Designing with Users: a teaching model for Product Design

The beginning of the 21st century was marked by an atmosphere of instability and a boost of complexity: technological development, the spread of communication networks, major socio-economic turbulences had subverted production scenarios and companies needs. In such context of great transformations of the whole system company-product-market, design becomes interpreter of the society and strategic key-point for production realities. Design must assume an ergonomic approach and a methodology oriented to product innovation where people are the main focus of the system, ensuring to consider both operators and users. Today, more than ever, is visible the need of a methodological approach able to involve, in a comprehensive way, the context of use, employing, as well, user’s “creative skills”. In this scenario, a design educational model based only on knowledge doesn’t seem to be fulfilling; the traditional “deductive” method of the nineties doesn’t meet the needs of new productive assets, here the urgency to experiment the “inductive” method that, through a more practical know how, is able to relay the theoretical knowledge of the knowledge itself, a method where to know and to know how, theory and practice, act synergistically. From the educational perspective, the main aim is to teach a method, to be used in the different design phases, able to help a young designer to understand people’s needs and desires not only considering the concrete and cognitive level, but also the emotional. The paper presents, through some case studies, an educational model that, combining theoretical-conceptual and practical/applicatory aspects with user experiential aspects, results really effective in shaping both instrumental and methodological knowledge necessary to satisfy the profile of a Design bachelor student. Moreover it is important to underline how the multidisciplinary approach of this innovative educational model leads the student to a more aware understanding of the whole design process, not limited to creative aspects, but extended to technical, ergonomic and strategic (etc.) aspects as well, enabling the student to deal with the actual world of production.