Attuning to Ma (between-ness) in designing

Abstract

This paper takes the position of plurality and 'between-ness' in designing, to sharpen our perception for things that emerge in-between that cannot be grasped and thus, falls outside of consciousness. Attuning to this presence is important because designing is an exploration and articulation of concerns and understanding among people, and specifically in PD, involved in mediating socio-material relations. In order to articulate this 'between-ness', the paper borrows the notion of Ma in Japanese philosophy to attune into a way of sensing the relational, processual and atmospheric. This notion is shared with the design community as a way to situate that we are, more often than not, working and designing 'between-ness'.

Full text at ACM