Abstract
As of today digital technologies have entered the field of education, introducing new possibilities of getting and sharing information and continuously changing the way we communicate. Starting from this phenomenon, COSTORY project asks critical questions about the use of technology, involving teenagers in the design process, to explore and fulfill their needs and desires through a practice-based action-research. The research first implied a series of co-design workshops involving 24 participants (14-15 year old) in Scandicci (Florence) and the tangible result of this process, a smart object called “Emotion Capsule”, was created. Later, the object has been tested and shared with various cohorts of students in 12 classrooms (9-15 year old); overall the project involved 350 students in the different phases of the project. The activities were observed and analyzed from ethnographical and design perspectives. This article addresses the methodology and tools used during the first workshops and addresses new anthropological questions related to technology and new forms of social communication resulting from the experiences with participants in the project.