undesign

English

Etymology

un- +‎ design

Verb

undesign (third-person singular simple present undesigns, present participle undesigning, simple past and past participle undesigned)

1. To reverse or fail to implement a design; to design something in a way that deliberately rejects the conventions of designing.
   • Håkan Gulliksson, Pervasive Computing Design for Sustainability: 2nd Edition (page 518)

     When not to design and when to undesign? When should we refuse to design something? Are there situations when the use of a particular technology, or even of any technology, is not beneficial?

   • 2010, Joel B. Altman, The Improbability of Othello, page 215:

     If there is a design in these actions, it is to undesign—to provide supplies for recirculation and recontextualization in which a new meaning may be found.

Noun

undesign (uncountable)

1. The act or process of deliberately undesigning.
   • 2014, Elizabeth DePoy, Stephen Gilson, Branding and Designing Disability, page 224:

     Although it may seem as if undesign calls for the elimination of discipline or intention, to the contrary, undesign thinking guides designers from any knowledge base or perspective to enact their crafts for the full diversity of product users, art viewers, space occupants, and so forth, rather than for creating and thus manipulating homogenous target groups.

See also

• antidesign