Since digitalisation is an integral part of many areas of our daily lives, it is also present in all sectors of industry. This creates new challenges, in particular for designers – whether in the field of products, digital services or urban planning. At the German Design Awards 2020 we asked international experts, including winners and jury members, what impact they think digitalisation is having on design processes.
Monica Dalla Riva (2. from left)
Vice President Customer Experience & Design, Deutsche Telekom
Digitalisation is perhaps the next big wave at the moment. It’s going to disrupt a lot of industries, but it’s also creating a lot of opportunities. Design will change dramatically in the next few years. One of the reasons for this is because we are going to design experiences rather than products, and digitalisation is helping to build a more meaningful experience.
Gemma Riberti (left)
Director WGSN Lifestyle & Interiors, Juror German Design Awards
The Internet of Things has become a reality and we are already seeing solutions that are embedded in the way that we design new homes and new developments. I see it as a tool that empowers us to lead a simpler life and I think it has a lot of potential to make our lives better.
Qi Xi
Brand Strategist Shing & Partners Design Group
Digitalisation is currently changing the entire sphere of activity in architectural design. We are experimenting with the possibilities offered by digital communication tools, and we are relying more and more on strategies previously used by consumer brands to present our work. This opens up numerous innovative possibilities
Xie Jianjun (middle)
President & Creative Advisor Dongdao Creative Branding Group, Juror German Design Awards
Digitalisation has really made a lot of headway in China. It impacts much of Chinese society. To become more efficient, companies need to push digitalisation.
Frank Steinmeier
Vice President Research and Development EMEA Invacare International
I believe digitalisation is still quite new in the field of medical technology, and there is much more that could be done here. Three years ago, we introduced the innovation process – this is an interdisciplinary brainstorming session, which also includes external designers, and which results in the generation of great ideas to further develop our products. Digitalisation plays a major role in this.
Virginia Lung
Co-founder One Plus Partnership Limited, Juror German Design Awards
Digital Design will become more popular in the future. It can do a lot of things – it can help to improve life and it can also help to do some unwanted tasks and do repeatings, with robots and other machineries. But designers will always be needed, because we need to design the space and the atmosphere. Even if there are a lot of digital panels and a lot of robots, they are just elements. We need to put them together to make it look good and powerful.
Lutz Dietzold (left, next to Andrej Kupetz)
Managing Director German Design Council
Digitalisation is penetrating more and more areas of the individual’s life. I think that, to create acceptance, it is important to create the right interface between technology and people. And design plays an important role here.
Ryutaro Yoshida (right)
Founder Time & Style, Juror German Design Awards
We have to learn about our background and integrate it into new technologies to create authentic products.
Björn Sorge
Vice President Experience Design ProSiebenSat.1 Digital GmbH, Juror German Design Awards
Especially in the digital sector, there is so much prescribed technology, so many templates. So it’s a good thing when designers feel compelled to consider the needs of the customer more: ergonomics, data visualisation, digital typography – so that design becomes a stronger distinguishing feature than it currently is.
Images of the winners: Lutz Sternstein, phocst.
Images of the jurors: Daniel Banner.
Source: German Design Council.
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