Design in the Age of Experience, day 2: focus on design and the human experience

Yesterday we shared that our third Design in the Age of Experience is underway in Milan, and recapped the agenda sessions which focused on materials in sustainable design.

As day 2 draws to a close, we want to again offer you an update on the daily sessions.  Today’s focus was dedicated to the delicate relationship between design and the human experience. Artificial Intelligence is not making us less human, but more. Today’s agenda considered human interactions with machines and questioned the change this causes in humankind as we move towards personalized experiences, control and simplicity. We also explored the empowerment of young professionals who will champion the design industries in the future.

We kicked off examining how design can power inclusivity. Lambert Trenoras, CEO of Gyrolift – a company that’s part of our 3DEXPERIENCE Lab – shared his ambition to take the stigma out of using a wheelchair by offering an innovative mobility solution – one that can benefit both valid and reduced-mobility users.

Attendees can see the company’s product in our 3DEXPERIENCE playground.

Next, a team from Morphosis Architects – Kerenza Harris, Eric Meyer and Alessio Grancini – joined CATIA CEO Philippe Laufer to examine how design can help address real-world issues facing urban environments today and in the future. They’re behind the flagship installation in our exhibition, an interactive experience called “Interfaces” that uses augmented reality to reveal the complexity and interplay of data and design in architecture.

Following that session, Professor Mario Carpo of University College London joined our Vice President of Design Experience and head of our Design Studio, Anne Asensio for a conversation about natural logic of AI.  Their talk looked into how design is changing the way we are thinking and how the new generation of designers embrace open-ended, experimental design that explores the dialogue between machine and human intelligence.

The afternoon session was geared around the Workforce of the Future. It started off with our Vice President of Learning Experience, Valerie Ferret, asking the audience to consider what critical skills we are lacking in order to build a more sustinable future. She was joined by others in academia who are tackling this question from different angles but who are ultimately looking at the chalenge of training students to have responsibility for our future. They looked into questions like: what are the design skills needed in a world where machines and humans work side by side to create systemic change? As technicians and engineers become our future inventors, how can we nurture their talent and support their discoveries? How can we harness their knowledge to prepare us for the circular economy and the sustainable, resilient, and regenerative future they are creating?

Next up, Enrico Bassi, Fab Lab Coordinator at Italy’s OPENDOT, told a story of how parametric software and digital fabrication is used to create and make solutions for people with disabilities. He raised the idea that innovation is happening outside large corporations, and shifting business models are opening new channels for collaborations that can help society. Bassi suggested that designers need to look for opportunities where they can create a positive social impact, and that by understanding the real problem they can achieve better and more sustainable results.

We wrapped today’s sessions with a roundtable discussion dedicated to how we can better put humans at the center of the design to deliver outstanding experiences. This featured speakers from Bernardaud, Nowy Styl Group and Stanley Black & Decker. The converation was about how designers must look through the lens of people, process and place to give customers what they are looking for: sustainable products with added value.

Day two is a wrap! Please check back tomorrow to explore the conversations focused on the tremendous potential of regenerative urban design.