Articulating Felt Senses for More-Than-Human Design – A Viewpoint for Noticing

Abstract

To rigorously approach the more-than-human world in design research, we need to become more receptive and better equipped to describe the complexities of relationality. In response, this paper advocates for the articulation of the felt sense -or tacit knowledge residing in our bodies- as a viewpoint for noticing. Assisted by micro-phenomenological interviews, we carefully described our felt senses from our experiences with a telepresence robot and smartphone photography. We illustrate how this viewpoint allowed us to access our pre-judgemental dimension, the vivid liveliness in our experiences with technologies, and the porosity of our sense of self. We contribute the felt sense as a viewpoint for noticing to design researchers interested in integrating their somatic sensibilities into their work with the more-than-human, allowing them to attune to, describe and share with other researchers the normally unattended dimension of our experiences, including aspects concerning the felt dimension of ethics.