Investigating Everyday Interface Cultures and Hidden Spheres of Production in M.A. Seminars at HAWK Hildesheim: Design Management, Design Strategy, and Research through Design (RtD)
Research at the M.A. Gestaltung program, Faculty of Design, HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hildesheim, Germany)
Publication: “Essay on ‘Customering’ – Third Spaces of Consumer Culture” (2025)
In “Essay on ‘Customering’ – Third Spaces of Consumer Culture,” Konstantin Haensch reconceptualizes the “customer” not as a passive consumer or mere transaction partner, but as a participant in an evolving social relationship that unfolds between providers and markets. Drawing on sociology, anthropology, marketing theory, and cultural studies, the article traces how customer relations historically shifted from production-centered industrial systems toward relationship-oriented marketing regimes, while remaining shaped by power asymmetries, technological mediation, and datafication.
Haensch develops a multi-stage model of customer relations—from non-customers to deeply institutionalized “regulars”—and argues that customer practices create “third spaces”: semi-autonomous zones of interaction that cannot be fully captured by economic rationality or managerial control. Through spatial theory and everyday examples such as cafés, bars, and shops, he shows how customers and providers jointly negotiate territory, trust, habit, and agency. The article ultimately proposes “customering” as a fragile but potentially resistant social practice within late capitalism—one that preserves relational value, reciprocity, and shared experience beyond pure monetization.
Reading Sample
Haensch, Konstantin. “Versuch über ‚das Kunden‘ – Dritte Räume der Konsumkultur.”
In: Er rockt nicht, er rollt: Starke Signale an Franz Liebl, edited by Mirus Fitzner, Christian Blümelhuber, and Thomas Düllo, 105–122. Berlin: Logos Verlag, 2025.
Isabelle Wydra: „The Male Gaze: Patriarchal Structures in Everyday Life and Design Processes with Reference to Product Design“ (2025)
Consumer Culture & Theory, Design Critique
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)
Design Ethnography/Cultural Probes, 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 […]
Lisa Theil: “Consumer Brands – Emotional Brand Attachment Across Generations and Strategic Future Perspectives for the Food Industry” (2025)
Consumer Culture & Theory
The master’s thesis “Consumer Brands – Emotional Brand Attachment Across Generations and Strategic Future Perspectives for the Food Industry” by Lisa Theil examines how brands in saturated markets build emotional relationships with consumers and why these remain powerful beyond functional product attributes. Starting from a personal consumption experience, the study develops a systematic analysis of […]
