Designing with Bias and Privilege?

Abstract

Focusing on the relation between design and power requires us to understand the designer’s role and position. Based on an understanding of design as ideological and political, we focus on the designer’s position from an intersectional feminist perspective. We present two design objects that aim to critically intervene into agency and power structures, and we analyse how the designer’s position impacts this intervention. With this case, we demonstrate how a simple argument – that what you design is always influenced by your (lack of) privilege – becomes complex when understood in the concrete design practice. The paper contributes with a critical reflection on how a designer is always part of a construction of power and privilege.