Edwards, Elizabeth Ruth and Coulton, Paul and Darby, Andy and Chiasson, Mike (2017) Planting and Tending Digital-nature Hybrids in a Walled Kitchen Garden. Design Issues, 33 (3). pp. 65-78. ISSN 0747-9360
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Abstract
This paper presents various digital-nature artifacts that were designed to support visitor engagement with nature in a public garden environment. We refer to these artifacts as hybrids, as an acknowledgment of their combined digital and physical characteristics. Although selections from critical theory guided initial aspects of the inquiry, we examine here how a research through design (RtD) approach and attending the Research through Design (RTD) 2015 conference affected our subsequent design practice—notably, in relation to iterations of the artifacts. The paper discusses our RtD practice and the hybrid artifacts’ place within it. In particular, we reflect on the ways in which each design iteration in the RtD process revealed knowledge about materials, values, engagement, and place. Although we wrote this paper collaboratively, only the first author attended RTD 2015. Thus, the sections addressing the experience and influence of the conference are written based on the experience only of the first author, although the conference undoubtedly subsequently affected each of us through the research.