Introduction

In the digital age, science communication faces new challenges to engage an increasingly demanding and diverse audience and adapt to new communication contexts such as the web and social networks (Langella, 2019). Cooperation between design and digital technologies is increasingly recognised as an effective way to make scientific content more accessible and understandable (Latour, 1987).

In particular, User Experience design (UX) applied to scientific communication and dissemination allows abstract concepts to be transformed into tangible and interactive representations.

These principles apply to the communicative artefacts used by scientists to share their research results with the relevant scientific community such as: graphical abstracts, cover pages, graphic processing of instrumental images, and presentations at conferences. The intervention of design in the representation of scientific data and information aims to make them effective and clear to the target audience that scientists address (Thiel et al., 2015). Furthermore, the use of design and digital technologies can help to make content more attractive to the scientific advertising market, which is increasingly focused on attracting readers with appealing images and visual artefacts. Thus, design intervention using digital enables an increase in the number of cover pages accepted by the most prestigious journals, the ability to attract corporate funding, media attention, effective internal communication between researchers, and even citations.

At the same time, digital tools are increasingly being used in dissemination to society through infographics, social media materials, animations and illustrations for science dissemination tools.

After the Covid emergence, on the other hand, society’s demand to understand and learn about the latest health-related scientific findings has grown considerably (Langella et al. 2022).

The visual representation of scientific principles has also become a useful tool to present the research content of products such as drugs, biomedicals, cosmetics or technical and sports accessories to the market. It can also be used by the media to inform the public about specific avenues of science and development policies, particularly when significant economic and ethical-social impacts are anticipated. For all these uses, digital tools such as graphics, three-dimensional modelling, and animation software together with interactive technologies such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, 3D Mapping and, the possibility to disseminate content without boundaries through digital spaces, applications and platforms are invaluable opportunities that still require much research and experimentation. Such a wide spread of this phenomenon requires in-depth studies that enable a systematisation of the research conducted in this field from different perspectives and with different objectives.

The intensification of collaborative experiences between designers and scientists and the growing awareness of the contribution that artefact design can make to science have led to the emergence of new professional figures, both in the field of designers for scientific communication and in that of popularising scientists.

The Design for Visualisation of Science method

The scenarios of the convergence between design and science, the opportunities offered to the field of design by the intersection with scientific research, and the possible implications in terms of design culture are the areas of research and experimentation of the Hybrid Design Lab (Langella, 2007), a research, teaching and experimental design laboratory set up in 2006 and dedicated to the various forms of intersection between design and the biosciences, which is currently included in the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II.

In the course of the research and teaching experience carried out in the laboratory, various types of communication artefacts popular in the scientific field were developed, such as: graphical abstract, cover page, infographics, 3D model, 3D animation, popular illustration, graphic processing of instrumental images. From this experience emerged the definition of a method for designing scientific artefacts (Langella, La Tilla, Perricone, 2019) involving the following steps:

The method applied requires designers, in collaboration with scientists, to address the

following aspects:

– Scope of communication research and actors, which involves identifying the thematic area of reference, researchers and institutions to be involved in the visualisation project.

– Reference scenario and innovative scientific aspects to be brought to the fore, which requires a discussion with the researchers involved in order to get to know the international scenario, the research groups that have the greatest impact and the elements of research innovation that it is deemed useful to highlight and convey in order to improve the awareness of the target audience of the communication and, more generally, of society.

– The type of users to whom the communication is addressed is of primary importance for scientific communication, because the general and specific communication objectives, languages and communication strategies derive from it. With respect to the subject matter, it was decided to target the design at very broad user areas, because the need to know more about the virus and how to deal with the emergency is common to all. This does not detract from the fact that some projects, such as those on the usefulness of washing hands or the impact of asymptomatic people in the spread of the virus, specifically target children and young people.

– Communicative objectives, which are established with the scientists and in relation to the users. To define the objectives, it is important to know the most interesting results obtained by the scientific partners involved, especially those that are more innovative, original and have a greater impact on the type of users identified. In the case of the project described, the choice of communicative objectives was conditioned by the most frequent questions that emerged in the first months of the pandemic’s spread, which were then made explicit in the virtual exhibition.

– Communicative hierarchy, constructed on the basis of the hierarchy of objectives, the contents and concepts to be communicated must be placed on different hierarchical layers according to the prominence that scientists and designers intend to give to the different information and data in order to demonstrate the progress made with respect to the state of the art. The criteria for constructing the hierarchical structure are strongly bound not only to the importance of the content, but also to the type of users and what the scientists intend to communicate to them most emphatically.

– Communicative constraints: the limits imposed by the context and the modes (analogue and digital) through which communication is delivered.

– Images of relevant scientific literature and communicative artefacts produced by scientists: i.e. those artefacts, such as brochures, diagrams, videos, etc., already developed by scientists to represent concepts similar to those addressed.

– Representational challenges and strategies most useful for pursuing the objectives as effectively as possible, in relation to the users, hierarchies and constraints identified. For example, facilitating the adoption of appropriate behavioural patterns to reduce the spread of the virus indicated by doctors and scientists, making the indications intuitive and very easy to understand, as well as memorable without effort, so that they can be easily translated into lifestyles.

– Expressive language, not to be considered as strictly related to technical/scientific language, since the choice of expressive language taken from contexts more linked to everyday life and its more light-hearted and pleasant moments, allows the message to be more easily conveyed through association with the most pleasant and positive experience.

– Concept and design in which final designs are developed and data and representation verified with the help of scientists. Through the described method, designers learn to use various critical, expressive tools, software and technical solutions, which are unusual in the common profession of designer, but useful in meeting specific needs to represent abstract, dynamic concepts, linked to invisible or very complex factors.

Linked to this are certain peculiarities of the scientific visualisation project that have emerged in the course of the research and projects developed in the HDL, such as modularity, which allows the artefact to be declined and moulded according to the different types of supports and contexts in which to place them; reference to neuroscience, which allows visualisation to be modelled as a cognitive experience and an intersection between perceptive, sensorial, cultural, evocative, cognitive and emotional aspects; finally, the responsibility and awareness that designers, as visualisers of the invisible, must recognise, in order to identify forms that through cross-references, evocations, abstractions and analogies are able to return the data concealed behind microscopes and infinitesimal scales.

Making the invisible visible through digital tools

Design integrates with science to visualise complex data and processes through graphic models, infographics and digital simulations (Tufte, 2001). The use of visual metaphors and analogies makes it possible to simplify complex concepts and bring the public closer to scientific topics that would otherwise be difficult to understand (Ware, 2012). A significant example is the use of 3D modelling to represent microscopic and nanoscopic structures.

The use of visual metaphors is a key strategy for translating scientific language into comprehensible images. One example is the representation of the brain’s perivascular spaces as an enchanted forest, an approach that transforms a microscopic structure into an accessible visual narrative (Lupton, 2017). Even in pharmaceutical communication, design has been employed to visualise the drug delivery process through grape cluster analogies, facilitating the understanding of their cohesion and functionality.

Hybrid interaction with science

Digital technologies not only enable the processing and visualisation of scientific data, but also the creation of immersive experiences involving multiple senses. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are used to transform science exhibitions and displays into interactive environments, making learning more engaging (Milgram & Kishino, 1994).

The integration of digital installations into museum exhibits allows the educational and sensory impact of science dissemination to be amplified. Multisensory experiences that, through digital devices, include the use of sounds, lights, smells and tactile elements are very useful to immerse the visitor in the scientific context of reference, creating more tangible and less virtual experiences. In these cases, the digital, surprisingly, proves invaluable in making visitors better appreciate the materiality of things, through the involvement of the more material and analogue senses and the translation of abstract concepts into physical experiences.

The Future of Digital Scientific Communication

Design and digital technologies are redefining the way science is communicated to the public. The integration of tools such as augmented reality and 3D modelling enables the barriers between research and dissemination to be overcome, promoting a more inclusive and participatory approach (Norman, 2013).

The adoption of design and digital technologies in science communication represents an opportunity to make communication more effective and engaging. Through immersive experiences, visual metaphors and multisensory interactions, it is possible to transform the way the public perceives and learns about science. Technological innovation will continue to offer new possibilities to amplify knowledge and foster a more emotional and intuitive approach to science communication.

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