Backyard Practices: A Liminal Approach to Designing in More-than-Human Worlds

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems and Challenges: The authors observed that design research activities are gradually shifting from traditional laboratories and studios to private backyards and balconies. This transition prompted them to consider how the location of design research influences design practices, particularly in the context of "more-than-human design." Traditional design spaces often limit interactions between humans and non-humans (natural organisms, materials, environments, etc.), whereas spaces like backyards may hold potential for reshaping these relationships.

• Significance: More-than-human design aims to break away from anthropocentric perspectives, fostering interaction and coexistence between humans and nature. Backyard practices provide a safe and experimental space to explore human-non-human relationships while questioning the boundaries and limitations of existing design methods. Understanding how these practices promote the idea of "designing-with" is crucial for advancing the design field toward a more inclusive, multi-species mindset.

• Research Motivation and Related Work: The authors were inspired by theories of "more-than-human design," particularly regarding their relationship with time, proximity, and liminal spaces. Related literature discusses how "being there" and diverse ecological interactions can redefine design practices, but ideal forms of practice have yet to be clearly articulated.

Proposed Solution

• Proposed Solution: The authors introduced the concept of "backyard practices," exploring how these spaces can become central to more-than-human design. They conducted collaborative autoethnography, using collective reflections from multiple researchers to uncover the characteristics and commitments of backyard practices.

• Innovations:

  • Identified time, liminality, and proximity as key characteristics of backyard practices.
  • Described specific commitments within these practices, including "practice decentering," engaging more-than-humans, and acting with not-knowing.
  • Extended existing design methods such as "designing in situ" and "autobiographical design," emphasizing the backyard as a novel practice space.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  1. Use ethnographic vignettes to document and reflect on researchers' personal backyard experiences.
  2. Regularly share and discuss these vignettes to identify emerging practice characteristics and commitments.
  3. Develop a theoretical model and integrate it with specific design techniques (e.g., biomaterials, sensor devices, video recording) to support multi-species interaction and long-term natural observation.
  4. Create experimental spatial planning approaches, such as designing "plant studios" to support indoor cultivation.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:

  • Identified three key characteristics of backyard practices: "time" (including continuity and intensity), "liminality" (dual presence of humans and non-humans), and "proximity" (distance and collaboration with natural entities).
  • Proposed five practice commitments, including decentering, sustained non-human participation, acting with not-knowing, co-designing in "queer" ways, and learning to be affected.

• Advantages:

  • Compared to traditional design research, backyard practices demonstrate stronger connections between design and environmental systems, encouraging designers to redefine themselves from a multi-species perspective.
  • Provides a safe and flexible experimental space, allowing designers to explore unpredictable and incremental design approaches.

• Experimental and Evaluation Results:

  • Backyard practices successfully revealed complex relationships in more-than-human design, such as interactions between ants, spiders, plants, and biomaterials.
  • Ethnographic vignettes and diverse writing techniques effectively captured changes in feelings and preferences during practice.
  • Frequent unexpected outcomes (e.g., animals damaging design prototypes, material deformation) validated the dynamic and uncertain nature of the practices.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations: Backyards are only a temporary space for more-than-human design and cannot entirely eliminate the designer's anthropocentric perspective. Additionally, the choice of technologies and materials may unintentionally impact the environment.
  • Future Directions: Expand the application scenarios of backyard practices, such as urban public spaces or outdoor nature reserves; explore how to address ethical challenges in more-than-human design; improve technical tools related to non-human participation, such as context-aware and data collection systems.

Through this research, the authors provide the design community with a broader perspective to embrace and explore the complexities of the more-than-human world. Furthermore, this study situates multi-species design concepts within a practical framework, offering an important reference for the integration of future theory and practice.