Prioritizing Design Process over Design Outcomes to Address Non-Indigenous Engagement with Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Design Practice

Abstract

Abstract This article will discuss non-Indigenous designer engagement with Indigenous knowledge systems and the tensions that surround these areas of design practice historically. Scholarly literature demonstrates the way in which a Eurocentric design sensibility dominates design discourse and how, more recently, the discourse has shifted to first, the decolonization of design and the recognition of Indigenous design without influence or input from non-Indigenous participation and secondly, a process of collaboration which recognizes Indigenous led, Indigenous determined outcomes. Examining the argument of ‘whiteness’ which explains that non-Indigenous and Indigenous collaboration will demonstrate colonial power structures, this article will refer to the International Indigenous Design Charter, a document created to address this tension and guide designers on best practice protocols when working with Indigenous knowledge systems in professional design practice. The International Charter offers a way to restore historical narratives and leads us to understand that attention should move away from design outcomes to one where there is a focus on the design process. This would ensure self-determination and empowerment of Indigenous communities and will challenge the dominance of Eurocentric design sensibilities by providing the opportunity for new voices in the evaluation of design.