Interfacce sinaptiche. Il design delle connessioni nell’era del digitale

A good designer always cares about his/her users and their needs, but over the years there have been paradigms that have influenced this thought. In the ‘80s Donald Norman defined the Human Centered Design (HCD) as the major project paradigm, according to which every object or service had to focus on a design for the humans. Over the years, this line of thought has met with opposing views and has been accused of disregarding human characteristics, reducing the end user to a standard. Recently the HCD paradigm has evolved into More Than Human Centered Design (MTHCD), which contemplates the opportunity to consider not only the human species, but many more actors as animals, plants and so on. Another, more recent line of thought argues that an adaptive design is much more efficient than a made-to-measure design: a product, or service, capable of adapting to the needs of its user and the context in which it is used, is an inclusive tool that does not discriminate and does not require personalized designing, which is much more expensive. The transition to this idea has had positive results in every project sector, from fashion to architecture, but especially in the technological one: digital contents are no longer usable only by privileged people, who have modern technologies, no disabilities and do not use assistive technologies, but web developers are starting to take care of accessibility to make browsing a pleasant and accessible experience for everyone. Nowadays there are many rules governing digital accessibility and there is still a long way to go, but hardware and software are increasingly compatible with assistive technologies that allows people with physical disabilities to access online content; more and more web pages begin to be dynamic, offering users the possibility to change the appearance of their content, in order to improve and optimize every user experience. This design takes care of the needs of disabled people, of those who have the right to access to digital content despite having backward technologies or living in situations that are not favorable to web connection. Inclusive design highlights the heritage of diversity, creating connections between different users who meet each other in the use of the same technology and are able to customize it. These connections are not only for the benefits of the fragile target because, as Design for All (DfA) states, inclusive design solves for one and extends to many.