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Design+

REVIEW
De+Sign = Design thinking or thinking design?

A brief overview from the Industrial Revolution
to nowadays

Lisa Giusti Gestri*

Future Building Initiative (FBI), Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), Monash University,
Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution (IR) was the most important single development in human
history over the past three centuries and since then; it has continued to shape the
contemporary world. From its beginning, it has been a global process that resulted
from changes happening in global economic relationships that further redefine
them, a process that has persisted until today. Industrialization was the primary force
in world history in the 19 and 20 centuries, and still powerfully continues to share
th
th
the 21 century. During the IR, the industrial design (ID) journey began, and today,
st
designers are being called more often to intervene in large and intricate systems of
design. This kind of intervention involves the need to understand users and their
relationships with each other and their circumstances. At present, the application of
a user-centered design process is considered a form of progress because it enables
designers to create better products for users by considering the functionality and
stylistic characteristics of the products concerning people’s physical and emotional
*Corresponding author:
Lisa Giusti Gestri needs. This paper summarizes the history of ID and the consequences of the
(lisa.giustigestri@monash.edu) designer’s figure, offering a broad overview spanning from the IR to today.
Citation: Giusti Gestri L. De+Sign =
Design thinking or thinking design? Keywords: Industrial design; Design; User-centered design; Design thinking; Italian
A brief overview from the Industrial
Revolution to nowadays. Design+. design; Design-driven innovation
2024;1(1):3929.
doi: 10.36922/dp.3929
Received: June 13, 2024
1. Introduction
Accepted: August 28, 2024
The process of design applied to products, which is better known as Industrial design
Published Online: October 4, 2024
(ID) (which often becomes just ID), shows the uniqueness that design is independent
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). of the manufacture: the creative phase of determining and defining a product’s design
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms happens before the making phase of a product. Thus, the art of ID is represented by
of the Creative Commons the connection between function and form, along with the link between product, users,
AttributionNoncommercial License, and environment. Of course, the technical aspects of a product are important, and the
permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any industrial designer works on those through usability design and forms connections.
medium, provided the original work This is a unique role because an industrial designer must create and perform design
is properly cited. solutions for problems (e.g., form, function, ergonomics, usability, and sustainability).
Publisher’s Note: AccScience After all, these are the keys that differentiate ID: It is a process of problem-solving that
Publishing remains neutral with drives innovation and leads to an improved quality of life through advanced products
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional and user experiences. This process is successful due to its ability to close the gap between
affiliations. what is and what is possible still, with an optimistic way of thinking about the future

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/dp.3929