postdesign

Postdesign is a term used in contemporary design discourse to describe a shift beyond traditional product-centric design toward practices that foreground the long-term relationship between people, objects, and systems. It situates design within service exchanges, platforms, and lifecycle stewardship rather than as a one-off artifact. In this sense, postdesign treats objects as components of broader ecosystems that require care, repair, and ongoing adaptation.

The term has emerged in discussions addressing planned obsolescence, sustainability, and the growth of platform economies. It draws on strands of participatory design, circular design, and critical design, while seeking to reframe design as a collaborative, open-ended process rather than a final product.

Its core ideas include decentering the designer, elevating user agency, and designing for durability, modularity, and interoperability. Postdesign favors open standards, repairability, and upgradability; it emphasizes system-level thinking, service models, and feedback loops that extend usefulness beyond initial release.

Practices associated with postdesign include co-design and service design, product-as-a-system approaches, open-source hardware, repair cafés, and platform-based design. Proponents argue such approaches can reduce waste and create more robust, adaptable products and experiences.

Critics warn that postdesign as a term can be vague or marketing-oriented and may mask difficult trade-offs between profitability, accessibility, and inclusivity. Nevertheless, it remains a touchstone in debates about sustainability, user empowerment, and the evolving role of design in society.