and additional experimental workshops we have begun to look for narrative frameworks as to how artefacts are used as mediators. As suggested by our investigations, situated within and embodying a variety of narratives, artefacts can function as a leverage point to unlock complex relationships often of sensitive nature. The fact that most of us have frequent experiences of the artefacts provides a collective starting point for 'uncontaminated' explorations. The artefacts become a commonly shared platform for design practitioners or design researchers to facilitate and validate their ability to communicate amongst themselves or those outside the discipline. The artefacts become carriers of narratives that mind the gap between the 'professional self' and the 'personal self' as well as between individuals. |
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