Digital Design and Data Visualization for Society Health and Wellbeing

The contribution deals with the theme of the design of wearable and active devices, capable of communicating with the end user, mediators of the health condition and perceived and effective well-being of individuals. The state of the art on the subject highlights how the use of wearable devices in the field of e-health, capable of monitoring the biometric data of individuals, has grown. Nonetheless, these devices are used for limited periods of time, becoming – in fact – a sort of fad, or in any case a passing phenomenon. One therefore wonders whether it is possible to intervene on the design of this type of artefact, in such a way as to trigger a relational link between the object and the user, in order to increase the latter’s awareness of his/her health condition, with an impact relevant, with respect to the widespread quality of life, especially in cases in which one is confronted with more fragile sections of the population, in the presence of some pathological conditions, and for which monitoring of this type is therefore relevant. The approach used will make use of the analysis of the scientific literature and the state of the art of reference, useful for understanding the interest and relevance of the contribution, especially after a hybridization between knowledge and between different disciplinary areas of the design culture, namely that of digital design, communication design and data visualization, used to outline an innovative approach described in the contribution.