The X_Heal Toolkit

Abstract

Self-healing, a remarkable ability of living organisms, is gaining attention in biodesign as a pathway toward sustainability. Applications range from fungi-based repair in packaging to bacterial healing in soft robotics. The expressive, dynamic, and temporal nature of self-healing offers rich design opportunities but also presents challenges due to emergent behaviours and environmental dependencies. Healing may unfold gradually, leave visible traces, or transform material in unpredictable ways, making it difficult to observe, describe, and communicate through existing design tools. This paper introduces a toolkit, namely the X_Heal Toolkit, that enables designers to analyse and characterise self-healing processes. Grounded in frameworks of shape-changing interfaces and Living Artefacts, the toolkit is structured around three core dimensions: Matter, Space, and Time. It includes a vocabulary, taxonomy, annotation template, and stickers for documenting and exploring sensory (form, visual, and tactile qualities) and spatiotemporal (direction and speed) characteristics. Evaluated through focus groups with biodesigners, the toolkit supported detailed observation, expressive annotation, and critical discussion of self-healing behaviours. Participants used it to both analyse existing self-healing processes and creatively reinterpret them, adjusting rhythms, speeds, or sensory qualities to express “livingness.” These insights revealed the toolkit’s generative potential for speculative, educational, and interdisciplinary design contexts. Framed within sustainable and regenerative design, this work shifts attention from healing as a technical fix toward healing as an expressive and ecological interaction, inviting reflection on temporality and care.