LEARNING THROUGH DESIGN FOR WELLBEING

This article studies designed objects as mediums for personal development, along with the learning outcomes of designing these objects. Design for wellbeing aspires to aid people's transformation from their current to their desired state of being, regardless of their capabilities. The important aspect of wellbeing is personal development, the conscious pursuit of personal growth by expanding self-awareness and knowledge and improving personal skills. There is a need to study how products for wellbeing can facilitate users' learning to change from their current state to a state of wellbeing. This article aims to discuss the perspective of personal growth and development through learning by the use of design to achieve this transformation. This case study includes archival studies to analyse the designed solutions presented in bachelor degree projects under the Department for Product Design at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences in 2015. The designed objects are studied to learn how the students intended to stimulate the users' learning processes. These qualities are then discussed from different instructional design perspectives. The perspectives of behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism are used to explain how designers can influence users' learning to guide them to their desired state of being.