A Conversation on Data, Design, and Publishing

What are different modes of writing about design, and what may be diverse conceptions of the book as a design medium?

Catherine D’Ignazio and Dietmar Offenhuber’s recent explorations of the interrelations between data and design help reveal the ways in which diverse social collectives, from scientists to activists, can engage with the design and representation of data.

D’Ignazio, author of Counting Feminicide: Data Feminism in Action (MIT Press, 2024), and Offenhuber, author of Autographic Design: The Matter of Data in a Self-Inscribing World (MIT Press, 2024) will present their latest books in a conversation moderated by MIT Press Executive Editor Gita Manaktala.

Designing With, Not For addresses design as a collaborative endeavor, one in which users, communities and stakeholders actively participate. Human centered design has traditionally focused on providing expert responses to user needs.

Designing With, Not For goes beyond that position to directly involve users, as equals, in the design process. The event will analyze different collaborative design processes, particularly in the African context, through a conversation between Richard Perez, founding director of the Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking at the University of Cape Town; Amy Smith, founding director of the MIT D-Lab; Surbhi Agrawal, 2022 MAD Design Fellow, urban planner, and data scientist at Sasaki; and Aditya Mehrotra, instructor of Mobiles for Development at MIT.