Uncertainty and the Capability Approach to Design

The concept of 'design for sustainable well-being and empowerment' seeks to harmonize distinct ideals using the capability approach framework, of which an important element is technology. To increase the freedoms or effective capabilities of individuals, the aim is to design artefacts and technologies. However, in this article, the argument is that due to the inherent uncertainty such optimistic outcomes cannot always be guaranteed and technologies can fail in practice and diminish human capabilities. Design trade-off and affordance of artefacts are used here to demonstrate that the use of capability approach to design is merely a static analytical tool.