Who Designs our
(digital)(next)(uncanny)(interfacing)
Lifeworlds?
Praxis↭theory Seminars at the Hildesheim Faculty of Design Examine Current Interface Cultures and their Opaque Spheres of Production
Qualitative Design Research and Critical Design Praxistheory at the Nexus of Culture, Interfaces, and Strategy at the M.A. Gestaltung program Faculty of Design, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hildesheim, Germany)
Lea Sofia Fichtner: „Content Strategies for Jazz on TikTok – Design Research on the Visibility of Artistic Practice in Jazz“ (2026)
This master’s thesis investigates how content strategies on TikTok can contribute to the visibility of artistic practice in jazz. Situating TikTok within the broader digital transformation of music cultures, the study examines how platform logics, algorithmic structures, and short-form video aesthetics reshape the conditions under which jazz musicians can present their work. Rather than focusing on quantitative reach or marketing performance, the project explores how artistic attitude, improvisational processes, and individual expression can be translated into contemporary content formats.
Methodologically, the thesis combines theoretical analysis with an exploratory platform study and a practice-based design process. Through qualitative observation of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, recurring content formats and strategic patterns are collected, clustered, and systematized. Complemented by exploratory conversations with jazz musicians, these insights lead to the development of a “layered content model” that structures different sources and levels of content generation. This model is subsequently tested and refined through a collaborative design process with a jazz musician, including workshops, prototyping, and iterative video production.
The project demonstrates that TikTok can function not merely as a distribution channel but as a cultural space in which improvisation, authenticity, and digital interaction intersect. By applying principles such as cross-appropriation and platform-specific adaptation, the thesis shows how jazz musicians can navigate the tension between artistic integrity and platform expectations. The result is a transferable strategic framework that supports jazz artists in developing visible, coherent, and artistically grounded digital presences.
Lea Sofia Fichtner: Content-Strategien für Jazz auf TikTok Gestalterische Forschung zur Sichtbarkeit künstlerischer Praxis im Jazz
Master’s Thesis Project 2026 Supervised by: Prof. Konstantin Haensch, Prof. Sabine Cole
This master’s thesis investigates how design can function as a research practice that makes knowledge in intercultural contexts visible and experientially accessible. Based on the project Concepts Trouvés, which examined English-language terms found in Beijing’s urban commercial landscape, the work reflects on how design ethnography and Research through Design can explicate implicit knowledge embedded in […]
This master’s thesis investigates how patriarchal structures and gender stereotypes are embedded in everyday products, spatial environments, and professional design processes. Combining feminist theory, sociological concepts such as Doing Gender, and contemporary design research, the project analyzes historical genealogies of gendered form, materiality, and usability while grounding these perspectives in an empirical user survey. The […]
Tina Böse: „Mood Atlas in the Tension Field of Student Living Environments“ (2025)
[Cartography], [Design Ethnography], Material Cultures
When we think of science, we often picture test tubes, formulas, diagrams, and boxes—frames that contain, categorize, and attempt to represent the world. Yet some topics are highly complex and resist being reduced to simple visualizations. They demand effort to be made legible—and remain no less compelling for it, waiting to be explored and articulated […]
