Autonomy for/in/with/and Design

Abstract

This thesis set out to explore the meaning of autonomy and use this knowledge to create a tool for designers to communicate the complexity of the concept with their clients. In today’s society, we value autonomy and we strive to ensure that everyone can lead their life as autonomous as possible. In fact, we view autonomy as ultimate independence and freedom from outside influence. But by insisting so hard on independence and personal responsibility, it can feel like failing if you do not manage to do everything on your own. From the research done in this project, it was found that autonomy is more than being able to do everything yourself. Autonomy actually means making decisions and doing things in a way that you like or need. This can also mean that you do not want, can or should do it alone and that you need or want to be supported by the world around you. You decide yourself, as an individual, who or what can provide that support. The relationships you are part of are part of the context you are in and which can support you the way you want. The insights gained throughout the project are boiled down into a comprehensible framework explaining the different components of autonomy: the individual, important relationships, boundaries of support, and the context. Exploring the framework with designers revealed that the framework could be implemented throughout the design process in different capacities. As the first step to designing with autonomy is understanding what autonomy is, the choice was made to come up with a design for the first phase of the design process. The framework has served as the foundation for the development of a toolkit for designers. The Autonomie voor/in/met/en Design toolkit supports designers in communicating the importance and complexity of autonomy with their clients at the start of a project, by providing tools to uncover assumptions the client might have regarding the autonomy of their target group. While the toolkit is designed for the first phase of the design process, it is the first step in putting autonomy higher on the priority list of designers and clients.