“All that You Touch, You Change”: Expanding the Canon of Speculative Design Towards Black Futuring

Document Title

“All that You Touch, You Change”: Expanding the Canon of Speculative Design Towards Black Futuring

Document Information

• Subject Area: Design research, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), non-traditional design paradigms, and futurism
• Keywords: design paradigms, futurism, speculative design, Afrofuturism, Black futuring, interaction design, racial perspectives in computing, social justice, gender equality, design education
• Publication Information: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22), April 29–May 5, 2022, New Orleans, USA
• Authors: Christina N. Harrington (Carnegie Mellon University), Shamika Klassen (University of Colorado Boulder), Yolanda A. Rankin (Florida State University)

Research Background and Problem Statement

• Problems/Challenges:

  • The field of technology design has historically overlooked the participation and contributions of Black individuals, particularly in envisioning future technologies.
  • Current frameworks for “futuristic design” and speculative design are predominantly centered on white male perspectives, with minimal integration of Afrofuturism, Afrofuturist feminism, or Black feminism.
  • Existing design paradigms often rely on science fiction literature authored by white men as theoretical foundations, leading to a lack of attention to intersectional identities such as race, gender, and societal impact.

• Significance of the Research:

  • Technological innovation and design influence all aspects of society; who defines the future of technology and whose voices are excluded determine whom the solutions are designed to serve.
  • Challenging the dominance of “white male perspectives” in design paradigms is crucial for advancing social justice and fostering inclusivity.

• Motivation and Related Work:

  • The authors assert their position as Black women scholars and advocate for the inclusion of work by Black artists, designers, and creators as central to design literature.
  • Furthermore, racial, gender, and diversity perspectives in design are often marginalized in existing HCI literature, necessitating a reevaluation of design history and methodologies to address this issue.

Proposed Solution

• Methodology and Framework:

  • Introduce Afrofuturism, Afrofuturist feminism, and Black feminism as critical theoretical frameworks for expanding design paradigms.
  • Leverage and extend existing paradigms in HCI, such as participatory design, speculative design, and futurist thinking, to reconstruct discourses on race and gender in design.

• Innovative Contributions:

  • The authors emphasize using contributions from Black culture (e.g., literature, music, film) as new sources of inspiration for design, shifting science fiction literature from a white male-centered perspective to a diverse, inclusive one that foregrounds Black voices.
  • Propose a “counter-hegemonic design practice” that incorporates the imagination, perspectives, and cultural practices of Black communities into the foundation of technological development, positioning Black communities not only as users but also as innovators, designers, and architects of the future.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  • Conduct systematic analyses of Black literature, culture, and design frameworks, including Afrofuturism, through literary analysis and case-driven approaches.
  • Provide examples of design projects integrating Afrofuturism, such as the “Leimert Park” project, which combines technology with the history and culture of local Black communities, and the “Africatown Activation” project, which employs community participation to achieve inclusive design.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:

  • Systematically highlight the necessity of expanding interaction design paradigms and redefine the process of designing futures based on Afrofuturism.
  • Offer practical examples of incorporating Black cultural works (e.g., the literary contributions of Octavia Butler, Nnedi Okorafor) as sources of creative inspiration for technological design.
  • Showcase real-world cases of Black communities contributing to reflective and future-oriented design.

• Advantages Over Existing Solutions:

  • The authors’ proposal integrates the voices of marginalized social groups more comprehensively, avoiding the monocultural perspectives and implicit biases of current technological design.
  • Provides a design approach oriented toward social justice and ethical responsibility, challenging assumptions of technological neutrality and value-free design within mainstream paradigms.

• Examples of Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Case studies such as the “Africatown Activation” project, which encourages participatory speculative design, and “Sankofa City,” which uses community design to develop future-oriented technological prototypes.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations: The study is rooted in the U.S. context and may not fully encompass the diversity of global Black experiences.
  • Future Directions: Advocate for integrating Afrofuturism and Black feminism into HCI educational practices and expanding research projects based on these frameworks.

Conclusion and Call to Action

• Expand Design Paradigms: Incorporate Afrofuturism, Black feminism, and similar frameworks as core elements of speculative design, rethinking the contributions of Black scholars and creatives.
• Encourage Academic and Design Practitioners to cite, reference, and further integrate the work of Black scholars, promoting these perspectives within mainstream academic frameworks.
• Advocate for the inclusion of Black communities and other minority groups as key stakeholders from the early stages of technology development, considering broader societal applications and ethical implications of technology.