Abstract
The research project presents a teaching experience conducted within the course in Digital Design. Interaction and Communication Design at the Bachelor in Design and Art at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano during the winter semester of a. y. 2022-23. The didactic activity was aimed at teaching the design of digital interactive artefacts and complex communication eco-systems through awareness of the presence and contribution of female figures, present but often ignored or only marginally mentioned, in the development of the disciplines of digital design, user experience research and information communication technologies. The cultural and design learning process – following practice-based research and a learning-by-doing approach – was divided into 3 phases. An initial participatory workshop on the topic to raise awareness of the problem by showing, sharing, and discussing it within the class. A second phase in which the students developed projects on the theme - a responsive site to present the story of women in digital design to different personas-spectrum and in different contexts of use, illustrated and discussed here as case studies. A final workshop with a wider non-academic audience was organised during the end-of-semester GOG (Guests, Guests, Gäste) exhibition to compare the projects implemented (the prototypes created were accessible via a QR-Code and navigable by the public via their smartphones) with the visible and shared results of the two workshops. The paper presents, illustrates, and discusses the cultural, methodological, and didactic experience and the results of this pathway as a possible paradigm and teaching model. Furthermore, it reflects and discusses the specific results and outcomes of the two workshops at a more social and awareness level, proposing an inclusive and diverse approach to design history, on the one hand, and discussing how biased and patriarchal the whole cultural system we are raised in is.