Re-authoring Design is an approach that sees co-design as collective storywork which aims to reshape the stories that define people and places. The model brings the principles of ‘Re-authoring’ from Narrative Therapy together with the active and material practices of Social Design. This creates a process where storywork happens through both the experience of co-design as well as through the objects, spaces, images and events that are created through process. In this approach there is a particular interest in partnering with local storytellers and makers to amplify the storywork already happening in community, and acknowledge that in many places (especially in First Nations communities) people have been telling and reshaping stories through creative practice for a very long time.

A Closer Look at Re-authoring 

Put simply, re-authoring means shifting stories, which is a pretty common idea - anytime we say flip the script, change the tune, debunk the myth, challenge the stereotype, expand the discourse, dismantle the construct, check your assumption, go against the grain, unlearn, re-write, re-brand, re-story, re-frame, re-imagine, re-humanise, de-colonise or smash the patriarchy…we’re talking about shifting stories. 

But the term Re-authoring has emerged in Narrative Therapy - seeded by Australian and New Zealand family therapists Michael White and David Epston in the 90’s who were exploring alternatives to deficit-based psychotherapy. They became interested in the way people construct meaning around their lives and noticed that “when people consult therapists they tell stories”, particularly stories they are wanting to change. So they (and a movement of narrative practitioners that followed) developed the concept of Re-authoring which supports practitioners to partner with people to disarm dominant narratives and strengthen counter narratives. 

FAdapted from “A story of a lonely boy” (Denborough, 2014, pp.4-6)

Dominant narratives are defined as stories that are built on deficits, stereotypes or are having unwanted effects on people’s lives. They are also dominant in the sense that they maybe taking up more space, like defining people identity or being the script that is told and retold about people’s lives. 
 

Counter narratives are alternative stories that community would rather live and be known by, these include stories of strength, ways people are responding to the problem story or simply anything that paints a richer picture of peoples identity and the world they exist in. 
 

As counter narratives are often overshadowed they may be less known or defined, knowledges may be lost, or bits of stories fragmented. Reauthoring spends time with the counter narratives enriching and thickening these stories in the past and present before projecting them forward into the future. In Narrative Therapy this mainly happens through conversation, but bringing it into design adds other practices of visualisation, performance, and making, which offers an approach to story work that is collaborative, creative and moving.

Principles and Practices of Re-authoring Design

There are four principles and 4 practices in Re-authoring Design: 

Principles

Re-authoring design sees that stories have three layers:

• Action - what happened?

• Meaning - what did this mean?

• Place - where did it happen?

So enriching stories happens by exploring and developing each of these layers. This happens through conversation (by adding the third layer of place to Narrative Therapy's 'Conversation Map', but also through the other practices (see practices below).

Re-authoring design sees there are stories at thee scales:

• Personal: individual peoples journies, dreams and identities

• community: collective narratives of groups, orgs and places

• Public: broader social, cultural and political narratives 

Like Collective Narrative Practice the primary focus is on collective narratives, but these are intertwined with personal and public narratives so the storywork wanders across all three scales, and with an interest in promoting social change it’s ultimately the public narratives we’re aiming to gradually change.

Storywork happens in design, which means:

• In design projects: co-designing physical objects, spaces, images or events 

• Through design practices: through the visual, material and active practices of design, as well as through conversations.

• With design practitioners: community are collaborating with designers, not therapist, which offers a different type of storywork.

Storywork happens in relation, which means: 

• Building relationships: Deep relationships between designers, community and the public that stretch over many means years. These relationships create the trust needed to engage in meaningful stroywork and can be experienced that create new stories in themselves.

• Creative exchange: there’s a particular focus on partnering with local storytellers and makers to learn from each other, elevate each others practices and celebrate the creative storywork already happening in community.  

• Co-authors: Designers aim to collaborative with community as allies to co-author new stories, while there is collaboration the focus is on centering community voice to strengthen (or regain) authorship of their collective stories.

Practices

Voice is used as a tool for storywork, which means: 

• Storytelling: is the main method for collaborating, reshaping stories and engaging audiences (e.g. it's not just asking "what's important" or "what do you hope for?" it's "lets share some stories about that")  

• Re-authoring conversation tools: which build on some of the structured conversation tools from Narrative Therapy and Collective Narrative Practice 

• Language: There is an important focus on language, careful not to label, encourages community language and builds stories in words as a step toward building them in images and materials.

Visuals are used as a tool for storywork, which means: 

• Visually mapping stories: to build narratives landscapes and work within them 

• Enriching and thickening: (in addition to voice) sketches, scenes or metaphors are used to richly describe each layer of counter narratives. 

• Scaffolding: sketches and maps support people to step into the unknown (outside dominant narratives, or down the untravelled path forward)

Making is a tool for re-authoring, this means: 

• Enriching and thickening: materialising and spending time with counter narratives further strengthens these stories in embodied ways as well as produces artefacts that allow audiences to physically interact with.

• Encouraging flow and play: making invites people in to play and enter a state of flow which can offer relief from dominant narrative and creates space for new stories and connections to emerge.

• Engaging audiences: collaborative making creates engaging and practical ways for allies to connect with communities and contribute to the storywork.

Acting is a tool for storywork, which means: 

• Trying on stories: the active process of design invites people to test and internalise new stories through action

• Representing: story circles, workshops and exhibitions create space for communities to perform their preferred identities and have these celebrated by supporting audiences.  

• Collective action: open projects aim to encourage social movements to influence bigger change