Week 4 : Introducing Frameworks

This week, I focused on refining the foundation of my project and strengthening the discussion in my dissertation. As reflected in Week 3, I revisited my literature review, clarified my research question, and expanded What if trees had hands? to What if trees had hands to draw, sing, and dance with us?

This shift connects my experiments—sensor-based prosthetics, speculative interactions, and performative gestures—into a broader exploration of interspecies communication.

Part ① : The Double Diamond Framework

The first thing I did was look back at my research through the lens of the double-diamond framework to map out my process. Initially, I knew I was conducting research through design—using design as a method of inquiry, generating knowledge through practice-based exploration.

However, since I tend to work divergently, I thought the double diamond might help me converge my ideas and make sense of my making process. To apply it, I used the Design Council worksheet, plotting down my entire thought process.

In the first diamond, representing Discover, I started with my creative problem: the sensory loss caused by our increasing dependence on electronic devices, which substitute and mediate our engagement with the natural world. However, this isn’t just a problem with technology alone—it reflects a larger systemic issue rooted in the way modern society structures human-nature relationships.

From here, I arrived at my brief:

Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor: To use speculative methodologies—critical-making, conceptual exploration, and experimental design—to reimagine human/nature interactions through sensors and artificial materials.

Part ②: The Cognitive-Affective-Behavioral Relationship Framework

As I made minor adjustments to my dissertation, I realized that a methodology I’ve been unconsciously adopting while exploring A Friendly Hand is assessing whether it builds intimacy with people. I think it’s important that, at the end of the day, people can intuitively feel connected with such an experimental prototype—one that aims to encourage an affective relationship with nature. This involves aspects such as Partnership, Participation, Connectedness, and a Holistic relationship. (Link to Repository)

That led me to the Cognitive-Affective-Behavioral Relationship Framework—a conceptual model that examines how cognitive (thought-based), affective (emotion-based), and behavioral (action-based) dimensions interact to shape the overall quality of relationships. It was originally used to assess relationship dynamics between consumers and corporations, albeit as a tool I found useful for structuring my explorations, user-testing, and critical-making, all of which will outline my discussion portion.

The application of this framework in the context of A Friendly Hand will be shown in Figure 8.

Part ③ : Outlining My Discussion

This all started with scattered thoughts and scribbles on post-its. After a few discarded ideas, I landed on this outline: "What if trees could draw, sing, and dance with us?" While developing it, I reflected on Root-Watching (from Week 10) and my making process for A Friendly Hand throughout Semester 1 and 2.

My work may seem like a product of instinct, but there are deeper thought processes and symbolic meanings embedded in it—ones I didn’t always share, partly out of hesitation over my esoteric, slightly chaotic metaphors.

The concept unfolds in three parts. First, "What if trees had hands?" And if they did, how would they draw, sing, and dance with us?

Second, if trees could express themselves, what would they try to communicate? This breaks down interspecies communication and performance into smaller speculative questions—positioning design as a tool to explore new knowledge beyond its usual scope, particularly in science and ecological awareness.

In other words, this serves as a creative outline for my discussion section, embodying research through design. (Refer to Semester 1, Week 3 for my notes on design research.)

The map above provides an overview of the main case study that forms the foundation of Dreaming of an Interspecies Sensor as a proof of concept and proposal. It presents an alternative perspective on interspecies communication and performance through speculative methodologies, allowing us to interact with non-human life by staging new ways of sensing and engaging with ecological systems.

Rather than concluding neatly like a double diamond, I see the process as either ongoing or branching off in multiple directions. I'm not done yet, and since speculative methodology prioritises the process over a fixed outcome, the ending feels less important. That said, the double diamond framework has helped me converge my thinking along the way.