Abstract:

The paper presents the second phase of an ongoing research project on interdisciplinary teaching experiences aimed at promoting a more inclusive and gender-balanced education in digital design.

In particular, it presents and discusses a second wave of participatory activities within the Digital Design, Interaction and Communication Design 2023-24 course of the Bachelor in Design and Art at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.

The project adopts the methodology discussed in the essay "Biased Education. Teaching Digital Design through female protagonists. A case study presented at the INTED 2024 conference, and will further refine the workshop designed to raise awareness of the cultural-historical biases present in the field of technology-based design disciplines. In this second phase, an additional survey was introduced and tested on the occasion of International Women's Day and the activities organised by the Equal Opportunities Committee of the University of Bolzano, namely a conference and an exhibition.

The paper outlines a teaching initiative started in the 2022-23 academic year. The aim of the course was to teach the skills needed to design digital interactive artefacts and complex communication ecosystems, highlighting the presence and contributions of female figures. Despite their presence, these contributions are often overlooked or only briefly acknowledged in the development of digital design, user experience research and information and communication technologies.

The cultural and design learning process, using a practice-based research and learning-by-doing approach, unfolded in three phases. The first phase involved a participatory workshop to raise awareness within the class through presentation, sharing and discussion of the theme. In the second phase, students developed projects around the theme - a responsive website that presents the narrative of women in digital design to different persona spectrums and in different contexts of use. These projects will be detailed and discussed as case studies.

A final workshop, held during the end of term GOG (Guests, Guests, Guests) project exhibition, engaged a wider non-academic audience. This event facilitated a comparison of the implemented projects (accessible via a QR code and navigable by the public through their smartphones) with the visible and shared outcomes of the two workshops.

This paper presents, illustrates and discusses the results of this pedagogical approach in cultural, methodological and didactic terms, proposing it as a potential paradigm and teaching model. It also reflects on and discusses the specific outcomes and implications of the two workshops at a societal and awareness level in terms of an inclusive and diverse approach to design history and the inherent biases and patriarchal aspects of the wider cultural system in which we are immersed.

Keywords:

Digital design education, gender-balanced education, women in digital design, inclusive design.