Interactive computing and artificial intelligence are increasingly positioned as solutions to complex social problems, yet dominant

problem–solution paradigms in HCI often produce underwhelming or harmful outcomes when technologies are deployed under

conditions of structural inequality, institutional constraint, and asymmetric power. This paper introduces the Techno-Realist Design

Framework, a practice-grounded approach that reorients design from universalist problem-solving toward conditional intervention,

moral constraint, and institutional accountability. The framework is derived through auto-ethnographic synthesis of longitudinal justice-

oriented design work across community, civic, and organizational contexts. Techno-Realism articulates seven design commitments

paired with evaluative tests that function as procedural checkpoints, producing concrete artifacts for traceability, deliberation, and

repair across the technology lifecycle. Rather than prescribing a fixed method, the framework supports designers in deciding not

only how to build responsibly, but when refusal, delay, or withdrawal constitute ethically appropriate design outcomes. The paper

contributes a reflexive design framework for navigating ethical decision-making under real-world constraints.