ABOUT THE PRS
The Practice Research Symposium (PRS) lies at the heart of a longstanding HDR program that examines what designers actually do when they design, and seeks to develop new and innovative approaches to creative practice.
Held in Barcelona twice a year, and attracting participants from influential academic institutions and practices across Europe, the PRS provides an opportunity for shared reflection and dialogue between distinguished practitioners and researchers about design practice.
BAU College of Arts and Design Barcelona - 2022
MY RESEARCH PROPOSAL
“Technology is the answer, but what was the question?” - In 1966, the architect Cedric Price
Impossible ideas met innovation and great technical advances over the past decades. Technology keeps developing at a quick pace, promising to help us live more efficient, more satisfying, and more sustainable lives. Shaping every element of our society, our lives, our workplaces, and our safe haven: home.
Digitalization is making entire industries reimagine business models based on the capabilities that the digital technology and culture makes available to us. IKEA is no exception. IKEA Home smart was initiated as a project in 2012 with the ambition to enrich life at home and “Democratize technology for the many people'' by incorporating digital elements and technology into IKEA products and solutions.
Smart home technology is rapidly entering the home, yet most designed user experiences fail to recognize the diversity of people's needs. As more technology comes into our homes, more and more people are relying on technology that does not always prioritize everybody’s needs. More people should be given the chance to question and influence the technology around them.
To get a clear understanding of shared needs, we must face the fact that humanity is diverse. We are old, young, may live with disability and difficulties, and speak multiple languages; we are diverse individuals and communities. We live with other people who have competing needs/responsibilities/characteristics so there is an intersection of needs and interests per household. However, often home technology is designed as if we are all the same.
The needs of groups and communities that experience discrimination and exclusion including people with diverse abilities are largely overlooked and often not taken into consideration for exploration and creation of new home tech. Developing an inclusive and socially impactful offer that embraces diversity and mirrors the needs of society maximizes widespread access and usability, meaning we can reach more people.
The pace of change is accelerating, as evidenced by rapid increases in data, ever-deeper integration of technology into our day-to-day life and the daily emergence of new use cases for home technology. Access to digitalization is the “new face of inequality” (UN News 2020) due to the negative effects it has on individual and community development. Although home technologies aim to solve problems and help people and society improve the quality of life, they pose numerous risks, including exclusion.
We are living with technology designed for interaction methods that are optimized for the technology and not for the people. How can design address this problem?
PhD Design research proposal. Pre app - 2022
to be continued...
