This thesis-based research examines the growing application of design in contexts related to intimate partner violence (IPV) worldwide, which continues to be a profoundly naturalised part of our contemporary world. Addressing IPV involves carefully considering contextual implications such as safety, trauma, and intimate relationships. With designs growing application in areas of addressing harm, it thus is essential to explore how these implications demand different design practices. By examining how designers frame problems, the processes they employ, and the outcomes they produce, this research aims to uncover the designerly knowledge embedded in these aspects. Investigating this under-researched area aims to deepen designers' and design researchers' understanding of how design may address IPV and its implications. Ultimately, this may lead to a more meaningful engagement with IPV issues. Combining theoretical and empirical input, this thesis, through a feminist emergent methodology, explores (1) the realities and possibilities of designing to address intimate harm; (2) designers' rationale when applying design to IPV; and (3) spaces to support the adaptation of design. The research investigates two case studies exploring designers' practices in (i) recovery and response interventions and (ii) prevention with men. It then continues to explore what space may support new and existing designers through a workshop and interviews with designers. The research outlines methodological and practical implications by analysing the rationale designers use to adapt their practices to the circumstances of IPV. From here, six guiding principles emerge from patterns in design practices in IPV. These principles include critical awareness, supporting safety, relational focus, dialogical engagement, encouragement, and making visible. Furthermore, it offers a conceptualisation of a space of possibilities for designers to explore these principles and develop a deep awareness of situational and structural factors. Overall, these findings enhance the theoretical understanding of design within IPV contexts and distinguishes intimate harm as a distinct form of harm requiring designers' attention. The principles support in reframing design's social role from effecting change to supporting change, and alongside the conceptualisation of a space of possibilities for designers, re-centres designers' personal journeys during the design process. Additionally, the thesis proposes an feminist emergent methodology for researchers examining design's adaptation in response to changing contexts, particularly at the intersection with trauma. This research has broader implications for designers working within the realms of gender, violence, and crime.

Funder: LAHP - AHRC [2395167]