The Human Encounter as a Designable Surface: LeveragingInsights from Larp Design to Enable Democratic Participation

situations where people come together can be and often are consciously and purposefully designed.This is obvious in social sciences; our reality is socially constructed (Searle 1995).Commonly this is seen as a starting point for critical analysis, to unpacking how phenomena that may seem natural are actually a result of human meaning-making (Hacking 1999).However, it is also a fertile starting-point for design.Experience design is about treating the face to face human encounter (e.g.Goffman 1961) as an event that can be shaped to produce specific social affordances and meaningful outcomes.This happens in amusement parks, flagship stores, escape rooms, and at weddings, but the same kinds of design and curation also apply to healthcare, libraries, and worship experiences.