Ester Iacono

Made-in-Italy companies, capable of producing products of the highest quality and of imposing themselves on markets at the international level, have always strived to transfer into design innovation a non-reproducible cultural and productive heritage. A distinctive feature of a production system based on “know-how” is the strong connection between different companies within the same territory and the presence of excellent workmanship and established production traditions, impossible to recon- stitute in contexts other than the original one. Like many Italian regions, Tuscany is characterized by craft excellencies that have contributed significantly to the cultural and economic growth of the region. Many of these, however, fail, due to economic size and cultural background, to keep up to date with the ever-changing demands of a market that wants new products, access to new technologies and attention to sustainability and the life cycle of each product. On this basis, we outline the key role of design as a tool and driver for innova- tion, capable of guiding the company’s strategic choices, including in relation to the sustainability of products and processes. This paper presents the research project “Art, Design and Enterprise for New Young Talents” aimed at proposing and developing new training and production patterns and processes through the placement of young talents, designers and artists, within companies in the Tuscan territory. In fact, putting young creatives in contact with companies can help companies in the path of research and innovation and allows young artists to translate the theoretical framework acquired into a finalized design.

In today’s society, the social inclusion concept embraces numerous aspects and contexts of everyday life. Inclusive Design, going far beyond the design of products/services, plays a crucial role in fostering the inclusion of individuals within society and improving their living conditions. Inclusive design, however, must ensure a more humane and conscious design process that does not limit its attention solely to artefacts’ usability requirements but allows for the inclusion and evaluation of the emotional effects associated with interacting with them. This aspect is of particular importance in the case of products and environments aimed at vulnerable, elderly or disabled people, which can induce a perception of threat and stigmatize their physical and mental condition. Therefore, the work proposed in this article presents the results that emerged from the “Home Care Design for Parkinson’s Disease” research project. Through literature review, it was possible to analyse the contribution of technologies in generating pleasurable sensory experiences, but above all, to investigate the role of Emotional Design, Empathic Design and Evidence- Based Design approach. They can play a role in enabling the resolution of problems related to environmental, perceptual-sensory and stress factors and, in some cases, in slowing down the course of the disease, ensuring greater well-being. Therefore, the research work, developed through the application of Human-Centered Design methodologies, aims to: -define Design Guidelines to identify people with Parkinson’s disease needs and difficulties within the home context; - propose design solutions and future intervention scenarios that can improve their quality of life, their families and caregivers.

Nowadays, research and innovation in the pediatric field represent both a challenge and a great development opportunity. The emergence of clinical problems and the convergence of scientific knowledge and multidisciplinary approaches allows us to offer innovative solutions to improve pediatric care. In particular, the new digital technologies represent an important factor of innovation in the field of health care and, above all, in delicate and complex contexts such as Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), where due to the vulnerability of young patients it is necessary to use of ever more straightforward and more efficient care tools. However, in the pediatric field and, above all, in Neonatology, cases of errors in healthcare are increasingly frequent; it is estimated that a child is three times more exposed than an adult to potentially harmful situations of Medication Error because the level of assistance required is higher and the equipment required is more complex. In particular, one of the most common causes of access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the respiratory difficulty which requires specific mechanical ventilation treatment, which can involve human errors and risks related to its use with possible physiological complications. Sometimes, human error can be attributed to the excessive complexity of using the products/services or the need for more materials suitable for the personnel needs. In the neonatal field, there are frequent problems related to usability, ergonomic characteristics, software and hardware interfaces, the human factor, and the context and methods of use of medical devices that lead to errors. The general objective of this study, conducted at the Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, was to improve not only the condition of the well-being of the young patient but also the working conditions of the medical and healthcare staff, promoting interaction, simplifying the actions and minimizing the possibility of error in use. This paper reports the main results of the research achieved thanks to the application of the evaluation methods of usability and safety of use typical of Human-Centered Design. These have made it possible to pay attention to the needs of users who interact with the medical system (patients, health professionals) and the different skills of the professionals involved in designing and providing services.Through field surveys and discussions with experts and healthcare professionals (user observation, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, etc.) conducted at Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence, it was possible to collect data on current critical issues. In particular, the survey made it possible to understand how the user interacts with existing fans and how much these can lead to problems regarding the complexity of assembly, the difficulty of reading the physical and digital interface, the presence of numerous instruments during transport and the issues relating to the organization of the treatment phases. The analysis of the user and the evaluation of the criticality of the existing products/systems have therefore allowed the identification of possible scenarios and intervention solutions, defining the requirements of the new ventilation system. From the results obtained, it was possible to configure new solutions, which gave rise to the design of a new generation lung ventilator for NICU to improve ventilation assistance operations, reduce user errors and make the product versatile and easy to use both in the ward and during neonatal protected transport.

The crisis generated by the pandemic has made it clear the need to redefine the strategies relating to the fulfilment of goal 3 of Agenda 2030 (Good Health and Well-being) according to the new model of sustainable development. It considers the protection of environ- mental, social and economic resources, thanks also to the increase of digital societies. Within the healthcare context, to cope with the difficulties of carrying out healthcare services in the presence of and reducing hospital access, there has been a greater diffusion of new digital tools, accelerating the digital health race. In a hospital-territory integration strategy, taking care of the patient is fundamental. He needs not only continuous monitoring but also a relational comparison with others.
Therefore, the work proposed in this article presents the results of a project developed by a multidisciplinary team within the Department of Medical Oncology of the Papardo hospital in Messina. The goal is to respond to the need to bring treatments closer, bring people together and bridge the physical and relational distance through developing new digital solutions.
In particular, the methodological approach of Ergonomics for Design and Human Centered Design, adopted in this work, has provided an effective strategy in allowing the development of a patient-centered, sustainable and innovative platform aimed at patients with breast cancer. The goal is to provide continuity between the hospital journey and the return home and to allow the patient, even at a distance, to feel supported in their needs, requests and expectations.

This volume collects the results of the Home Care Design for Parkinson's Disease research program, aimed at defining good design practices to enhance the independence and quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease within the home. The volume offers an introductory overview of Parkinson's disease, analyzing the primary and most frequent areas of discomfort and/or difficulties experienced by people with this disease during daily activities. Each environment can cause different emotions and moods in each individual, and if we are talking about users suffering from a neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's, this influence is even stronger; the patient, in this case, needs a domestic system that takes into account not only his needs, opinions and psycho-emotional needs but also those of the caregivers. Therefore, the essay presents specific insights dedicated to the emotional effects connected to the interaction with the environments and products of daily life and, above all, investigates the role that Emotional Design, Empathic Design and the Evidence-based Design (EBD) approach can play in allowing the resolution of problems related to environmental, perceptive-sensorial and stress factors and, in some cases, in slowing down the course of the disease, guaranteeing greater well-being. Furthermore, this contribution aims to provide valuable tools to support designers in building an empathic approach with frail users affected by Parkinson's disease and their caregivers to design for and with them.

This volume brings together the results of the Home Care Design for Parkinson's Disease research programme, which aims to define good design practices to enhance the independence and quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease in the home environment. The volume provides an introductory overview of Parkinson's disease, analysing the main and most frequent areas of discomfort and/or difficulty experienced by people with this disease during everyday activities. Every environment can provoke different emotions and moods in each individual, and when it comes to users affected by a neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's, this influence is even stronger. In this case, patients need a domestic system that takes into account not only their needs, opinions and psycho-emotional requirements, but also those of their carers.

Therefore, the essay presents specific insights dedicated to the emotional effects linked to interaction with everyday environments and products and, above all, investigates the role that Emotional Design, Empathic Design and the Evidence-Based Design (EBD) approach can play in resolving problems related to environmental, perceptual-sensory and stress factors and, in some cases, in slowing the progression of the disease, ensuring greater well-being. Furthermore, this contribution aims to provide valid tools to support designers in building an empathetic approach with fragile users affected by Parkinson's disease and their caregivers, in order to design for and with them.

Assistive robotics provides a powerful solution for improving the quality of life of the elderly and frail people and will play a key role in the coming years as part of strategies for Ageing in place and Active and Healthy Ageing. If robots are going to be used by a large number of users, it is essential that they are accepted by as many people as possible. However, many of the assistive robots are designed with little consideration of the social, aesthetic, and emotional relationships that the elderly will experience when interacting with the product (Forlizzi et al., 2004). The acceptability of technology is a big issue, especially for elderly and frail people: the factors that influence it, and that also determine a positive User Experience, are many, as shown by the countless existing evaluation methods. Moreover, the acceptability of technology, in particular for elderly and frail users, is currently a delicate issue, whose evaluation criteria offer many challenges to design research. In fact, the interaction that users establish with assistive robots and all related technologies defines the very experience of aging. In this context, the Human-Centred Design and Ergonomics in Design approaches and methodologies can contribute to improve human-robot-digital technology interaction through the design of assistive robots according to people’s real needs and expectations.This paper presents the results of a survey conducted with primary and secondary users of assistive robots, with a focus on factors influencing robotic acceptability.The survey aims to collect quantitative and qualitative data about the relationship between people and robots, with a focus on beliefs, attitudes, preferences and use of such devices by users of different age and technological experience level. The survey aims to investigate users' attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and goals in relation to robots.The survey, conducted as an online questionnaire, is targeted at current and potential users of social and assistive robots. The questionnaire is addressed to a sample of users of both genders, aged between 18 and 99 years. The total sample surveyed is 272 people in Italy and 15 people in Europe. The survey includes a preliminary demographic analysis of users (age, robotic experience level, etc.) and then it investigates the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors towards assistive robots, and also the aesthetic and functional factors that may influence its acceptability.This research applies the scientific methods of Human-Centred Design and Ergonomics in Design (Stanton, 2014; Giacomin, 2014; Maguire, 2001) for qualitative investigation of older adults' preferences for assistive robots.The results provide an insight into how the acceptability factors of assistive robot tested in the literature actually relate to the preferences and attitudes of potential and current users. In addition, the results highlight the need for stronger involvement of stakeholders during the design phases of robots in order to promote a deeper understanding of those people’s needs and insights that cannot be collected by quantitative surveys. This study provides a groundwork for future researches in the Human-Robot Interaction and Human-Centred Design areas.

Nowadays society, increasingly oriented towards actions to enhance its urban contexts, tries to promote better lifestyles and increasingly inclusive social practices. The work proposed in this article presents the results of the research project: "Guidelines for the review of the park project aimed at social inclusion, sustainability and usability of the cultural and sporting activities of the Carpugnane area", funded by the Municipality of Calenzano and conducted by the Ergonomics & Design Laboratory of the University of Florence. The research used the methodological tools of Ergonomics for Design, Human-Centered Design and Inclusive Design and the collected data allowed the design of a people-centred park, suitable for citizens of all ages, which is sustainable and inclusive. The approach, adopted in this work, has provided an effective strategy in allowing the assessment and design of urban environments, ensuring safety, psycho-physical well-being and healthy lifestyles for all, taking into account human diversity and social inclusion factors.

Nowadays, the design focuses not just on the functional attributes of products but especially on emotional ones, and it investigates users' behavior from an emotional point of view.Industrial companies also discovered the economic advantages of holistically analyzing user experience and aim, beyond usability research, to improve people-product interaction. Therefore, their goal is to understand how to evaluate the emotions arising from the interaction with a product and integrate emotions into usability studies. Consequently, it is fundamental to look at Affective Evaluation Methods to enhance usability methods and make them more effective on affective responses. However, scientific literature highlights that although the understanding of emotions has progressed, measurement tools have lagged. Moreover, people generally find it difficult to report the emotions they experience. Furthermore, regarding children, evaluating the emotional impact of a product is even more complex. Therefore, applying methods and tools found in the literature (affective evaluation methods - AEM) may not be appropriate to investigate the affective response in children, according to specific variables.This research addresses the issue of children's affectivity in evaluating positive user experiences as a requirement to be considered within the design process. In addition, this research investigates theories on emotions and studies of the affective sciences and explores the contribution of design and cognitive psychology in these areas.This paper investigates strategies and evaluation tools of the Human-Centred Design (HCD), User Experience (UX), Affective Evaluation Methods (AEM) of Psychology, Affective Sciences and Cognitive Ergonomics, that allow the measurement of emotions. This study aims to:1.understanding the emotional skills of children; 2.verifying the reliability of the emotional responses expressed through the existing self-assessment tools;3.investigating effective methods to evaluate the affective response of 6-11 years children.This research describes the results of two qualitative methods for investigating emotions: (1) the survey aimed to collect data on emotions experienced by children; (2) the workshop focused on emotions conducted with children of age 6-11. The workshop included activities to analyze children’s emotional skills and their ability to recognize emotions in themselves, others, and interaction with products. Furthermore, field surveys with children and experts (direct observation, interviews, focus groups, brainstorming sessions) allowed us to evaluate the reliability of the emotional responses collected by the main tools described in the literature, e.g. tools for rational-emotional education (REBT) and Affective Evaluation Methods (AEM).The collected data revealed critical issues of current evaluation tools and identified the requirements for a new tool for children’s emotional evaluation. Specifically, it emerged that the cognitive-behavioral approaches, typical of psychology, can be powerful tools for designers to interpret and analyze the emotional responses that occurred during the interaction with a system. Together with the HCD and UX tools, these approaches can help designers improve the overall quality of the project.Furthermore, results show a lack of a theoretical framework to move from a conceptual to an empirical level to develop effective tools to measure emotions. Consequently, it is essential to introduce tools for measuring the objective and subjective aspects of the experience, as it is challenging to involve such young users in the research phases.The results of this study allowed the development and prototyping of a series of design concepts to evaluate the emotional impact and collect physiological measurements. This paper only shows the main objectives and features of the tool "Cubotto emotion kit". It is an interactive tool that provides information and allows qualitative data collection so far beyond even the measurement of emotions themselves. It could help designers understand children's preferences, such as colors and shapes that can arouse positive emotions and useful information to redesign products, services, and systems.

Numerous case studies demonstrate how inclusive design can foster innovation and better design. Today there is a lot of talk about inclusiveness and, above all, social inclusion as a concept that embraces many aspects and contexts of our daily life. The need to reach a collective awareness of inclusive practices, starting from factors of exclusion, is becoming more and more urgent. The essay, starting from the evolution of the concept of inclusion to the dissemination of inclusive design approaches, seeks to open reflections on the issues of inclusiveness, care for people's needs, and the social responsibility of design in all disciplines. Furthermore, seeks to illustrate the decisive role of inclusive design in improving the future of individuals and in fostering innovation in many fields of application.