Synthesis of Forms: Integrating Practical and Reflective Qualities in Design

Synthesis, or the integration of hitherto separated elements, is a prominent concept in theories of design processes. Synthesis often happens when there is a need to make a decision, though it is often the result of a combination of different alternatives, instead of deciding in favor of one and eliminating another. In many design studies, synthesis has been investigated in the contexts of everyday design—bicycle frames, sewing machines, commercial architecture. We were interested in how it might apply in contexts of reflective design, whose pragmatics often depend on different interrelationships between users and technological products. In this paper, we argue that designing everyday use objects for reflection requires a synthesis of two apparently opposite forms: conventionally practical forms, since they are everyday use objects, and evocative forms, since they make users think. We provide two examples of everyday objects for reflection that we believe synthesize both conventionally practical and evocative forms, analyzing the design processes that led to these forms, and discussing how these reflective designs embody different forms of synthesis.