Design for Non-designers (D4ND)

Abstract

This article exposes a methodology of design workshops for non-designers (D4ND) developed in an academic context interested in (1) deepening the explanation for what is the design for non-designers and (2) the strategies which may be to provide the tools of design thinking to non-designers. It is not a matter of transposing formal training structures to non-formal training, but rather, to explore new pedagogical processes involving design students to be applied to non-designers. Design is seen here as a discipline supported by an active learning process, critical, and directed towards problem-solving. We use the word design in its broadest sense, contemplating a humanist vision capable of generating social transformations, promoting more democratic actions that aim at a better, more just and equal world. At an individual level, it can empower people (students and non-designers) to increase their quality of life. In the first part, we address the assumption of D4ND project, beginning by describing its goals and identifying its actors. Later we questioned the work process through design and how to create knowledge through the implementation of the workshops. In the second part, we expose the methodology of the exercise of D4ND and present a synthesis of its outputs: five projects. We conclude with an analysis of the outcomes of this pedagogical experience, at the level of the students, as well as the team teachers. Closing this paper with the perspective of the future of the D4ND project.