Transformation design is part of an expanded understanding of design that does not see design as a (purely) form-giving discipline, but as an active co-shaping of social relations. It exemplifies a broader development within design in which design practice is increasingly renegotiated in interdependence with social, political, and ecological conflicts.

As social, ecological, and economic crises become entangled and authoritarian forces gain ground in the public sphere, design can no longer be understood as a neutral or autonomously formal practice—even though the universalist gesture of design, originating in Western industrial nations, long claimed this status. Design as a (market-driven and power-uncritical) discipline is more part of the problem than the solution. Against this backdrop, critical design practice understands itself as part of social negotiations—situated, social, conflictual, partisan, and critically aware of power.

Transformation design does not aim at producing finished solutions, but at process-oriented practices within open, often contradictory contexts. The focus lies on shaping conditions, relationships, and spaces of possibility across a wide range of media formats and distribution contexts—with the ambition to actively contribute to democratic negotiation processes, collective action, and futures under real, conflict-laden conditions. At the same time, it calls for a critical engagement with the structural frameworks in which such practices are embedded, and with the economic, political, and cultural forces that constrain or enable possibilities for design.