Designing for (alternative) platformed relations

Nearly all design is now interaction design. Contemporary design projects are shaped by ongoing processes of digitalization and the economic imperatives of a data-driven sociotechnical ecosystem. This position paper makes two connected points: (1) that in order to design effectively with the digital, it is necessary to develop an understanding of its character (ontology) – what it is and does – and corresponding design methods and approaches for handling platformed relations ; and (2) that there is a pressing need for real innovation, imagination, and proposition of genuine alternatives – design as a practice of hope.