M2.2: Challenging Health-Related Stigma Through Design

This FMP project aims to challenge health-related stigma for hearing aid users from a designer perspective. It serves a practical application of the insights from the Pre-FMP project, which explored how designers can influence health-related stigma for different user groups through their methods and the inherent qualities of their work, and aimed to start a debate about the role, motivation, interest, and perspective of designers.

The design approach aimed to support normalization strategies that help the target group challenge stigma to help users overcome everyday social challenges related to hearing aid use. The outcome of this project are several interactive ear jewelry pieces that serve a social function and facilitate visibility in everyday contexts.