A crise da forma: princípios para um design ético na era da inversão da ferramenta

Abstract

This research addresses the crisis of form in contemporary design, characterized by the inversion of the relationship between tool and user in the digital era. Technologies that initially emerged as extensions of the human body have come to impose their own operational logic, generating scenarios of technological subordination, loss of autonomy, and negative impacts on well-being. The central problem investigated concerns how design can confront this subordination to digital technological logic and which ethical principles can guide a new design paradigm. The objective of this study was to diagnose the inversion between tool and user in digital contexts and to validate an ethical framework composed of four principles through a functional prototype. The research adopted a qualitative, exploratory, and bibliographic approach, with a historical and conceptual orientation, combined with a conceptual case study. The analysis mapped the evolution of technique from material tools to code-based systems, drawing on authors such as Flusser, and examined ethical implications of digital design related to behavioral dependence, compulsive use, and skill reduction, also employing the myth of Icarus as an interpretative framework. As a result, the study proposes the Human-Conscious Design framework, structured around the principles of Autonomy, Transparency, Corporeality, and Algorithmic Justice. These principles were applied and examined through the Tactus prototype, conceived as a tactile “biological compass” that prioritizes intentional gesture and respect for human rhythms. The findings indicate that contemporary design practice extends beyond object creation, demanding ethical responsibility in shaping systems and experiences that directly influence the human condition.