Professional Perspectives (Asynchronous Session)
Design Ethics and Activism in the Luxury Fashion Market: Changing Practices and Considerations for a post-COVID-19 era View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Laura Scherling, Andréa Poshar
Amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic, luxury goods companies contend with challenges such as ‘unsold inventory’, the increasing importance of activist engagement, and the strength of supply-chain management––simultaneously highlighting issues around sustainability, and the need for cultural and social change in production (Achille & Zipser, 2020). Market uncertainties further instigate consideration of some of the persistent inequities that have plagued the fashion industry for years. Are these products sustainable environmentally? What are some considerations in designing a more socially and environmentally sustainable supply chain in the luxury fashion industry? In light of these uncertainties and opportunities, there is an opportunity to re-examine and re-assess how luxury fashion companies can utilize design ethics and activism to ‘reproduce, rebuild, and reshape a culture by improving its methods, practices, and tools of communication’ and effectively implement corporate social responsibility (Poshar, 2020, ed. Scherling & DeRosa). Arguing for the importance of design ethics and activism among leading global fashion brands, this article incorporates a descriptive research design and case study examples.
The Burden of Symptoms: Designing a Patient-centered Platform View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Bhairavi Warke
Technologies profoundly impact aspects of human life including healthcare and health research. The dramatic growth of health-related technologies, however, challenges health researchers and clinicians not only to adapt to technological change, but to participate in unfamiliar design and development processes. With the Pain Studies Lab, the Arthritis Research Centre (ARC) and its patient-partners collaborated in a co-creation design workshop to explore a new research domain: “the burden of symptoms.” Contrary to the traditional view of symptoms as signs that help identify a disease, the collaborators are interested in how symptoms (e.g., pain) may affect individuals’ biopsychosocial lived experiences, quality of life and ability to work. The collaborators used validated health instruments and emerging design methods to explore initial information-gathering. Patient-partners, health researchers/clinicians, designers, and technologists all participated as citizens who contributed anonymized information. This collaborative involvement was crucial for needs assessments as well as for creating a common ground in understanding the necessities of both qualitative and evidence-based information. Outcomes of this workshop led to the specification of four key guiding principles for the design of the platform: 1) personalized experience, 2) physical feelings and limitations, 3) interconnectedness of symptoms, and 4) emotional burdens of symptoms. These needs demonstrated the high level of complexity required by the platform, and helped identify needs not only of the citizens who will contribute information, but also of the health researchers/clinicians who use that information. Consequently, the team refined their approaches, embodied in a prototype currently being assessed for privacy, security, inclusivity, and usability.
Sharing Design at the Top of a City's Agenda: Facing the Challenge of Being a World Design Capital
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marina Puyuelo Cazorla, Esteve Sendra Chele
In a changing context in which demography, the environment, and technology are transforming our way of life and our concept of well-being, the design must respond to the new needs of people and society. The new paradigm of design necessarily links education and research regarding products and services with design management, fostering different ways of dealing with innovation. The main issue for design in the future is cross-disciplinary knowledge that is pertinent and adapted to local concerns. The nomination of Valencia as 2020 Design World Capital (VWDC), a leading European case in the use of design to improve the use of public space, might be an opportunity to look more closely into the role of design in a smart city and its implications on the development of local design culture. Trends relating to the open design concept, collaborative design, and co-design require plural research that can be carried out from different approaches, which might respond to the challenge of innovation in contemporary design. This communication aims at offering a vision of innovation processes that appear clear from the interrelation between design methods, creative and communicative practices, self-producing experiences, crafts, companies and business, a praxis of design that arises from the current specificities and intersections of local experiences and new procedures available. Fostering the connections between design education, practice, and research, this paper explores, in the city of Valencia, the potential of collaborating with users, citizens, and new company formats or startups to spread awareness and culture of social design.
Designing Corporate Culture: A New System for the Future of Work View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Richelle Sibolboro, Denise Santini, Penelope Fridman
We are living in a new era. An era that is highly networked, digital, and online. As the business world transitions to a world online, this creates a new working environment that was previously built on in-person meetings, client relationships, and most importantly people. L'Institut Idée will present their insights and findings into how our work environments will need to evolve if businesses are to attract and retain talent in this emerging era, including the role that culture will play in bridging the divide between space, people, and systems.
The Ethics of Participatory Design, Graphic Design, and Its Effect on Consumer Behavior
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Cheryl Luczak, Violet Luczak
This study explores the effect of social development on graphic design practice and how interactive technologies present new challenges for designers. According to the Washington Post the average adult spends about 3½ hours a day using the Internet on their phones. This paper specifically looks at the ethical concerns and lack of transparency in the graphic design practice and user design on consumer online activity.
