Investigating the changing relation between consumer and designer in post-industrial design

• This paper focuses on the post-industrial society and the changing object of design. Postindustrial design will be realized through the digitalization of the physical world and the advent of digital fabrication tools such as 3D printing that bridge the gap between digital design and physical goods. In post-industrial design professional designers will be concerned with designing toolkits and incomplete designs rather than fully determined products. The consumer will be adapting the incomplete design to his or her needs and desires in some way or another. This adaptation could be done with minimal involvement as well as by intensive participation. The aim of this paper is to investigate the changing relation between consumer and designer in a post-industrial society by examining the object of design. We exemplify the new object of design by examining several consumer products that possess some property of post-industrial design. Based on our research we propose four ways, or tactics, for designers to deal with heterogeneous consumer needs and preferences, two of which are unique to post-industrial design. We end this paper by briefly discussing the implications to design practice and design education.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Design (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Design (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

post-industrial society

democratization

design practice

object of design

prosumer

3D printing

design

design

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)