Abstract

The integration of the maker movement into China’s cultural and economic landscape has transformed its original ethos of electronic culture and hacking. Despite this shift, grassroots “hedonist” makers continue to uphold the DIY spirit, creating projects that are often dismissed as “useless” but still fulfill personal or community needs. Grassroots “hedonist” makers continue to uphold the DIY spirit, creating projects often dismissed as “useless” but fulfilling personal or community needs. Although the public often labels these projects “useless,” they provide valuable insights into design and social innovation. To better understand and promote the nuanced “usefulness” of DIY making, this research expands the evaluation beyond traditional design usability metrics. It recognizes DIY maker projects as reflections of both pre-optimal craft and post-optimal experimentation, each with a unique value system. By integrating principles from product and social design, the study proposes evaluation frameworks tailored to DIY making. Through case study alignment with these frameworks, the research formulates guidelines based on five key dimensions: necessity, engagement, ease of making, iteration, and conceptual thinking.