This paper introduces Being-Centred Design (BCD) as a speculative approach that moves beyond prevalent user- and human-centred models towards a focus on human existence and profound experiences. Rooted in Providencia's triangular framework of authorship, programme, and technology, BCD advocates for an approach that balances practicality and existential meaning in creative production. At the core of BCD's underlying theory lies the Spinozian concept of desire seen not as a deficiency but a generative force for shaping creation. It advocates a tripartite foundation of drawing, poetics/poiesis, and desire as drivers of design involving human, non-human and more-than-human dimensions. BCD is also informed by the existentialist notion of "Dasein" (being-there), which it articulates with desire and design as cornerstones, seeking to broaden design ontology, epistemology, practice, and pedagogy. Its existential outlook aids in interpreting and enacting theoretical principles in practical initiatives within a space of 'poiesis' which can be cognitive and/or physical, and where the poetics of making holds precedence. Design, within such framework, becomes a collaborative journey of self-exploration for practitioners, that is driven by affect, effect and continuum in sustainable creative cycles. The paper also outlines BCD's positioning within transdisciplinary action research to test the real-world applicability of the emergent concepts.

Immersive Unit Visualization is an emergent form of visualization that arose from Immersive Analytics where, unlike traditional visualizations, each data point is represented by an individual visual mark in an immersive virtual environment. This practice has focused almost exclusively on virtual reality, excluding augmented reality (AR). This article develops and tests a prototype of an Immersive Unit Visualization (Floating Companies II) with two AR devices: head-mounted display (HMD) and hand-held display (HHD). Results from the testing sessions with 20 users were analyzed through qualitative research analysis and thematic coding indicating that, while the HHD enabled a first contact with AR visualization on a familiar device, HMD improved the perception of hybrid space by supporting greater stability of virtual content, wider field of view, improved spatial perception, increased sense of immersion, and more realistic simulation, which had an impact on information reading and sense-making. The materialization of abstract quantitative values into concrete reality through its simulation in the real environment and the ludic dimension stand out as important opportunities for this type of visualization. This paper investigates the aspects distinguishing two experiences regarding data visualization in hybrid space, and characterizes ways of seeing information with AR, identifying opportunities to advance information design research.

This study is framed within information design and focuses on data representation using augmented reality (AR) and its appropriation by designers. The need to investigate no-code AR authoring tools was motivated by the conclusions drawn during the development of “Floating Companies” AR prototype, which highlight the limited access of designers without programming skills to this technology. We intend to identify the limitations of no-code tools regarding development platforms, such as Unity, and represent data with no-code tools. The methodology used entails three phases—the collection and characterization of no-code AR tools; the review of its limitations regarding the development milestones in FLOC; and the proposal of data representation based on no-code tools. The AR tools landscape offers several free platforms which do not require programming skills. It was found that the analyzed tools do not support algorithmic data representation, which forces any representation to be designed manually in a customized way, presenting limitations regarding the amount of data, but also opportunities. The type of project that no-code platforms support falls within the concept of communicative visualization—a type of visualization that does not intend to deeply analyze the data, but rather to communicate and engage public.

The following study addresses, from a design perspective, narrative visualization using augmented reality (AR) in real physical spaces, and specifically in spaces with no semantic relation with the represented data. We intend to identify the aspects augmented reality adds, as narrative possibilities, to data visualization. Particularly, we seek to identify the aspects augmented reality introduces regarding the three dimensions of narrative visualization—view, focus and sequence. For this purpose, we adopted a comparative analysis of a set of fifty case studies, specifically, narrative visualizations using augmented reality from a journalistic scope, where narrative is a key feature. Despite the strong explanatory character that characterizes the set of analyzed cases, which sometimes limits the user’s agency, there is a strong interactive factor. It was found that augmented reality can expand the narrative possibilities in the three dimensions mentioned—view, focus and sequence—but especially regarding visual strategies where simulation plays an essential role. As a visual strategy, simulation can provide the context for communication or be the object of communication itself, as a replica.

It is intended to investigate the hybrid space, as a determining attribute of the experience and interaction with augmented reality systems, to assess the potential and limitations of this space for information design, specifically in the context of data visualization. This paper presents a study which focused on the use of augmented reality in data visualization, in cases where there is no direct semantic relation between the virtual content and the real setting where the visualization will be displayed. For this study, a practice-based methodology was adopted, supported by the development, implementation and testing of a prototype of an augmented reality application for mobile devices. This prototype, which allows to visualize data related to design companies in Portugal, was assessed in real context. The data collected in this process sparked a reflection on the achieved results, but also on the challenges inherent to the application of this technology in the design of data visualizations.

In Europe, Design Centers and Associations are considered as key infrastructures to efficiently promote and represent the discipline. However, in some countries with a lower maturation of Design culture – such as the case of Portugal there are no official actors fully dedicated to these activities. Previous research indicated Design schools as a potential alternative infrastructure to promote and represent Design, but further research is needed to understand what they can learn/adapt from the activities currently undertaken by Centers and Associations. This paper maps the European landscape looking in particular at BEDA (Bureaux of European Design Association) members. Based on these insights and recent infrastructuring literature, it develops adapted strategies for observation activities to test with Design schools in the Portuguese territory. The results obtained are a first step to bring countries with lower maturation of design culture under the EU Design Ecosystem radar.

The production of data about design is important to create new knowledge about the discipline and support the development of better public policies. In Portugal, the DesignOBS project is developing these tasks, gathering information about the ecosystem. Databases are very important instruments to understand the discipline to systematically innovate. In this paper, we want to go further and address its literacy. Starting from the assumption that design is an activity of cultural mediation, its role in data interpretation could promote more participatory discussions about the discipline, and ultimately enrich the ecosystem; but data literacy in design is still at its infancy. To address this challenge, the present paper describes a hands-on approach to infuse data literacy in an educational design context, to support novice designers navigating a database about design companies. The study adopts a longitudinal case study approach and follows fifteen students from a design master course during the period of one semester. This research is an additional step for the maturation of the process to develop a design observatory in Portugal. It resulted in a set of data-focused infographics about design companies, richer datasets and levered the transformation of the student’s perception of their potential role in the context of data. This study contributes to ongoing discussions at the intersection of data literacy and design, still in an early stage. Moreover, it advances design research by reflecting on the value of adopting designerly approaches to create new materials, diffuse information about the design ecosystem and promote more participatory reflections about the discipline.

The present study undertaken within the DesignOBS project is based on 172 PhD theses in Design submitted to the Portuguese National Design Schools between 2005 and 2019. It focuses in particular on the extraction and analysis of 522 PhD citations appended to design doctoral work. The analysis is used to observe school impact, explore the weight of previous design focused and non-design doctoral work to develop PhD research in design in the country. The results reveal few connections between doctorates and few overlaps in-between as well as outside design schools; thus, indicating poor continuity and reproducibility of domestic doctoral work, little tradition of PhD citation, and an important weight of non-design schools. A network-based visualization of the connections between PhDs in design within PhD thesis, by use of a citation analysis method, enabled to draw reflections on the status of domestic doctoral research in Portugal and provides an empirical approach to explore the reproducibility of this type of research which may be used in other countries.

As publicações científicas desempenham um papel substancial na transmissão de informação e difusão do conhecimento para a sociedade, no entanto verificamos que ainda não houve uma adaptação de paradigma para o mundo digital na leitura e partilha de informação. Assim, abordou-se a temática das anotações enquanto ferramenta que permite criar uma camada de conhecimento sobre texto científico original, funcionando como instrumento potenciador da produção e transmissão de conhecimento associado ao consumo de literatura científica. O design pode deste modo contribuir para incrementar a produção e transmissão do conhecimento, enquanto agente de mediação de processos e conteúdos, para que sejam percebidos e compreendidos por um público mais alargado: entre a ciência e a sociedade. O presente estudo pretende constituir um instrumento de análise para a avaliação de uma nova abordagem da utilização das anotações no contexto da comunicação da ciência, enquanto sistema cognitivo, para simplificar e facilitar o processo de compreensão do discurso científico, na expectativa de contribuir para uma melhor eficácia da transmissão e produção do conhecimento científico, introduzindo a possibilidade de partilha das anotações enquanto proto-interpretações do texto. Para tal, propõe-se um modelo para um sistema de anotações que pretende tirar partido das características intrínsecas de cada suporte e fomentar a sua adaptação a um sistema que incorpore uma interacção simplificada, intuitiva e útil para as tarefas de anotação e gestão dessa informação. Scientific publications play a substantial role in the transmission of information and dissemination of knowledge towards society, however, we find that there has not yet been a paradigm shift towards the digital world in reading and sharing of information. Therefore, the topic of annotations was approached as a tool that allows the creation of a layer of knowledge over original scientific information, functioning as an instrument to enhance the production and transmission of knowledge associated with the consumption of scientific literature. Design can contribute towards an increase in the production and transmission of knowledge, as a mediator of processes and contents, so that they are perceived and understood by a wider audience: between science and society. We aim to analyze new approaches in the use of annotations in the context of science communication, as a cognitive system, to simplify and aid the process of understanding scientific discourse, in the hope of contributing towards the transmission and production of scientific knowledge, introducing the possibility of sharing annotations as proto-interpretations of the text. As such, in this paper, we propose a model for an annotation system that strives to extract the best characteristics of both paper and digital platforms and adapt these functionalities into a system with a simple, intuitive interaction for annotating and managing information

Scientific publications play a substantial role in the transmission of information and dissemination of knowledge towards society, how-ever, we find that there has not yet been a paradigm shift towards the digital world in reading and sharing of information. Therefore, the topic of annotations was approached as a tool that allows the creation of a layer of knowledge over original scientific information, function-ing as an instrument to enhance the production and transmission of knowledge associated with the consumption of scientific literature. Design can contribute towards an increase in the production and transmission of knowledge, as a mediator of processes and contents, so that they are perceived and understood by a wider audience: between science and society. We aim to analyze new approaches in the use of annotations in the context of science communication, as a cognitive system, to simplify and aid the process of understanding scientific discourse, in the hope of contributing towards the transmission and production of scientific knowledge, introducing the possibility of sharing annotations as proto-interpretations of the text. As such, in this paper, we propose a model for an annotation system that strives to extract the best characteristics of both paper and digital platforms and adapt these functionalities into a system with a simple, intuitive interaction for annotating and managing information.

AbstractThe DesignOBS project was created to collect, map and interpret data about the Portuguese Design Ecosystem, providing supportive information for decision making. This study takes advantage of a participative Design perspective to define and test an observation process via a case based on Design doctorates undertaken in Portugal. It emphasises the need for additional participatory analysis and curation by experts to evaluate and develop more reliable information about the discipline. Moreover, it develops recommendations that can enhance the communicability of Design doctorates.

The study presented takes place in the context of a Design PhD, under the subject of Augmented narrative: contributions of digital technologies for information design. This paper reflects the design of a strategy to address, from the perspective of information design, the data collected and corresponding interpretations performed within the scope of the project designobs.pt - Towards a Portuguese Design Observatory: Models, Instruments, Representation and Strategies. It is intended, on the one hand, to deepen the subject matter of narrative representation and, on the other hand, to recognize ways of multimodality in information design, specifically in the communicational dimension of data visualization. It is also intended to identify the potential of using experimental media, ie. digital media that do not traditionally figure as information design tools, as meaning creators. Masud et al. [8] propose an approach to data visualization based on communication design and defend the need for an interdisciplinary proposal guided by design. Considering the three types of visualization - analytical, communicative and formative suggested by Masud et al., the approach undertaken in this study lies within communicative visualization, where narrative constitutes an operator of personal appropriation of information. The narrative representation in information design is discussed by several authors [15] [ 7] [14] [13] who, although proposing different perspectives, elect the balance between complexity and information legibility as the main challenge. In this sense, the cycle of narration/exploration developed by Venturini et al. [13] establishes a series of movements between both ends, constituting a promising method to the representation of narratives. Based on that process, a strategy was designed, which initially oriented the research on the representation of project data (designobs. pt) starting from an appropriation of the Venturini map in order to place the proposal in the phase where the experiences about digital technology and multimodality will occur.

This study intends to test and confirm the interest and viability of incorporating augmented reality (AR) technologies in cultural mediation driven by information design, focusing on narrative representation. It is specifically intended to explore semantic relations between reality and virtuality in augmented narratives, i.e. expanded narratives through the multimodality enhanced by the use of interactive processes based in augmented reality systems. Departing from Charles Minard's Figurative Map (1869), three experiments were conducted, in order to reinterpret the program embodied in that artefact, testing several hypotheses in which, through augmented reality, the combination of different modes and media configures different semantic relations between real and virtual. The action-reflection approach undertaken with Figurative Map experiments enabled us to observe and openly systematize different augmented reality functions regarding the physical instance, which can potentially expand traditional forms of information design. Although they are not entirely extrapolatable, the proposal of virtual functions regarding reality were repurposed and adapted from the illustration field, specifically from the semantic relation between text and image. It is acknowledged that this is an open model to be reconsidered and reformulated through several action-reflection iterations and fostered through the narrative study.

This database contains metadata about Design doctorate theses undertaken in Portugal; This work is a result of the project Design Obs. Para um Observatório de Design em Portugal: Modelos, Instrumentos, Representação e Estratégias, (Towards a design Observatory in Portugal: models, instruments representation and strategies) supported by Lisbon Regional Operational Programme (LISBOA 2020) and the Competitiveness and Internationalisation Operational Programme (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-032445), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Foundation for Science and Technology). For additional information about the development of the database see Costa, N.; Branco, V.; Costa, R.; Borges, A.; Modesto, A.; Cunca, R.; Silva, A. (2020), Towards a Design Observatory: Characterising scholarly Design Research in Portugal, Design20, 18-21 May, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This paper aims to join the 20-year celebration of The Design Journal since we consider it both an excellent means for dissemination of design research, as well as a powerful amplifier of the diver...

The lack of clarity about what it means to be a designer remains one of the biggest problems facing this professional class in Portugal in the definition of their social affirmation. One of the endogenous problems for design activity itself is the need to construct a discourse which will clarify the ontological contours which correlate with the contemporary state of the trajectory of Design. In this paper I depart from the triangular model proposed by Francisco Providência, to deduce – as I will aim to demonstrate, based on simple geometric reasoning - that any design solution results from the convergence of negotiated responses to the three categories of simultaneous requests that emerge, either from the assumption of the Materialization of an artefact (regardless of materiality), through awareness of Other, or from the imperative of Meaning production.

Our purpose is to present a diachronic and synchronic overview of typeface design in Portugal, since the dawn of typography until current digital typeface design. This article also aims to contextualize typeface design main periods within the European typographic tradition. Our findings suggest that foreign expertise and aesthetics were frequently introduced in Portugal. By the opposite, other European countries were traditionally innovative in typeface design. There were in fact surges of innovation made in Portugal, but usually by the hands of foreigners working in Portugal. We address the Portuguese case in a global context of typeface design production. Along the history of typography until the Digital Revolution there were no outstanding singularities regarding foreign counterparts. However, the Digital Revolution brought a paradigm shift, with Portuguese designers gaining international prominence. Our results indicate that typefaces always relied on difference and on local / global interdependence. Tradition in typeface design was found non-linear and non-stationary. Instead, it was identified as an open, ever-changing process.

With the birth of the World Wide Web in the early nineties of the twentieth century a new artefact arose, the website, an object digital in nature, immaterial, code-based and code-dependent, accessed and experienced through hardware and software with short life spans, which render the website rapidly obsolete and easily replaced. An object nearly always short lived and that when it disappears leaves hardly any trace. This nature poses serious difficulties to the exhibition and preservation of a collection comprised of such artefacts, subject that only recently started to be addressed from a Museology design standpoint. Our research identified only two cases of web-based museums exhibiting artefacts of Web design they are digitalcraft.org and webmuseum.dk. A qualitative research based analysis aimed at observing and describing allowed the identification of issues and possible answers, essential in giving direction towards a future proposal for a Web design museum in the Portuguese context.

Considering the lack of importance of the discipline in the Portuguese and international context, this paper aims to present and discuss a museological and museographic project that’s in its early stage and started to be developed concerned with Portuguese design history and design studies. The focus on the theme Portuguese design is justified by the extent of the heritage of communication artefacts, equipment and environment, presently dispersed about the country and at risk of disappearing into oblivion.The paper present’s an approach based in a new hermeneutical dimension which methodology will be centered on the study of the artefacts based on the ‘inverse design’ and it will be focused on the morphogenetic study, related with their importance next to the public sphere. Considering the specificity of Portuguese design history the paper refers’ some notes on this subject, giving some examples that can be considered as some starting references to proceed with the project. The results of this research it will be declined in augmented interactive representations regarding the importance of the personal narratives related with the selected artifacts. This project seeks to contribute to the minimization of the invisibility of design Portuguese knowledge and to be used as a model to other countries.