Collaboration Model: A five-tier internal structure (Core Group, Control Group, Workshops, References and Outreach) is established, with varying degrees of involvement, to incorporate diverse knowledge and experiences within the association.
The Correspondence: Given the emotional complexity of the subject, we moved away from traditional interviews and began an exchange of letters (both physical and digital) which allowed participants to slow down the interaction
This slowing down of the conversation allows for deep reflection, from a place of special intimacy, sharing personal experiences and facilitating the evolution of one’s own beliefs throughout the process.
- Evocative Questions: We replaced functional questions such as ‘how can we improve a funeral home?’ with evocative ones such as ‘where does your death die?’, ‘what does it mean to be in control of your own end?’ This shifted the conversation from the operational to the symbolic and human.
- Sound narratives and magical portals: These emerged from a need to lighten the emotional and cultural burden associated with death, facilitating the exploration of new imaginaries. For the co-creation session with designers, we created a fictional framework (a magical portal) with new rules (Here, death does not hurt; Here, time is now).
- Collaborative Meetings: Three face-to-face sessions were organised where design was used to create an atmosphere of radical trust, with strangers sharing intimate experiences.
- Session 1 (Citizenship): Identification of subjective needs associated with six key moments at the end of life (diagnosis, belief system, social system, palliative care, bereavement and preparation for a good death).
- Session 2 (Design and ICC): A co-creation session using a ‘magic portal’ and liberating narratives to challenge cultural conventions surrounding death. Opportunities were explored and prototyped in areas such as New Rituals, Mortal Spaces, Vital Roles and The Legacy.
- Session 3 (Socialising Bagara): A closing session to share learnings and the prototypes generated with all participants.
Links
- Project report: Download
- Audio narratives: Listen
- Design and Diaspora podcast: Listen
- Interview on Radio Popular de Bilbao: Listen
