Design for Temporal Cohabitation

We propose the notion of Design for Temporal Cohabitation as a way to introduce a critical agenda to time in more-than-human and ecological design. Despite increased calls for HCI researchers to temporally attune to other-than-human species, overall research still tends to focus on spatial concerns, or follow assumptions that place human and more-than-human times in different realms. To redirect the discourse, we critique the nature-culture hyperseparation of temporalities and invite HCI researchers to consider what different modes of time do to humans and other-than-human species, and how design can help. We ask: What if we consider dominant notions to be designed and imposed globally through practices of capitalism and colonialism? What if we take responsibility for the ways in which such notions of time affect the times and therefore livelihoods of other species? Could we then consider redesigning them in ways that are more inclusive of other species and the world?