Design e dialética: inovação na forma dos celulares e smartphones entre 1990 e 2018.

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between design, innovation and dialectics, having cell phones and smartphones as the object of analysis. The research investigates changes in the shape of mobile phone devices between 1990 and 2018. The diachronic cut chosen is justified by the impact of these artefacts on society and by allowing chronological analysis of shape modifications within the same object over the last 30 years. Seeing the design is a multidisciplinary subject, this research considers it possible to apply the concept of dialectical logic to product design to understand the innovation process in tangible artefacts. The dialectical philosophy is applied to understand a society according to a continuous time dynamic of transformation. In this case, people and objects are dynamic actors in interaction processes. Therefore, it means a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach and descriptive / explanatory purpose. The methodological procedure consists of two stages. The first one aimed to identify changes in the shapes of cell phones and smartphones over thirty years based on a bibliographic survey. The corpus selection analysed 418 devices, considering physical attributes such as: model, dimensions, weight, keyboard and camera. From the total of products, a matrix of criteria was generated to select 33 devices for further qualitative analysis, which resulted in 4 descriptive sheets. The second stage identified the evolution on the terms of shape and the sense of innovation in the devices according to users' interpretations. Data from 30 interviewers were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Results have shown the following: 1) correlation between the laws of dialectical theory; from the identification of the dialectical macros and microprocesses on design innovation; 2) identification of innovations in the object's components; 3) describing the innovation in mobile devices, based on the path of shape changes; 4) Finally, reflections about the transformations of the shape attribute in devices over the past 30 years and the possibilities for the future of these products.