Integration of Hacking Mindset and Practice to Industrial Design Education

ABSTRACT The most conventional meaning of the term ‘hacking’ is an illegal activity performed by computer experts who trespass into closed systems of electronic communication and sabotage their security and convention. However, this article examines hacking in terms of customizing and modifying existing products to improve their functionality, to repurpose or just for fun. The intention is; acknowledging there are more design opportunities, potential areas and problems to be discovered rather than the ones which have been addressed by professional designers alone. Informing new generations of designers about the contemporary design sub-cultures, their philosophies and practices and the different roles of the designers will open them alternative routes and enrich their education. Implementing hacking mentality and practice as a part of formal design education enables students to review tensions between people and artefacts, technology and play, creative use of readily available resources, use of collaborative networks, and realities of corporate design practice. This paper attempts to explore the potentials of hacking practice for improving pedagogical practices in industrial design programs and proposes alternative methods for application.