Presentation and first discussion: Biomimicry in UX

Hi! My name is Francisco Briasco and I'm a Product and Industrial Designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For my first publication I would like to present my first thoughts about how can we connect the Biomimicry thinking with the User Experience Design, for digital products.

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Here it goes:

Biomimetics (“Imitate life”) is the science that studies and draws inspiration from nature. It observes and learns from the most important source of wisdom we have to solve those human problems that nature has already faced.Currently, biomimetics research puts the main focus on creating solutions through physical and tangible products such as a train or a tool. The shape, materiality, mechanisms and technology are the main points to attack.

But... How do we apply this philosophy to the design of services and interaction experiences in digital products?

Digital products are not affected by environmental humidity, weather, or surrounding materials/objects. It doesn’t matter if the product is biodegraded or reused, or if its manufacture consumes energy in excess. Here the biggest challenge lies in the design of browsing experiences, information processing, data management and communication with other users, and in the interpretation of human psychology when communicating and experiencing the world through a mobile device.

Whether they are of the same species or not, all living beings need to communicate their interests and receive feedback, send signals, leave tracks, warn of possible dangers, direct herds, express their emotions, or coordinate the construction of a nest. They have a division of labor, follow rules, coordinate complex projects and design excellent solutions, optimizing energy and effort consumption to the maximum.

So... the field of UX, digital products, the Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence and its applications are potentially biomimetic challenges, but we must ask ourselves:

How does nature resolve communication, organization and cooperation between its parts without a common language?

Could it be that there is an instinctive language, which is so intuitive and honest that any living organism can interpret it?

Human beings also belong to nature, so in my opinion such a language should be our North for the design of all products, both digital and physical. Language should be based on the simplification of structures for ease of use and fidelity in the interpretation of the message and both sensitive and adaptable to the environment and its irregularities, with an obvious objective so as not to lose focus and so that the message is understandable.

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I would like to know your opinion, information or thoughts about this topic, since it gonna be a topic to discuss in the not too distant future :)

Thanks for reading

Francisco Briasco

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