This paper explores the border between technology
and design (form giving) from a feminist
perspective. Looking at the energy system and how
it has been integrated in the household, we want to
address the underlying structures that have been
built into the ecology of electrical appliances used
in daily life, preserving certain norms that could be
questioned from both a gender and a sustainability
perspective. We have created an alternative
electricity meter, the Energy AWARE Clock,
addressing design issues uncovered in an initial
field study. In this paper, we will make parallels to
these issues. We also use feminist technoscience
studies scholar Donna Haraway’s theory of the
cyborg in order to clarify useful concepts that can
be derived from feminist theory and that can act as
important tools for designers engaged in creative
processes. From our own experience with the
Energy AWARE Clock this approach has great
potential for questioning and rethinking present
norms within sustainability and gender, from the
viewpoints of design research and design practice.
Nordic Design Research Conference 2013
