Human-Centred Design: sustainable ideas and scenarios for the development of projects and products based on knowledge and human abilities

Human-Centred Design is defined as the discipline relating to products and services that, in different ways, takes into account the psycho-physical wellness of human beings, and is formulated according to an approach based on User-Centred Design (UCD). The User-Centred Design approach considers the relationships and the interactions users have with products while using them, and is developed within disciplines not properly belonging to the field of design. At the beginning of last century, with studies in psychology (1899) and semiotics (1913-16) the way was opened for the analysis of everyday objects from a systemic point of view. Within the production scenario, modern industry transforms any materials into working and functional objects, but later on, having crossed the absorption threshold, and with production surpluses, the trend will be to reconsider the objects, endowing them with deeper psychological meaning. Together with the psychological there is the semiotic analysis, which, with de Saussure, establishes the existence of a link between words and things, in such a way that human activities are structured like languages and the analysis sees the Linguistics as the basis of a general science of signs, whose purpose is to deepen the social use and the functionality of the objects. The semiotic theorization of Barthes and then Baudrillard, relating to the analysis of objects, follows Saussure’s lead in thinking of the object as a sign or message. Within this area of semiotic analysis, divergent positions from different thought’ schools follow one after the other. Among these, we find Jean Baudrillard’s (1968) and Charles Sanders Pierce’s (2001); both, however, agree on various points: on the determination of the systemic and therefore relational character of the objects, and on the understanding of the mechanisms which are the basis of perceptive judgments, as well as the related elaborations which structure our consciousness (C.S. Pierce), and which come together as a frame of reference in the User-Centred Design approach. Psychology has recently found in Donald A. Norman - the director of the Cognitive Science Society at the University of California, a psychologist with an international reputation for his studies on “short term memory” and contemporary cognitive psychology - a supporter of the analysis of the learning processes. Moreover, his research on memory has a particular bearing on the creation and function of artificial intelligence, highlighted in a theory on the processes of elaboration of data by the brain known as “human information processing”. He orients his studies within the area of “cognitive science” and hypothesizes on the errors due to the appearance incompatibility conditions between man and the environment. In addition to this, cognitive psychology, which has dealt with this subject for more than fifty years, has contributed decisively to the current ergonomic study on the man-machine relationship in terms of User-Centred Design.Peer Reviewe

DESIGNED & MADE IN ITALY

Il legame Designed & Made in Italy analizzato dal nume- ro 9 della rivista MD Journal è contrassegnato da approcci e contenuti articolati, tesi a ribadirne/ridefinirne/rifondarne i caratteri attuali rispetto al passato, richiamando la sostanza delle origini e la profonda stratificazione di valori interconnessi che nel nostro paese uniscono da sempre cultura progettuale, costruttiva, di vendita e utilizzo dei pro- dotti in un rapporto di reciproca alimentazione. In Italia – dove sono perlopiù mancati investimenti ingenti e continuativi di grandi imprese industriali, nonché committenze unitarie, vaste e strutturate – l’osservazione del nesso tra design e manifattura ha dovuto includere storicamente il fattore «gusto», inteso come fenomeno culturale complesso e ricco di sfumature che ha incorporato valenze semantiche, formali, di qualità esecutiva e commerciali del tutto peculiari e riconoscibili (De Fusco, 2007, p. VIII). Il destino del Made in Italy, da quanto rilevato, appare ancor più ancorato alla rifondazione dei presupposti sui quali si è concretizzato il valore originario, esso rispecchia dinamiche progettuali, sociali e produttive inclusive e spesso avanguardistiche. Le espressioni delle forme del fare, tangibili e intangibili, affermano e contribuiscono al riconosci- mento, nei modi di agire, del legame profondo esistente tra la cultura e l’identità dei luoghi, generatori del cosiddetto “stile italiano”. Sebbene, la tradizione indichi spesso la direzione da seguire, valori rinnovati appaiono nella società, innestandosi in quelli resistenti, viceversa, sostituendosi a ciò che oramai logoro non è più aderente alla dinamica sociale (Hildreth, Kimble, 2004, p. 75)

Service design as the ground for alternative social and economic scenarios

This paper focuses on Service Design as the theoretical and operative framework for activities in very diversified contexts. Within this framework, the paper analyses the design of services and service systems as a form of mediation, integration and diffusion of new operational practices, that are gradually modifying the current socio-economic paradigm in the western countries. Service Design proposes new forms of value creation (Ramirez 1999) that cannot always be measured according to the current economic criteria. They are rather introducing new economic factors that contribute to the value creation process, such as experience (Pine and Gilmore 1999), time (Gorz 1999), knowledge (Rullani 2004), new roles in working and consuming (Rifkin 2000). The actions triggered by service design move the center of value production from material goods to immaterial actions and performances. The service perspective redefines the object of the production system, revising the very concept of material (Blomkvist, Clatworthy et al. 2016) with the consequences this implies on the nature of the material world. Services also propose new dynamics of relational mediation among stakeholders in social and economic systems. New categories of needs are introduced, while the old categories are reviewed. Furthermore a service dominant logic (Vargo and Lusch 2008) is revising the role of users in the production system giving them an active role and responsibility in the value creation process, considering them as co-workers, rather than passive receivers of service performances (Normann and Ramirez 1994). The new perspective is fundamental for rethinking the way private and public services systems can be re-designed (Bason 2010) and for investigating on the possibility that such social changes, often spontaneous and un-planned, could instead be the designed (Manzini 2015). Whether such changes are part of the existing socio-economic paradigm or alternative to it, the perspective proposed in this paper is also fundamental to understand the role of design and designers in the large process of transformation of modern economies

Designed & Made in Italy. Invarianti, transizioni, nuove mappe valoriali

Il contributo analizza il legame Designed & Made in Italy contrassegnato da approcci e contenuti articolati, tesi a ribadirne/ridefinirne/rifondarne i caratteri attuali rispetto al passato, richiamando la sostanza delle origini e la profonda stratificazione di valori interconnessi che in Italia uniscono da sempre cultura progettuale, costruttiva, di vendita e utilizzo dei prodotti in un rapporto di reciproca alimentazione

Fashion confronting unrelated sectors: the ideal model of manufacturing symbiosis between industrial systems

This study aims to reflect on a possible symbiosis between the fashion system and unrelated companies focused on reducing textile waste. Recent developments in the fashion system, in terms of the organizational network, highlight the importance of collaboration, or vice versa of competition enhancement mechanisms. The highly innovative and creative skills and tasks concentrate much of the value in the creation phase, characteristic of emerging sectors such as creative ones. The methodology will be carried out through a review of the reference literature, with a critical, constructive, and real analysis on strategies for the construction of this symbiosis. It is expected to contribute to a reflection on the development of collaboration and cooperation skills in an interdisciplinary, or even transdisciplinary approach, for the training and preparation of fashion design professionals, requiring a greater commitment from Academia in the creation of interactions and interrelationships with still very different disciplinary sectors.Este estudio tiene como objetivo reflexionar sobre una posible simbiosis  entre  el  sistema  de  la  moda  y  empresas  ajenas centradas   en   la   reducción   del   desperdicio   textil.   Los desarrollos recientes en el sistema de la moda, en términos de   la   red   organizativa,   resaltan   la   importancia   de   la colaboración, o viceversa, de los mecanismos de mejora de la competencia. Las habilidades y tareas altamente innovadoras y  creativas  concentran  gran  parte  del  valor  en  la  fase  de creación,  característica  de  sectores  emergentes  como  el creativo.  La  metodología  se  llevará  a  cabo  mediante  una revisión de la literatura de referencia, con un análisis crítico, constructivo y real de estrategias para la construcción de esta simbiosis. Se espera que contribuya a una reflexión sobre el desarrollo de habilidades de colaboración y cooperación en un enfoque interdisciplinario, o incluso transdisciplinario, para la formación  y  preparación  de  los  profesionales  del  diseño  de moda,  requiriendo  un  mayor  compromiso  por  parte  de  la Academia en la creación de interacciones e interrelaciones con todavía. sectores disciplinarios muy diferentes.This study aims to reflect on a possible symbiosis between the fashion system and unrelated companies focused on reducing textile waste. Recent developments in the fashion system, in terms of the organizational network, highlight the importance of collaboration, or vice versa of competition enhancement mechanisms. The highly innovative and creative skills and tasks concentrate much of the value in the creation phase, characteristic of emerging sectors such as creative ones. The methodology will be carried out through a review of the reference literature, with a critical, constructive, and real analysis on strategies for the construction of this symbiosis. It is expected to contribute to a reflection on the development of collaboration and cooperation skills in an interdisciplinary, or even transdisciplinary approach, for the training and preparation of fashion design professionals, requiring a greater commitment from Academia in the creation of iinteractions and interrelationships with still very different disciplinary sectors

Capability based-approach: re-Invent people and materials viable relationships

Sustainability as an approach to the contemporary textile and fashion design; not only linked to the environmental vision but concerning the economy, respect for people's work and production. “A new dominant social paradigm (DSP) would focus on creating apparel products that are more efficient in material use, production and consumer utility, as well as better meeting the human needs of the consumer base, inherently more social than material needs. Similarly, clothing education in the dominant new social paradigm would promote the development of skills that would most likely include understanding human needs and ecosystem limitations, working collaboratively with the market rather than trying to dominate it and an understanding of local culture and tradition " (LeHew, 2011).Sustentabilidade como abordagem ao design contemporâneo têxtil e de moda; não só ligada à visão ambiental, mas no que diz respeito à economia, ao respeito pelo trabalho das pessoas e à produção. “Um novo paradigma social dominante (DSP) se concentraria na criação de produtos de vestuário mais eficientes no uso de materiais, produção e utilidade para o consumidor, bem como em atender melhor às necessidades humanas da base de consumidores, inerentemente mais sociais do que materiais. Da mesma forma, a educação do vestuário no novo paradigma social dominante, promoveria o desenvolvimento de habilidades que provavelmente incluiriam a compreensão das necessidades humanas e das limitações do ecossistema, trabalhando em colaboração com o mercado ao invés de tentar dominá-lo e uma compreensão da cultura e tradição local "(LeHew , 2011)

Tecnologia da malharia: : processos e principais produtos

Currently, the uses and applications of textile products include those intended for domestic use (decorative textiles, furniture, etc.), passing through the wide field of clothing, on the one hand linked to the great social and cultural phenomena of fashion, and, on the other , to professional or sports clothing, including the specialized segment of technical fabrics, with its great influence on technological innovations, with an exponential growth in its applications and in its global technological demand. Within the textile activity, the knitting segment is one of the oldest, recovering its origin to the manual knitting process. Knitting technology is always evolving, and improvements in machine software systems and graphic design give technicians, designers and engineers more options for making technical fabrics. On the other hand, technological innovations in knitting machines are gradually making fashion more sustainable, through new forms of textile production that are more efficient, avoiding the waste of water, energy and raw materials in addition to eliminating pollution. Actualmente, los usos y aplicaciones de los productos textiles incluyen los destinados al uso doméstico (textiles decorativos, muebles, etc.), pasando por el amplio campo de la confección, por un lado ligados a los grandes fenómenos sociales y culturales de la moda, y, por otro, a la indumentaria profesional o deportiva, incluido el segmento especializado de tejidos técnicos, con su gran influencia en las innovaciones tecnológicas, con un crecimiento exponencial en sus aplicaciones y en su demanda tecnológica global. Dentro de la actividad textil, el segmento del tejido es uno de los más antiguos, recuperando su origen al proceso de tejido manual. La tecnología de tejido siempre está evolucionando y las mejoras en los sistemas de software de la máquina y el diseño gráfico brindan a los técnicos, diseñadores e ingenieros más opciones para fabricar tejidos técnicos. Atualmente, os usos e aplicações dos produtos têxteis compreendem os destinados ao uso doméstico (têxteis para decoração, móveis, etc.), passando pelo amplo campo dos vestuários, de um lado ligado aos grandes fenômenos social e cultural da moda, e, de outro, ao vestuário profissional ou esportivo, incluindo o especializado segmento dos tecidos técnicos, com sua grande influência nas inovações tecnológicas, com um crescimento exponencial em suas aplicações e em sua demanda tecnológica global. Dentro da atividade têxtil, o segmento de malharia é dos mais antigos, resgatando sua origem ao processo manual de tricotagem. A tecnologia de confecção de malhas está sempre evoluindo, e melhorias nos sistemas de software das máquinas e design gráfico proporcionam aos técnicos, designers e engenheiros mais opções para fazer tecidos técnicos. Por outro lado, as inovações tecnológicas nas máquinas de malharia estão aos poucos tornando a moda mais sustentável, através de novas formas de produção têxtil que sejam mais eficientes, evitando o desperdício de água, energia e matéria-prima além de eliminar a poluição