Reframing temporalities of social design: a duoethnographic reflection in hindsight

In this paper, we explore issues of temporality in social design by taking a retrospective and reflexive approach based on our experience in the field, attempting to reach more intimate temporalities associated with the designer–researchers themselves. The article relays a combined retrospective and introspective duoethnography-in-the-making, which unfolded while writing the article. Duoethnography is a form of autoethnography done in pairs, where two researchers engage in a reflexive dialogue with one another, using their individual experiences from recent work. Our research questions are as follows: How can we understand the temporalities of social design through duoethnography? How can duoethnography be considered a helpful method for appreciating multiple temporalities in social design? Our theoretical framework covers social sciences and design research as well as fields operating at the intersections between the two. Our results suggest three elements of engagement with duoethnography for exploring temporalities in social design: 1) the need for intermediate retrospective analytical elements, 2) introspective loops, and 3) the acknowledgement and expansion of the notion of multiple temporalities in social design. We end with a discussion of our methodological itineraries, suggesting the combination of retrospective and introspective duoethnography as a potential practice in reflexive social design.