Making 'a drop of light': an illustrative case of designing for electroluminescent material experiences

Designers are becoming increasingly involved in upstream collaborative projects to create meaningful applications for emerging materials and inform their further development. At such early stages, descriptive and schematic representations, developed mainly by materials scientists, are used to communicate the underdeveloped material to designers. We argue that these representations are far from equal replacements of direct engagements with the material, in supporting designers' creative contribution and unveiling material potentials in relation to novel material experiences. This paper analyses the key activities performed by a trained product designer in the process of creating unique material experiences with electroluminescent materials supported by the material driven design (MDD) method. Unpacking the theoretical foundation and action-steps of the MDD method and substantiated by practice-based evidences, the paper alludes to a design space that is less likely to be revealed when the underdeveloped materials are communicated through representations or even ready-made samples. The benefits and limitations of the MDD method in supporting the creative processes with emerging materials and informing their development are discussed to motivate future research.