Abstract

According to practice theory, practices or “doings” that use designed products play a significant role in shaping daily life. Practice theory considers the workings of the dynamic two-way relationships between social structures and human agency. Accordingly, users’ routinized practices constitute a social structure that is commonly characterized by three elements: materials, such as tangible physical things, artifacts, and infrastructures; competencies, which include the know-how and “doing” of practice; and meanings, which encompass symbolic notions and emotions that are attached to the practices or artifacts. Adopting a practice theory approach, my article focuses on user practices around wringer-washers in Turkey, including materials, uses, meanings, and re-uses in the daily lives of Turkish women and families. Historical case studies of laundry practices with wringer-washers explicitly indicate how and under what circumstances user practices can emerge, endure, evolve, and transform into other practices. Prioritizing the involvement of designers, producers, and users in the coproduction of practice processes, I argue in this article that new designs and design innovations are inextricably linked with the user practices that they engender.

摘要

根据实践理论，使用设计产品的实践或“行为”在塑造日常生活中发挥着重要作用。实践理论考虑了社会结构和人类能动性之间动态双向关系的运作。相应地，用户的常规化实践构成了一种社会结构，通常具有三个要素：材料，如有形的实物、人工制品和基础设施；能力，包括实践的诀窍和“做事”；和意义，其中包含与实践或人工制品相关的象征性概念和情感。我的文章采用实践理论的方法，重点关注土耳其的拧干机用户实践，包括土耳其妇女和家庭日常生活中的材料、用途、意义和再利用。使用绞拧机的洗衣实践的历史案例研究清楚地表明了用户实践如何以及在什么情况下会出现、持续、演变和转变为其他实践。我在本文中优先考虑设计师、生产者和用户参与实践过程的共同生产，并认为新设计和设计创新与它们产生的用户实践密不可分。