The Designing for Collectivity project focuses on developing a digital education platform and expanding a network of students, teachers and design professionals, and increasing the impact of the design framework. The goal is to support digital designers in combining functionality and collectivity in their work.
The project builds on the research project Charging the Commons (2022–2024), which explored digital platforms for resource sharing. This study showed that many existing platforms mainly optimize individual transactions, while collective engagement and collaboration are often lacking.Designing for Collectivity translates these insights into a practical design approach and educational tools for students and professionals.
The project consists of two main initiatives:
- Design Method for Collectivity – Developing a structured design method that translates abstract concepts such as collaboration and community building into concrete, applicable steps in digital projects.
- Digital Educational Platform – An online resource hub with tools, case studies, a card game and a design method, intended to inspire and support designers and teachers in creating inclusive, collectively-oriented digital platforms.
By connecting theory, practice and education, the project aims to train a new generation of designers who think not only of individual users, but also of the community as a whole. This contributes to digital environments that are both functional for individuals and meaningful for collectives.
Partners and team
The project team consists of researchers, teachers and design professionals, with key partners such as Centre of Expertise Creative Innovation, Public Spaces, Society 5.0 and HvA CMD students and faculties.