The Design Sensibility Approach: A Case Study in Making, Sensing, and Sense-Making of Speculative Household Energy Designs

Abstract

This article introduces the Design Sensibility Approach—a sensorial and embodied process for making sense of possible futures. The approach is applied through a case study on speculative energy design in the home, conducted and adapted within a participatory workshop held at a regional art hall in Northern Sweden. It unfolds in four phases—Imagine, Make, Explore, and Reflect—across a broader timeline comprising pre-workshop, active workshop, and post-workshop stages. During the workshop, participants were invited to engage with their senses through a series of activities designed to prompt reflection on their own future energy imaginaries, which they materialized using a MakeTools kit. The results reveal three themes: emotional responses elicited from embodied experiences with energy; energy as a lifestyle; and critique of the political landscape surrounding resource extractivism in Northern Sweden. These findings inform the research question: How might the human senses be leveraged to create stronger emotional connections with future domestic energy products and systems? The article concludes by proposing concrete applications of the Design Sensibility Approach at individual, community, and governance levels, highlighting its ethical and inclusive dimensions as areas for future development.