Proposals for further study
This is a living document; feedback more than welcome!!
Final objective
Ultimately, what I’d like to create is a tool, vocabulary, or more accessible framework for materializing cultural values in the design of digital spaces, in order to facilitate a tangible translation of cultural values. I see such a framework as particularly valuable for cultures whose roots in communication design are by some majority those belonging to a colonizing culture.
How to get there
Diary study/digital cultural probe
- Ask designers to provide examples of web and mobile platforms that resonate with their cultural sensibility, and ask them to explain why.
- Analyze their responses against existing cultural frameworks to see which frameworks are most effective in practice.
Continued expert interviews
- I’ve made initial contact with Angie Abdilla, CEO of Old Ways, New. Hopefully we can speak in more detail about how her value-driven consulting model translates into guiding frameworks that she uses to advise her clients.
- My advisor Andrew has advised me to reach out to Rich Hollant at Co:Lab, who works with marginalized communities. https://www.colabinc.com/
Continued Reading
- Design for the Pluriverse: Everyone has their unique experience in the world. All those worlds are real and different. Our experiences shape our reality. Thumb through, read an article maybe. Kwok achieves this in his work and effectively makes things present.
Studies of analogous models
- What about people who work on designing flags? Riding the line between bringing culture forward and appropriation.
Testing of models
Create mockups of new platforms that are (a) rooted in an existing indigenous culture, based on the factors expressed by participants, OR (b) rooted in an existing indigenous culture, based on existing frameworks, OR © using the values of made-up cultures. Maybe all three! Maybe a workshop to see if this can be done outwardly at all!
Long-term goal/proposal for a thesis(?!)
Consider how AI might be trained to aid with this process.
I have a hypothesis that building digital interfaces is easier for cultures with a long history of communication design consisting of words and images to build off of. As a result, cultures for whom the written word was imported, or brought by colonizers, are bound to take on the design language of those cultures when designing digitally.
If algorithms trained to classify interface traits mapped to cultural values for cultures with a long history of communication design, can the gap be bridged for indigenous cultures? Can AI help to establish a predominately indigenous digital design aesthetic?
