New Design Thinking Tools for the Next Generation of Designer-Entrepreneurs

AbstractThis paper analyses a new phenomenon to date poorly researched both in entrepreneurship and Design Thinking literature: Design-Intensive Start-ups (DIS), i.e. start-ups that focus on design as primary source for their development.Two main questions underpin the study: what are the specific features that describe design-intensive start-ups? Which are possible conceptual tools supporting designers in the creation of their own design-based enterprises?A multiple case studies protocol was adopted to investigate the first question. According to our results, DIS diverge from New-Technology Start-ups on several dimensions, and represent an alternative entrepreneurial model, which is not supported by extant literature. Currently, there are no tools helping designers to become entrepreneurs. Therefore, we developed a set of Design Thinking tools addressing the specific traits of DIS in the steps of their creation and evolution. Such tools are intended to support the decision-making process of designers-ent..

BASICS OF A DESIGN RESEARCH EPISTEMOLOGY

To assure the reliability of results, design research has often adopted the methods of other disciplines, reproducing the exterior shape of scientific research rather than its deeper grounds. Design academics often imitate what scientific disciplines do when they do research (i.e. applying codified methods), yet the discussion about why such disciplines behave that way is still limited. Basing on science studies, we argue that what determines research findings' validity may not just be the application of research methods but the consensus of a community, which lets new knowledge claims enter what we refer to as the Great Archive of Science (GAS). By analysing the dynamics of the GAS, we show that the rules, methods, and models typical of the research environment have as their main purpose to make the reliability of researchers’ knowledge claims as durable as possible. Regarding design research, we thus argue that what turns designers’ work into research is not just the application of scientific methods but primarily the participation in the grand game of the GAS, whose dynamics enable a relatively circumscribed corpus of knowledge to be held reliable and durable by a community. Relying on this argument, we seek to explore how design, while remaining a planning endeavour, may at the same time become an activity of knowledge production, which is the essential feature of research itself

Piani di cottura (parte di -)

Il progetto M-Stekio si è basato sullo sfruttamento dei brevetti d’invenzione di 3P Engineering. Tali brevetti consentono di ottenere un bruciatore a gas caratterizzato da: ingombri ridotti, maggior efficienza energetica, aumento della sicurezza, riduzione del consumo di gas, dei tempi di cottura e delle emissioni nocive. Poiché la novità tecnologica del prodotto è ciò che maggiormente lo caratterizza, i designer che hanno lavorato al progetto sono docenti del Politecnico, con ottime competenze dal punto di vista della tecnologia (di prodotto e di processo) e dell’ingegnerizzazione. Questo ha consentito al gruppo di ricerca di lavorare fianco a fianco con gli ingegneri di 3P Engineering, mantenendo ognuno le proprie specifiche competenze

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Evolving Perspectives in Product Design. From Mass Production to Social Awareness

In a time when profound sociocultural and technological changes are affecting the design discipline, this book presents a number of consolidated and emerging issues in product design under four dominant perspectives: technical, human, digital and social. It might be said that these changes in perspective are mainly a matter of zooming out. Indeed, while the initial focus of the book is restricted to the product and its technical features, it soon becomes wider, also including users, then taking into account a complex system of interconnected stakeholders and digital products, and, finally, embracing society as a whole. Like all perspectives, each clarifies some aspects and stresses some features of the design discipline, at the same time making other features less relevant. Specific perspectives typically emerge earlier in some parts of the world than in others, in some social classes than in others, in some industries than in others. Moreover, later perspectives build upon, rather than replace, earlier ones: many of an earlier perspective’s tools and methods do not lose their value as the design discourse moves on to a new perspective. As a consequence, multifaceted perspectives on product design today coexist. These different perspectives underlying modifications and adaptations of the design concept, together with the fixed elements that have characterized product design since its inception during the Industrial Revolution, are the subjects of analysis and discussion in the present book. In it, the author made use of different disciplinary references, not just from design, but also from history, marketing, engineering and even law. The book results in a read useful to design students and practitioners, but also to other professionals interested in product design