Alma L. Culén, Ines P. Junge, Nicholas S. Stevens, and William W. Gaver
This paper discusses plurishops, a workshop-based method that complements the method toolbox of transition design researchers and practitioners. Plurishops are posthuman workshops that embrace pragmatic and emergent approaches and nomadic practices to enhance their alignment with the demands of designing for complexity. The key advantage of plurishops is their use of multiple inquiries simultaneously, which allows for comparisons, easier and quicker identification of relations, and synergies between the inquiries and the domain as a whole. The inquiries are carried out in teams, each finding its exploration trajectory through pre-plurishop activities. The workshop format uses these activities to provide broader grounds for reflection, collective imagination, vision shaping, elucidation of values, and integration of findings towards desired transition design research or practice. Our empirical approach to plurishop design has resulted in a design strategy based on gameful thinking, participatory visioning, and a combined framework drawing on design research and transition design frameworks to structure and organise workshop activities. Through reflection and repeated engagement with plurishops, we have developed guidelines for designing and facilitating them. Furthermore, we illustrate the versatility of plurishops through two distinct examples addressing design in complex domains. The first example is design-oriented and discusses participatory visioning of sustainable smartphone alternatives, taking several different entry points into the topic. The second is method-oriented and focuses on selecting appropriate methods and tools and establishing correlations between methods, inquiries, and possible outcomes concerning the amplification of local sustainability initiatives. Lastly, the advantages gained from the plurishop approach are discussed. We suggest that plurishops are effective and encourage the judicious utilisation of workshops to address the complexities of designing for transitions.
KEYWORDS: plurishop, workshop method, systemic design, sustainability, design for transitions
RSD: Methods & Methodology