Between estrangement and familarization: co-construction images of use and users

To design is to envision possible futures. However it is also a concrete production process, in which this envisioning is embodied in artifacts, with the ability to convey meaning to others. In the process of designing, to imagine use and users is integral but often the imagery available to the designer is limited to professional steretypes or to personal experiences. Too often the user becomes a tacit reference which seldom surfaces directly, but implicitly guides the designers evaluations.