What's "Design. Regret. Confess."?
Design. Regret. Confess. is a roving confessional housed in a small Japanese truck that invites designers to anonymously confess professional regrets and ethical missteps. Captured and posted on to a website, the confessions describe designs disasters, ethical compromises and moments of spectacular failure.
Images below show confessions being recorded in the Kei truck.
Who's it for?
The project is intended to make people think about the reality and internal dilemmas of being a professional designer, so a key audience is other designers, those looking to get into the design profession, and educators who teach the next generation of designers. The project offers a counterbalance to the polished case studies that design, showing that failure and ethical complexity are normal parts of professional life. The project will also be of interest to those interested in ethics and futures. Designers shape the entire world, and for that reason because the project captures the confessions of design professionals, it could be of interest to almost anyone!
Approach
A Japanese Kei truck was converted into a mobile confessional booth that travelled around design venues in Melbourne Australia. Designers could step inside and anonymously confess their professional regrets. The confessions are posted to an evolving archive of design failures, dilemmas and compromises.
The project, which at the time of posting is ongoing, takes inspiration from Critical Design and Participatory Design. In contrast to Research through Design this project is Research into Design, seeking to better understand reality of being a practising designer.
Contribution
Design. Regret. Confess. is a unique collection of real examples of the hidden failures and ethical compromises involved in design practice, this exposes the myth of designers as flawless problem-solvers. The objective of sharing this collection is to help build a more accountable, reflective, human, and regenerative design culture.
Why is it in the Observatory?
This project shows how Design Research is not just about using design to understand the world outside of design practice, but can also be used to look inwards—to do research into design itself. It demonstrates the value in better understanding the social, ethical, and practical dilemmas that designers face. Unlike typical case studies that showcase success, this project foregrounds vulnerability and contradiction as valuable insights.
It's an excellent example of how Design Research can critique practice, not just create new concepts and ideas.