Design processes: Using computing animations for interactive furniture conception

This article explores the use of graphical animations in the process of furniture design. The proposals are part of the Kómuniká’tór Project (www.eesc.usp.br/nomads/ kom.htm) that investigates the insertion of media in dwelling furniture. The objective is to describe the process of creation and use of these animations pointing how this methodology has been relevant for visualizing potentials and limitations of the proposals explored in the project. Two consultations through focus groups had been carried through, the first one with potentially users and the second one with professionals of design, communication and architecture domains. The technique of animations appears as a valid method for a first contact between the proposed object with its possible user