Materialising affective experiences: Designing for personal grief practices

In this pictorial, we present the process leading to the creation of N/ERWER, an affectively engaging interactive prototype exploring personal domestic grief practices. N/ERV/ER symbolises a physical presence of the Intangible affective experiences associated with grief as an ongoing connection to the deceased in the present. N/ERV/ER was developed in a Research through Design process fueled by both personal accounts and participatory engagements using various design probes exploring experiences of loss following the death of a loved one. In this pictorial, we unfold the theoretical, methodological, and material dimensions of this process to show how designers can accommodate grief in design practice as a way of utilising and materialising the affective forces present in such sensitive contexts.