Abstract
Personalisation is essentially concerned with individual rather than community life. It is an emancipatory response to the standardisation imposed by the industrial revolution and, particularly in western culture, is understood to be the central route to a good life. Nowadays, digital personalisation is purposefully designed to influence consumer choices and is a key contributor to driving consumption to the point of destroying our environment and creating extreme inequalities across society. Even as many citizens are beginning to recognise the collective damage caused by overconsumption, as individuals, consumers find it difficult to resist the lure of personalisation and, as a result, consume more. In this paper, I discuss what transformations in education, design practice and economic management would be helpful to move away from current pervasive throwaway culture. This culture is facilitated by digital personalisation, therefore we urgently need to dissect this phenomenon to understand the technological and social structures behind its success in influencing unsustainable consumer behaviour. Designers need to think about reversing the machine of personalisation, so it serves the society and not only individual businesses.
Presenters
Iryna KuksaSenior Research Fellow; Director of Design Research Centre, School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—Thinking, Learning, Doing: Plural Ways of Design
KEYWORDS
Design, Personalisation, Consumption, Transition design, Green Personalisation
