Advancements in Design Research

"In October 1998, on the occasion of the first conference on design education, Richard Buchanan, then Director of The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, envisioned doctoral education in Design as a ""neoteric enterprise"", aimed at finding novel ways of addressing the new problems, ""thereby creating a new body of learning and knowledge"". Twenty years after, these words can still be shared: the new problems affecting our globalised, bewildered and worried society are growing in numbers and in complexity, and novel ways of sorting them out are more sought-after than ever. The present book is part of a series that, since 2017, documents the production of the Politecnico di Milano Design Programme, presenting a summary of the doctoral theses defended each year. Eleven essays are here gathered into four sections: Design Education; Collaborative Processes; Cultural and Creative Companies; Technology for Social Change. In the variety of the researched topics, a common trait can be found in the continuous need of updated ways of addressing complex problems. It is such need that drives the evolving boundaries of design research forward, not just within our Doctoral Programme, but within all the national and international Doctoral Programmes in Design we are acquainted with.

Advancements in Design Research

"In October 1998, on the occasion of the first conference on design education, Richard Buchanan, then Director of The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, envisioned doctoral education in Design as a ""neoteric enterprise"", aimed at finding novel ways of addressing the new problems, ""thereby creating a new body of learning and knowledge"". Twenty years after, these words can still be shared: the new problems affecting our globalised, bewildered and worried society are growing in numbers and in complexity, and novel ways of sorting them out are more sought-after than ever. The present book is part of a series that, since 2017, documents the production of the Politecnico di Milano Design Programme, presenting a summary of the doctoral theses defended each year. Eleven essays are here gathered into four sections: Design Education; Collaborative Processes; Cultural and Creative Companies; Technology for Social Change. In the variety of the researched topics, a common trait can be found in the continuous need of updated ways of addressing complex problems. It is such need that drives the evolving boundaries of design research forward, not just within our Doctoral Programme, but within all the national and international Doctoral Programmes in Design we are acquainted with.

A design perspective on how to tackle gender biases when developing AI-driven systems

A growing awareness of bias in artificial intelligence (AI) systems has recently emerged, leading to an increased number of publications discussing ethics in AI. Nevertheless, the specific issue of gender bias remains under-discussed. How can design contribute to preventing the emergence of gender bias in AI-driven systems? To answer this question, we investigated the current state of AI ethical guidelines within the European Union. The results revealed that most guidelines do not acknowledge gender bias but address discrimination. This raised our concerns, as addressing multiple biases simultaneously might not effectively mitigate any of them due to their often-unconscious nature. Furthermore, our results revealed a lack of quantitative evidence supporting the effectiveness of bias prevention implementation methods and solutions. In conclusion, based on our analysis, we propose four recommendations for designing effective guidelines to tackle gender biases in AI. Moreover, we stress the central role of diversity in embedding the gender perspective from the beginning in any design activity

Igeni: Reinforcing Hygiene Practices in Children Through Dynamic Products

Igeni is a set of dynamic products designed to lead children towards autonomy in their personal hygiene practices. The set is composed of three objects: the Billy Brush toothbrush, the Wally Wash faucet-ring and the Fanny Flush toilet reminder. These interactive products are designed to enhance skills of personal hygiene in preschool children, thanks to sensors and actuators for multisensory communication. In this paper, we present the design process that led to the creation of this set of products and we describe the design outcome, consisting of a setoff objects aimed at exploiting the child’s senses to convey messages, to create engaging experiences and to encourage healthy practices. We also present and discuss preliminary tests with users

Artificial intelligence in the design process

The book discusses how to include artificial intelligence (AI) systems in the early stages of the design process. Today designers need new tools capable of supporting them in dealing with the increasing project’s complexity and empowering their performances and capabilities. AI systems appear to be powerful means to enhance designers’ creativity. This assumption was tested in a workshop where sixteen participants collaborated with three AI systems throughout the creative phases of research, sketching, and color selection. Results show that designers can access a broader level of variance and inspiration while reducing the risk of fossilization by triggering lateral thinking through AI-generated data. Therefore, AI could significantly impact the creative phases of the design process if applied consciously. Being AI systems intelligent agents, the book treats the Human-AI collaboration as a collaboration between human agents, proposing a set of guidelines helpful to achieving an efficient partnership with the machine

Designing Dialogs between Users and Products through a Sensory Language

This paper presents a research-through-design exploring interaction as a dialog between the user and the product that is in contact for sharing something, typically quantitative and/or qualitative information (e.g., data, points of view, feelings, and so on). This exchange is made possible by the implementation of a given kind of common language. Traditionally, human-computer interaction relies on an explicit, codified language, as for example when designers use icons, text, or pictures to convey a message. In contrast, we define empirical sensory language as those sensory stimuli coming from an artifact, processed most often unconsciously, which play a constructive role in generating a meaningful interactive experience, yet do not require any explicit exchange of information messages. Our investigation aimed at exploring potentialities and limits of applying a sensory language to arouse meaningful interactions leading to a desired change in routine behaviors. We thus designed two product prototypes intended to lead users to decrease water consumption. Our approach opens up a new space for design that is currently not covered by explicit, codified forms of interaction. We discuss implications for a product designer to design for a sensory language and the results of an exploratory user evaluation

AI IN THE DESIGN PROCESS: TRAINING THE HUMAN-AI COLLABORATION

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are attracting more and more attention as possible tools to enhance creativity in the design process. However, alongside potentialities, introducing non-human agents in a design team can bring specific criticalities, which need a high level of awareness on the part of designers to be tackled. An exploratory study on the perception of design students regarding the inclusion of AI tools in the early stages of the design process was conducted. The results are discussed in the paper, with a specific focus on the possible role of training in supporting the development of critical awareness regarding the challenges posed by human-AI collaborations