Design and development of an online platform with the mapping of the production and distribution ecosystem of products with a focus on Circular Design in the city of São Carlos.

• Grant number: 24/02024-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Information Science
• Principal Investigator: Kamila Rios da Hora Rodrigues
• Grantee: Adeline Gabriela Silva Gil
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The online platform to be developed in this research, according to usability requirements (NIELSEN, 1994; PREECE et al., 2013) and containing the mapping of the local ecosystem of production and distribution of products, as the example of the global initiative "Fab City" (LADERA, 2016), aims to facilitate the identification of circular design opportunities in the city of São Carlos, a municipality in the State of São Paulo.Circular design is about applying circular economy principles to the design process of products and systems of which they are part. In the São Carlos region, there is no mapping focused on circular design, with the aim of functioning as an online tool that allows people to find: a) materials of local origin, qualified to develop their projects; b) local manufacturers and producers, as well as spaces for sharing resources (tools and machinery) and knowledge about distributed manufacturing practices, using local supply chains and infrastructure and c) design files with technical openness and flexibility of use.The methodology of this Research through Design (RtD - Research through Design - type of interventionist research) follows the logic of the design process: it consists of project development phases based on "Product Design Management" (ROZENFELD; FORCELLINI, 2006), and in Interaction Design (PREECE et al., 2013; NIELSEN, 1994), using specific techniques for each phase (ideation, prototyping, testing, evaluation, improvement of the solution, launch of an improved version and evaluation of the process and product), which makes it possible to continuously improve the solution, even after its publication.The hypothesis is that the creation of the online platform of the Local Productive Network - RPL - USP - São Carlos (provisional name) will be able to generate more knowledge about the design of products that meet the local context and make the creative and productive potential of the region more visible.