My research journey started with an exploration of the topic of the digital divide, a term that originated in the American context in the 1990s to describe the gap between those who had the means to access the internet and those who did not. The theoretical research delved into the history of this issue, which later became a theory in social sciences, focusing on its fundamental aspects. The consensus reached by the academic community is that it is a social disparity that leads individuals with higher income and education levels to accumulate the material and cognitive resources necessary to make the most of the internet's potential and translate it into tangible outcomes in various aspects of life. In a networked society, understanding the functioning of digital devices enables people to engage in cultural consumption and production, pursue new digital professions, and participate in democratic processes. Consequently, those lacking the necessary skills risk being left behind in a vicious circle of systemic inequalities. A crucial part of the research involved studying existing interpretative frameworks, particularly those provided by Jan van Dijk, to establish a model for better understanding the users from both demographic and competency perspectives. The theoretical research was followed by an experiential phase: I decided to participate in one of the PNRR projects aimed at bridging the digital divide, the “digital civic service” (servizio civile digitale). I took on the role of a digital facilitator and engaged directly with the "fragile" users, who were on the wrong side of the divide, and whom I discovered to be primarily elderly individuals. My initial goal was to understand the true reasons behind their difficulties and the processes that led them to seek help at the Digital Desk established by the Municipality of Trento, the promoting entity behind the “Trento helps you with anything digital” project (”Trento ti aiuta con il digitale”). This phase of "empathizing," as it is referred to in design thinking processes, was based on direct questioning and participant observation, which allowed me to formulate hypotheses about the main pain points in their experience. As a designer, I faced two key questions: how to communicate the existence and purpose of a public service, managed institutionally but voluntarily, to a target audience that is difficult to reach through digital campaigns? How to fill the gaps and provide empowering tools to make frail users more aware and, above all, autonomous? The design part of the project answers these questions with an artifact, the Digital Glossary. This project is the result of analyzing the main issues faced by users and reshaping them into a simple tool designed to be used as a support for digital facilitation during appointments and as informative material for users to read and consult independently. The communication strategy on social media, on the other hand, was aimed at the digital facilitators in informal contexts: young people. The objective was to share the practices of the digital desks and transform them into culture, stimulating dialogue between generations.
Il mio percorso di ricerca è partito da un’esplorazione del tema del di- vario digitale, termine nato in contesto americano negli anni ‘90 per descrivere il divario tra chi aveva i mezzi materiali per accedere alle rete e chi no. La ricerca teorica affronta la storia della problematica, suc- cessivamente diventata una teoria delle scienze sociali, nei suoi aspetti fondamentali. Il consenso a cui la comunità accademica è giunta è che si tratti di un divario di tipo sociale, che porta le persone con un alto reddito e livello di istruzione ad accumulare le risorse materiali e cogni- tive per sfruttare al meglio le potenzialità della rete e sfruttarne i van- taggi, traducendoli in risultati tangibili in tutti i campi della vita. In una networked society, la comprensione del funzionamento dei dispositivi abilita le persone alla fruizione e produzione di cultura, alle nuove pro- fessioni diigtali e alla partecipazione democratica; conseguentemente, chi è carente delle nuove competenze necessarie rischia di restare ai margini, in un circolo vizioso di diseguaglianze sistemiche. Fondamentale è stato lo studio dei quadri interpretativi esistenti, in par- ticolare quelli forniti da Jan van Dijk, per avere un modello su cui basarsi per meglio comprendere l’utente, dal punto di vista demografico e delle competenze. Alla ricerca teorica è seguita la parte esperienziale: ho deciso di parte- cipare ad uno dei progetti PNRR volti ad arginare il divario digitale, il Servizio Civile Digitale. Ho indossato i panni della facilitatrice digitale e mi sono cimentata sul campo, con i veri utenti “fragili”, dal lato sbagliato del divario, che ho constatato essere principalmente persone anziane. Il mio primo obiettivo è stato quello di domandarmi quali fossero i veri motivi di difficoltà, quali fossero i processi che portavano alla richiesta di aiuto presso lo Sportello Digitale istituito dal Comune di Trento, ente promotore del progetto “Trento ti aiuta con il digitale”. Questa fase di “emphatize”, come si dice nei processi di design thinking, è stata basata sulle domande dirette e sull’osservazione partecipante, che mi hanno portata a formulare delle ipotesi su quali fossero i principali pain points nella loro esperienza. Da designer mi si sono posti davanti due quesiti: come comunicare l’e- sistenza e finalità di un servizio pubblico, con gestione istituzionale ma volontaria, a un target difficilmente raggiungibile con una campagna di- gitale? Come riempire le lacune e fornire strumenti abilitanti per rende- re gli utenti fragili più consapevoli ma sopratutto autonomi? La parte progettuale dell’elaborato risponda a questi quesiti con un ar- tefatto, il Glossario Digitale. Il progetto è frutto dell’analisi delle princi- pali problematiche dell’utenza, riplasmate in uno strumento semplice, pensato per essere utilizzato come supporto alla facilitazione digitale durante gli appuntamenti e materiale informativo per l’utente, da rileg- gere e consultare in autonomia. La strategia social è stata invece riservata ai primi facilitatori digita- li nell’informalità: le persone giovani, con l’obiettivo di condividere la prassi degli sportelli per fare in modo che diventi cultura territoriale, uno stimolo al dialogo tra generazioni.
Digital divide : divario digitale : artefatti integrativi per la costruzione di uno sportello digitale come luogo di dialogo intergenerazionale e incubatore di buone pratiche
Cao, Annalisa
2022/2023
Abstract
My research journey started with an exploration of the topic of the digital divide, a term that originated in the American context in the 1990s to describe the gap between those who had the means to access the internet and those who did not. The theoretical research delved into the history of this issue, which later became a theory in social sciences, focusing on its fundamental aspects. The consensus reached by the academic community is that it is a social disparity that leads individuals with higher income and education levels to accumulate the material and cognitive resources necessary to make the most of the internet's potential and translate it into tangible outcomes in various aspects of life. In a networked society, understanding the functioning of digital devices enables people to engage in cultural consumption and production, pursue new digital professions, and participate in democratic processes. Consequently, those lacking the necessary skills risk being left behind in a vicious circle of systemic inequalities. A crucial part of the research involved studying existing interpretative frameworks, particularly those provided by Jan van Dijk, to establish a model for better understanding the users from both demographic and competency perspectives. The theoretical research was followed by an experiential phase: I decided to participate in one of the PNRR projects aimed at bridging the digital divide, the “digital civic service” (servizio civile digitale). I took on the role of a digital facilitator and engaged directly with the "fragile" users, who were on the wrong side of the divide, and whom I discovered to be primarily elderly individuals. My initial goal was to understand the true reasons behind their difficulties and the processes that led them to seek help at the Digital Desk established by the Municipality of Trento, the promoting entity behind the “Trento helps you with anything digital” project (”Trento ti aiuta con il digitale”). This phase of "empathizing," as it is referred to in design thinking processes, was based on direct questioning and participant observation, which allowed me to formulate hypotheses about the main pain points in their experience. As a designer, I faced two key questions: how to communicate the existence and purpose of a public service, managed institutionally but voluntarily, to a target audience that is difficult to reach through digital campaigns? How to fill the gaps and provide empowering tools to make frail users more aware and, above all, autonomous? The design part of the project answers these questions with an artifact, the Digital Glossary. This project is the result of analyzing the main issues faced by users and reshaping them into a simple tool designed to be used as a support for digital facilitation during appointments and as informative material for users to read and consult independently. The communication strategy on social media, on the other hand, was aimed at the digital facilitators in informal contexts: young people. The objective was to share the practices of the digital desks and transform them into culture, stimulating dialogue between generations.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Cao_divario digitale:digital divide.pdf
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Descrizione: Corpo tesi
Dimensione
49.58 MB
Formato
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49.58 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
Cao_Glossario_Digitale.pdf
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Descrizione: Artefatto progettuale
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575.18 kB
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Adobe PDF
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575.18 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/206652