As designers we focus on the future: We make propositions that help to imagine, experience, and research new worlds.1 However, the present that we are working from and the challenges that design addresses are becoming increasingly complex. Moving toward these complex challenges (e.g., climate change, energy transition) requires designers to better understand the complex “now” that we are working from.This visual essay introduces design archeology as an approach that enables designers to draw actionable insights from the past. The approach combines elements of practice-based research and archeological analysis, offering designers a structured way to explore the past. By “digging up” and investigating the artifacts and physical remnants of past design projects, designers can extract and reflect on embedded knowledge, using this understanding to inform current and future design practices. Design archeology aims to inspire a wider audience of designers to include the past into their practice more consciously.Being aware of the past that exists as an intersection of experiences and perspectives creates awareness of the power we have as designers to change the direction of transformation and build interventions that have a long-lasting impact. This approach is especially relevant for designers working in fields such as social innovation, sustainable design, and policy, where the consequences of design decisions are complex and far reaching.The images presented show the process of doing design archeology with the Design Archeology Research Kit (Figure A). This novel approach demonstrates how “digging up” (Figures B.1, C.1, and D.1) and reengaging with the material remains of past projects (Figures C.2 and B.3) can provide designers with new knowledge about the project and the development of their practice. The kit functions as a reflection tool where designers create ambiguous visualizations (figure E) through interacting with the “control module” (orange controller) (Figures B.2, C.2, and D.2). The module controls the following attributes of the visualization: color, peaks, movement, background contrast, and orientation. The visualization software uses Perlin noise to create dynamic variations in color, peaks, and movement, thereby increasing uncertainty in the visualization process and illustrating the inherent ambiguity in memory and past perspectives. By pushing one of the knobs, the visualization resets to a smooth orb, restarting the visualization process. The visualizations are made in an interview setting and are recorded as a narrated “temporal map” (Figure E). These layered visualizations prompt reconsideration of past choices, materials, and intended interactions. The temporal map encompasses the past states of the design process, enabling the designer to observe and interpret shifts in their own design process over time. The tool provides the designers with an alternative way of expressing the temporal knowledge that is embedded in the material remains of past projects that they are interacting with. The aim is to offer designers insights into how these past design decisions shape their current practices and, through this, support them in reimagining their future practice.Through design archeology, designers can create new knowledge by better understanding the evolution of their past practices into their current state. By using our power of imagination to look at how our past journeys might impact the future, we can develop alternative strategies informed by past lessons on engaging with wicked problems and designing just, sustainable, and inclusive futures.Based on the experience of using the Design Archeology Research Kit, the following five manifesto-like guidelines were formulated to capture the essence of conducting design archeology.The approach of design archeology explores reengagement with the material remains of past design projects to help prompt lost memories and allow for tacit knowledge to become visible again.6 In design archeology, one seeks to reconstruct past design activities by interacting with the material remains of past projects, extracting embedded memories from the material aspects and reenacting the intended interactions.7 By embracing ambiguity in this process, the researcher can draw attention to overlooked aspects of the objects, environments, and creation, encouraging reflection on their significance for future design practices.8 This approach can help in analyzing the past and its material remains, and through this, trigger reflections on how the past influences the present and the future.
Sam van der Horst (Wed,) studied this question.