In vegetal terms : temporal lenses in human-plant interaction

Abstract

This paper highlights temporality as an important more-than-human design strategy and expands multiple lenses for engaging with the temporal complexity of more-than-human. Reflecting on the dominance of anthropocentric and industrial notions of time in design, we choose plant as a paradigmatic case for otherly temporality. We take stock from interdisciplinary literatures and introduce six temporal lenses: rhythm, horizon, continuity, duration, genealogy, and incompleteness, to articulate how plants live, change, and relate through multiple overlapping temporalities. Connecting these lenses to human-plant interaction design practice, these temporal lenses enables designers to recognize temporal frictions, attend to vegetal rhythms, and cultivate responsive and situated design practices. The lenses serve as a conceptual framework for engaging with plants and other more-than-human temporalities in design processes. Ultimately, this study positions temporality as a key strategy for decentering the human in design and reimagining design as cohabitation and becoming.