Francesca Tosi

This paper describes the design and development of a wearable device, able to monitor physiological data, movement and falls, for fragile older person who require health care. Some approaches of Universal Design and Human-Centred Design were used, which allowed to evaluate and design the interaction between the person and the system. From a design point of view, studies on wearability and the most appropriate landmarks of the human body were carried out, suitable for monitoring heartbeat, movement and falls. From an engineering point of view, the main challenge was the miniaturization of the electronic components for the development of a wearable device to be placed on a small surface of the body, able to allow the performance of daily activities without altering the natural movements of the user, also considering the physical limitations of older and fragile people. Our results indicate how digital technologies, specifically wearable, can be a resource to support the independence and psycho-physical well-being of old people. The next step of the research program concerns the experimentation with a significant sample of typical users (elderly and socio-health professionals), both in nursing home and at home.

Human-Centred Design (HCD) investigation and assessment methods record the user’s needs and satisfaction level and are widely used to evaluate usability and orientate design decision making. Questionnaires are among the most useful and popular observation tools to study users’ opinions using quantifiable and comparable data. Their drafting needs requirements and evaluations in order to use them efficiently. Therefore, this paper intends to provide designers and researchers with useful tips for designing these tools. For this reason, it describes features of method and systematizes instructions from the literature. It also shows application cases to exemplify the relationship between method and type of data collected and to explore impacts of using different types of questionnaires in design processes.

The essay presents the results of POTDESIGN educo/produco I EDIZIONE developed by the University of Florence. The POTDESIGN program, aimed at students of participating universities and students of the last two years of secondary school course, was presented in 2019 as part of POT-Piani di Orientamento e Tutorato /Orientation and Tutoring Plans funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research, and has been configured as a network of the degree courses in Design of Italian Universities. The programme, coordinated by the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", in fact saw the participation of most of the three-year study courses in Industrial Design (L-4) up to, during the development of the program, to their entirety. The program has been promoted by the Italian University Conference of Design as an important opportunity for collaboration and comparison between the degree courses in Design of Italian Universities, and as a field of experimentation of working methods and projects capable of involving secondary school students orienting them towards university studies and, at the same time, able to support the study path of university students enrolled in study courses in Industrial Design. Within the University of Florence, the initiative, involved university tutors in the management of didactic-laboratory activities to be carried out in 5 high schools (Institute I.S.I.S. Da Vinci, Artistic high school of Porta al Prato and Sesto, Artistic high school Alberti-Dante and the technical institute Salvemini) and within the Design Campus. Participation in this competition had a didactic-educational purpose on the themes of requalification and environmental sustainability. It gave high school students the opportunity to learn about the design and the university environment, and also allowed undergraduate student to practice skills acquired during their studies.

The article deals with the relationship between ergonomics and design and its evolution over time, with particular attention to the design and innovation role of design. Today the new challenges of ergonomics and design are strategic. The development of a design- planning approach, centered on technological and formal innovation and capable of proposing new solutions for the development of companies and the production and social system.

The essay presents the educational offerings in Industrial Design and Design at Italian universities, discussing the most significant aspects and factors of competitiveness.