Cao Zhen

caozhen0806@126.com

RENOWNED designers and experts with diverse backgrounds, from home and abroad, gathered at the Global Cities of Design Roundtable Discussion and World Designers Congress during the 2024 Shenzhen Design Week on Saturday.

They shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges in global design.

David Grossman, former president of the International Council of Design, stated that the significance of Shenzhen Design Week lies in its ongoing pursuit of new paths. As the Shenzhen Design Week remains dynamic and adaptable, it is poised to make substantial contributions to the global community, he remarked.

“Shenzhen, situated in the Pearl River Delta, stands as a crucial manufacturing hub in China and a City of Design recognized by UNESCO. Through design, it has prompted a transformation and upgrades in the traditional manufacturing sector of historical significance,” said Xiong Wei, director of the Chengdu Creativity & Design Week Executive Committee.

“In Shenzhen, Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai — acclaimed as Cities of Design — design has offered intellectual backing for the high-quality development of various industries,” Xiong added.

At the congress, design professionals and experts from universities discussed topics such as mapping out design strategies to fortify industries, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in design to elevate user experiences, and design week events in the global era. Their discussions injected fresh insights into the “glocal” (global+local) design arena.

“Design plays a pivotal role in the healthcare industry,” said Jane He, design director of the Industrial Design Center, under Mindray Biomedical Electronics Co. Ltd., Shenzhen. “Today, our design applications span product design, user experience, usability testing, user emotions, and brand value, encompassing a broad and holistic array of aspects.”

She highlighted the evolution from product-centric approaches to broader scenarios and ecosystems, ultimately leveraging digitalization, information technology, and AI to aid medical professionals in making informed decisions and predicting patient progress for advanced treatment.

Shi Danqing, associate professor in the Information Art and Design Department of Tsinghua University, discussed the challenges Chat-GPT brought to designers since its introduction in 2022. He said that as AI assumes more design tasks, future designers must cultivate a multidisciplinary perspective to drive innovation.

Thomas Kvan, founding dean of the School of Design at the Southern University of Science and Technology, expressed his apprehensions regarding AI.

Kvan asserted that AI favors people who are able to use technology in a particular way, but it does not enable the rest of existence on the planet.

“We don’t design just for ourselves. … Cities are for the people not for the designers,” he said.