Designerly Ways of Knowing- Soma Design Meets Industrial Design Thinking

Soma design processes are known to be slow and thoughtful, demanding personal engagement, authenticity and deep somatic engagements with both ourselves and the interactive materials. What happens when such designerly ways of knowing meet with industrial design thinking? Together with IKEA – a large furniture manufacturer – we collaborated to design for better sleep. Based on years of experience and prior somatic knowledge of designing for body awareness, the academic team staged a progression of somatic experiences for a joint one-day workshop. We contribute to interaction design epistemology by uncovering frictions and alignments between two designerly ways of knowing with distinct identities and values. In particular, we critically reflect on how to approach material choices, somatic cultivation and the notion of solutionism.