Collaborative Products: design practices for enabling intersubjective interaction

This paper investigates Collaborative Products—design artifacts that require the active and synchronous participation of multiple users—as a strategy to promote inclusive and intersubjective interaction. Motivated by the need to create socially and culturally responsive design solutions, the study explores how these objects can foster cooperation, shared responsibility, and relational engagement. A mixed-method approach was adopted, combining theoretical analysis with empirical exploration. A conceptual framework was developed using typological-temporal and typological-spatial diagrams to classify collaborative design practices. A selection of case studies—both experimental and existing—were analyzed, each case was examined in terms of user composition, ergonomic requirements, and spatial-temporal structure. Findings reveal that Collaborative Products are relational devices that promote accessibility, inclusivity, and engagement through task distribution and shared effort. The research identifies recurring design strategies that link ergonomic principles—such as visibility, usability, and affordance—with inclusive practices. The study concludes by proposing a methodological framework to support future design initiatives aiming to cultivate participation, social cohesion, and meaningful human interaction.