Design as Hope: Reimagining Futures for Seemingly Doomed Problems

Bibliographic Details
Title: Design as Hope: Reimagining Futures for Seemingly Doomed Problems
Authors: Kim, JaeWon, Liu, Jiaying \\'Lizzy\\', Pyle, Cassidy, Somanath, Sowmya, Popowski, Lindsay, Shen, Hua, Fiesler, Casey, Hayes, Gillian R., Hiniker, Alexis, Ju, Wendy, Mueller, Florian \\'Floyd\\', Arif, Ahmer, Kotturi, Yasmine
Publisher Information: Maryland Shared Open Access Repository, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Subject Terms: UMBC Human-Centered Computing Program
Description: Design has the power to cultivate hope, especially in the face of seemingly intractable societal challenges. This one-day workshop explores how design methodologies -- ranging from problem reframing to participatory, speculative, and critical design -- can empower research communities to drive meaningful real-world changes. By aligning design thinking with hope theory -- framework of viewing hope as "goal-directed," "pathways," and "agentic" thinking processes -- we aim to examine how researchers can move beyond focusing on harm mitigation and instead reimagine alternative futures. Through hands-on activities, participants will engage in problem reframing, develop a taxonomy of design methods related to hope, and explore how community-driven design approaches can sustain efforts toward societal and individual hope. The workshop also interrogates the ethical and practical boundaries of leveraging hope in design research. By the end of the session, participants will leave with concrete strategies for integrating a hopeful design approach into their research, as well as a network for ongoing collaboration. Ultimately, we position hopeful design not just as a practical tool for action and problem-solving but as a catalyst for cultivating resilience and envisioning transformative futures.
Document Type: Other literature type
Language: English
DOI: 10.13016/m2a8vl-tc5e
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....7ec911a631b47ed9e29fdfadce02f01d
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
DOI:10.13016/m2a8vl-tc5e