Designing harvesting tools for olive trees: methodological reflections on exploring and incorporating plant perspectives in the early stages of design process

Abstract

Sustainability-focused design research is witnessing a change in approach with the emergence of More-than-human Design (MTHD), which challenges human-centered thinking by incorporating nonhuman perspectives into the design process. However, implementing MTHD presents challenges for design researchers and practitioners, such as understanding non-verbal species. Despite the techniques developed to facilitate such an understanding (e.g. contact zone), the growing literature on MTHD lacks studies reflecting on how these techniques are utilized in the design process. In this paper, we present a case study on designing olive harvesting tools from a MTH lens, where designers used contact zone, plant interviews, plant persona, and experience map to explore the perspectives of olive trees and incorporate them into ideas in collaboration with farmers and agricultural engineers. The results indicate the significance of reconsidering decentralization in MTHD from the standpoint of entanglements among techniques and incorporating various knowledge types to manage tensions arising from perspective shifts.