Current definitions of design continue to emphasize on creation of product, experience, aesthetics, and usability. While expectations surrounding these aspects remain fundamental to design practice, they do not adequately explain the expanding designers’ role and responsibilities in many interdisciplinary and community-engaged contexts. Today, designers are increasingly operating across complex social, technological, and organizational contexts while facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

This paper proposes design as translation as a conceptual lens for understanding this shift. Rather than limiting translation to the transfer of information, the paper conceptualizes translation as an iterative process of interpreting, negotiating, synthesizing and transforming knowledge, values, and lived experiences across disciplinary, organizational, and community boundaries. The paper examines the design process beyond the creation of artifacts, viewing it as a process of synthesizing diverse perspectives and enabling collaborative action in response to complex contemporary design challenges.

Drawing on reflective analysis of participatory and community-engaged healthcare design projects, this paper illustrates designers’ translational role within design process and offers a broader perspective on contemporary design practice. The expanding value of designers lies not only in products, or services they create, but also in their ability to translate knowledge and mediate between diverse perspectives and foster shared understanding across boundaries. Through this lens, designers emerge not only as creators of artifacts but also as facilitators of dialogue, collaboration, and meaningful collective action.

Authors:
Elham Morshedzadeh, University of Houston, United States
Sejal Shah, University of Houston, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Elham Morshedzadeh is an industrial designer, researcher, and educator at the University of Houston, where she directs the UH Health Design Lab.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elhammorshedzadeh/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=N-JTrDcAAAAJ&hl=en

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