Materiality and Emotions in Making

Abstract

Design practice involves multifaceted activities related to creative processes involving various design tools and material. In the present exploratory study, we investigated the feasibility of using contextual event sampling as a method of studying design activities, materiality and emotions in the making process. ‘Event sampling’ refers to a research strategy for studying ongoing daily experience and emotions as they occur in the ebb and flow of everyday life. A novel method (Contextual Activity Sampling System (CASS)) was implemented for recording and archiving design behavior. The data were collected using mobile-phone technology employing a CASS query along with a diary method. We report two case studies conducted using CASS query (set of questions) that analyzed the socio-emotional experiences (i.e., challenges – competence) involved in the process of designing and handling materials during the respective design projects. In the first case study, we were interested in the main aspects of professional designers’ work; resources they used, the social dimension as well as the emotional side of their work experiences. The purpose of the second case study was to examine, longitudinally, one textile artist’s ‘street art project’. The second case study is an example of autoethnographical research that uses CASS-query to document one’s own creative practice. We conclude that the CASS technology has the potential for design research as it captures time-based and multimodal data from designers. The present study also recognizes some limitations of data collection. Methodological implications regarding the contextual study of design practices and ideas of the tool development are discussed.

Keywords: Design activity flow experience, event sampling, Contextual Activity Sampling System (CASS), feasibility