The Social Design Toolkit is a critical speculative design object. It was created by a group of community leaders in Latin America who want to use post-colonial theory to help social designers understand how human-centered design promotes unequal power dynamics, disenfranchisement, and hegemony.

Collaborative Stations expanded on the toolkit by creating objects where people could come together and add to the toolkit. The strategy was to create a public space at design events dedicated to discussing post-colonial theory. The furniture facilitates the participation of designers in developing the Wiki and the Toolkit further.

The exploration was based on the idea of relying on using an opponent’s own energy against them. Therefore, use common tools of the trade, like a toolkit, to present the challenges with Human-Centered Design and how its neoliberal roots promote unequal power dynamics, disenfranchisement, and hegemony.

From a technical standpoint, I designed the brand, assembled resources in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, and constructed the wooden work stations. Jojo Thitiporn Chongjaroenjai illustrated the short story “A Cowboy’s Reverie.”

The Social Design toolkit.