Products and Practices: Selected Concepts from Science and Technology Studies and from Social Theories of Consumption and Practice

摘要

Models of the design process tend to be essentially linear, reflecting the time-based pressures of project management and notions of goal-directed problem solving. Most models of new product development end where consumption begins; that is, with the launch of a product in the marketplace (Figure 1). However, the reverse sequence is equally valid: consumption practices, and their component materials, symbols, and procedures, develop over time, generating new product opportunities. Design activities and design processes frequently are initiated by perceived opportunities of this kind, perhaps more commonly than by definitions of specific design "problems" (Figure 2).