Autosomatographical Narratives: Towards the Articulation of Felt Accounts of Pain for Somaesthetic Design

Chronic pain can be debilitating, taking over our senses and potentially destroying our means of describing our experiences. In this pictorial, we contribute three concepts based on the analysis of autosomatographies, a first-person narrative approach from illness and disability studies to communicate experiences of pain. These concepts suggest designers consider pain as (a) self-agentic, (b) a tool for empowerment, and (c) a means of creative expression. We illustrate the generation of these concepts through the first author's autosomatographical journals, highlighting how visual research greatly contributes to articulating expressive felt qualities of pain for design use. To exemplify the translation of these concepts into tangible prototypes, we retrospectively analysed two soma design case studies created to appreciate our bodies and learn from pain. We discuss the importance of acknowledging the persistence of chronic pain and the ethics of engaging in this type of design work.