Hybrid Design Tools for Participatory, Embodied Sensemaking: An Applied Framework

In design, we often deal with complex problems that require participatory, embodied sensemaking to solve. There are abundant design tools available – both physical and digital – to support these activities. While digital tools have continued to gain presence in the design processes over the last decades, due to, e.g., widened availability, improved flexibility, and the potential to increase productivity, physical tools and analogue practices still hold a solid place in the design process for many designers. To bridge the gap between the physical and digital, and to benefit from the best of both worlds in tools for design, hybrid tools are being developed. This paper aims to identify design opportunities for future hybrid design tools, by exploring the characteristics of designing for participatory, embodied sensemaking, in the context of physical, digital, and hybrid tools.