73481 - Product Development Processes (A-K)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this module, the student achieves a high level of ability to conceptualise, formalise, represent and communicate the design result in all its phases. He/she knows how to set up a conscious approach to pre-design research. He/she is able to conduct and monitor the concept generation process, also through the experimentation of methodologies and tools useful for design activities carried out individually or in groups. He/she possesses competences concerning the technical design and technical production development phases, realising adequate graphic tools, three-dimensional models and/or working prototypes. Finally, he/she is able to elaborate a complete design of the narrative process of the conceived product system.

Course contents

Within the Final Synthesis Laboratory, the Course intends, on the one hand, to introduce a critical reflection on the processes, methods and tools of research for design and, on the other, to recall the processes and methods of contemporary design by introducing the students on some particularly topical themes that cross the design action as a subject of scientific study.

The two components are respectively held by Profs. Elena Formia (Module 1) and Flaviano Celaschi (Module 2).

Main contents Module 1: RESEARCH FOR THE PROJECT

Objectives: the Module is part of the Laboratorio di Sintesi Finale through two specific activities concerning the meta-design phase (Phase 1 and Phase 2). These activities, carried out during the first part of the course in close synergy with the contents of the Integrated Disegno Industriale T module, will aim to accompany students in setting up the project.

Articulation: The first part (Phase 1 - September-October 2022 - Literacy and Research) aims to provide students with an examination of methods and tools. The main contents will be devoted to the topics:

- Innovation and research: contemporary perspectives
- Research for the project: nature, methods, characteristics
- Research tools and use of sources
- Thesis preparation

The second part (Phase 2 - October 2021 - Scenarios), which is strongly anchored to the didactic structure of the course, will focus on the theme of scenarios as a method, approach and tool for setting project paths. The main contents will be devoted to the themes:

- Advanced Design and Anticipation
- The future in the design narrative
- Scenario building, history, approaches, examples

Main contents Module 2: PROBLEM FINDING

Context: Students, having almost reached the end of their three-year degree course and about to tackle the Laboratorio di Sintesi Finale, thesis research and graduation, are faced with having to decide on which theme to apply their energies in order to start specialising and practising the design research they have learnt. In this context, an internal LSF module comes into play, which is intended to address, with the tools of critical design, the theme of finding interesting, topical problems, within the reach of contemporary design, among the thousands of themes that can be identified around us.

Objectives: The PROBLEM FINDING module has two objectives, a personal one for each student who, through active attendance and personal research, will propose a cluster of themes, motivating and documenting their potential interest to enable the class to identify one that is more promising than others. The second objective is a collective one for the class and consists in the drawing up, by the Professors of a "catalogue of design research themes" proposed by the students of the two sections and then aimed at digital or traditional publication as a contribution of the School of Advanced Design of Bologna to the general social, productive and cultural debate. Therefore, from this catalogue and from the themes that emerge during active attendance of the other modules of the LSF course, each student will be able to extract the most appropriate theme to develop the 1st level dissertation.

Articulation: Each student individually is required to develop a personal research project in order to document the sources, reasons and observations in the field, which substantiate a specific design research theme as interesting, current and appropriate to design. The other students are asked to comment, suggest, integrate, helping the presenter to refine and strengthen their proposal. To this end, the Professor will select three student reviewers each lesson who will debate with the student presenting the proposal so that the lecturer can give an intermediate evaluation and the presenter can use the remaining time to improve, deepen and complete their proposal before the final evaluation. Thus:

- Each student is called on a defined date and presents his/her proposal to the class in 15' through an annotated slideshow
- A group of 3 students selected from time to time by the lecturer comment on and help the presenter to supplement and improve the presentation and its content or form
- Each student presenter will use the remaining time to refine and enrich his or her proposal until final delivery.
- The collection of all proposals submitted will become the 2022 problem finding catalogue of the school of advanced design in Bologna.
- From this collection all students will be free to draw design research topics for their theses.

Readings/Bibliography

Professors will provide, in their lectures and in the moments of revision, precise references to texts, sites, journals, magazines, and documents available to deepen the topics presented. Bibliographic indications may also be added as a function of further information necessary during the educational path.

Suggested texts (being updated during the period September 2022-January 2023):

• Celaschi, F. Il design della forma merce, Il sole 24 ore edizioni, Milano 2000
• Celaschi, F., Deserti, A., Design e Innovazione, Carocci, Roma 2007
• Celaschi, F., Non industrial design, Luca Sossella, Milano 2017
• Formia, E., Storie di Futuri e Design, Maggioli, Sant'Arcangelo di Romagna (RM) 2017
• Formia, E., Gianfrate, V., & Vai, E., Design e Mutazioni, BUP 2021

Teaching methods

During the development of the course students will be offered contributions/lectures lasting about 1-2 hours each, held by the professors and/or by any guests.

The revisions of students' work with other professors of the Laboratorio di Sintesi finale are part of the Course.

In addition, forms of peer-to-peer assessment among students will be encouraged.

Attendance is compulsory. It is surveyed by the teachers in class and students absent in more than 30% of the lessons will not be admitted to the final evaluation.

Assessment methods

Presentation and discussion of the final outputs foreseen for all the modules of the integrated course (final presentation of the works). Each of the results in the teaching modules will be evaluated. The criteria will be communicated by the Professors of the didactic modules. The various evaluations will form an overall final judgment of each student (in part, the result of collective work and, in part, of individual work).

In particular, Module 1 has a separate individual assessment. This assessment complements the final LSF assessment as judged by the Professors' committee. The evaluation criteria will be:

- Topicality, originality, consistency with design, of the proposal
- Quality of the presentation and argumentation
- Active participation in the role of commentator

Teaching tools

VIRTUALE: teacher-student communications; loading teaching materials; student material deliveries; forum with students / community

TEAMS: virtual classroom

MIRO: for brainstorming and other forms of shared planning;

Presentations/slideshows;

Collaboration with external structures (labs, libraries, etc.);

Participation in conferences, talks, exhibitions and/or educational visits.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Maria Formia

See the website of Flaviano Celaschi