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Technology in Life

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Designing for Life

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Abstract

Technological advancements have changed human life throughout history as technical inventions have emancipated people from many mundane, necessary tasks. The development of technical artefacts has long relied on the natural sciences and engineering. However, recent technical advancements—such as ubiquitous and multifunctional technologies as well as the emergence of social media—have made it necessary to approach design from a multidisciplinary perspective and to ground design thinking more on the understanding of human mind and human life. As the natural sciences and human research are in many respects different practices, it is time to discuss their mutually inclusive roles in design and to rethink the foundations of (and relationship between) scientific and design thinking.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Examples from ancient times are presented in order to illustrate that the nature of many design problems has remained the same over time and in many cultures.

  2. 2.

    See http://bit.se/3WiRR5

  3. 3.

    www.cdc.cov.tobacco

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cognitive Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Pertti Saariluoma

  2. Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    José J. Cañas

  3. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Tampere, Finland

    Jaana Leikas

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  1. Pertti Saariluoma
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  2. José J. Cañas
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  3. Jaana Leikas
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Saariluoma, P., Cañas, J.J., Leikas, J. (2016). Technology in Life. In: Designing for Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53047-9_1

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