Drifting by friction: Playing with ontologies of design

In this paper, I will trace the ‘drift’ that has happened in my PhD project, ‘Designing for Playful Democratic Frictions’. I argue that it has been driven primarily by the friction that emerged between the diverse components in my ‘research-assem- blage’. The aim is not to resolve the friction, but rather to enhance and follow it as far as I can. I suggest that a playful attitude is helpful for lingering with this friction, and that such a stance can allow us to see things otherwise obscured by tales of historical necessity. This notion of drifting by friction may inspire strategies for design research that allow us to question the ontologies of design, potentially generating small openings for different conceptions of design to emerge.