Designing with Users: a Teaching Model

In the last few years the interest towards the study of solutions centered on the human being has grown greatly leading to an ever-increasing cooperation between different disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, ergonomics, engineering, and medicine which, through Design, finally got in touch. Transformations affecting economic scenarios on an international level require a prompt update of traditional competitive logics. The nature of innovation changes: the sphere of technologies and forms blends with the sphere of signifiers and experiences. In relation to such changes, the need for different educational methods and new design ways of expression able to satisfy the extremely interactive potential of new technologies becomes evident. Research and didactic activities will become ever more participatory generating new forms of explorative learning. This paper introduces the design process used during the workshop in the Final Synthesis Design Studio course at the Politecnico di Milano - Faculty of Design, focused on an explorative learning approach.