Displacing use: Exploring alternative relationships in a human-centred design process

Abstract

This paper critically discusses the concept of use in design, suggesting that relevant relationships other than use are sometimes obscured by the user-centredness of design processes. We present a design case from the medical device domain that displaced the concept of use from the centre of a human-centred design process. We identified alternative design-relevant relationships between people and devices that are not specifically tied to the functions/uses of the devices, e.g. relationships between the healthcare professional and the device, between doctors and patients, and between patients and their own medical conditions. Displacing use can be a valuable strategy for design, revealing some of the contextual conditions that influence an artefact's use, and broadening the space of alternatives explored in design.