Conference Agenda

Disability will affect everyone at some point in their lives. Childbirth, breaking a bone, car accidents, and aging are just a few examples of life events that force a change in daily habit or routine. Whether permanent, temporary, or situational we will all need products and services that help us adapt to our physical and digital environments. However, despite this, accessibility is often brought into the product development process only after ideas have been fully developed.

To break this cycle, our team studies the intersection of accessibility, user needs, and innovation to create a concept that matters to end users. The human-centered design process is never a straight line; many rounds of discovery research, design exploration, and concept evaluation go into developing a single idea. To do this, we talked directly with over 60 end users with accessibility needs, designed 10+ concepts for evaluation, and developed a functional PoC for our top conceptual direction. The goal of this paper is to reflect on this complex product design process in the accessibility space, where our team takes a conceptual idea to a PoC by working collaboratively with the visually impaired and Deaf/hard of hearing communities. This paper will examine our process, lessons learned, and how to iterate with intent.

With growing access to tools like ChatGPT, fostering flexibility and reflection in education is increasingly critical. In the face of global challenges such as war and the climate crisis, universities must shift from knowledge delivery to becoming incubators for creativity and innovation. This paper presents experiences from integrating Sustainability Diaries into two design courses, Service Design (D5) and Systems Design (D7), at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. In fall 2024, 80 students submitted Sustainability Diaries—open-ended reflections on course content and group projects from a sustainability perspective, delivered in text, audio, visuals, or combinations thereof. Through educator and student insights, we analyse the role of Sustainability Diaries in fostering creativity and sustainability awareness in design education, offering recommendations for its future application and development.

Yacht design is increasingly influenced by the need for sustainability and technological advancement. As environmental concerns grow and regulations tighten, the maritime industry faces pressure to adopt more sustainable practices. At the same time, advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming creative processes and decision-making, presenting new opportunities for innovation. This convergence offers a unique chance to redefine yacht design approaches.

This paper explores the integration of sustainability considerations and AI tools within yacht design education. A design workshop was conducted with 24 students tasked with developing a concept for a 50-foot charter catamaran, using a generic ecodesign methodology alongside generative AI tools.

While acknowledging opportunities for future refinement, the study shows the potential of using both the methodology and tools in early design phases, revealing synergies that can encourage more sustainable projects. This research highlights the need for evolving educational models to prepare future designers for sustainable yacht design challenges.

The complexity of mechatronic systems is undergoing a continual increase in response to a number of factors, including global challenges, international competition, regulatory requirements, digitalization demands, sustainability goals, organizational transitions and cultural factors. These factors among others, contribute to a growing demand for engineers who possess the ability to comprehend and abstract interdisciplinary system behaviors as well as structures. It is essential that engineers are provided with the necessary support and sensitized to establish and maintain a mindset for innovative engineering approaches to fulfil requirements and functions of the systems to be developed. Obtaining these critical skills and attitudes requires a supportive environment where competencies can be applied and further refined in a practical, collaborative and systems-oriented setting.

This paper presents the Digital Lifecycle Lab (DLL) at the Institute of Machine Components and Methods of Development (IME) at the Technical University of Graz (TU Graz). It outlines the innovative environment and concepts that facilitate the integration of theoretical knowledge and practical experience. In the DLL, students, postgraduate students and engineers from industry learn and validate different methods and software applications (tools) throughout the engineering process. The outcome of this approach is twofold: it offers an ad hoc learning experience and provides a strategic perspective on the end-to-end possibilities along the digital lifecycle of complex systems.

Design fiction is a form of speculative design (Dunne, 2001) that uses storytelling and design to create fictional worlds and design scenarios that can explore the future outcomes of for instance AI technology and societal trends. It often involves the creation of prototypes and other design artifacts that serve as a visual representation of an imagined future. Critical design is critical thought translated into materiality. It is about thinking through design rather than through words and using the language and structure of design to engage people. The aim of critical design practices is that it is critically concerned with the future and aiming at challenging the ideological constraints that limit designers and the society. First, the research will be conducted through a literature review into the field of design fiction. Then, the article will discuss theories of estrangement through conducting and analyzing a workshop involving use of a variety of design tools and techniques such as fictional design (Dunne, 1999), and by creating ideas and concepts to help participants reframe key issues to imagine alternative ecological urban futures by using techniques of estrangement and theories and narratives of the unfamiliar. In workshops with product design students, prototypes of new tools and resources for critical engagement and communication will be co-created, and the findings can create spaces for discussion and debate about alternative ways of being, and inspire and encourage people’s imaginations to flow freely. Design speculations can act as a catalyst for collectively redefining our relationship to reality (Dunne, 2007).