Design Thinking: Collaboration with Futurice

Hands on! In the winter semester 2021/22, master students of Prof. Jenny Bergström's Design Thinking course developed innovative concepts with a focus on health in a practical project with Futurice, an international innovation and service design company with Finnish roots. Whether it was a fitness app, a children's book or a communicative card game, all students approached the task with curiosity, an open mind and a lot of energy.

Oversharing - a card game that encourages talking about sexual fantasies. (Students: Giulia Ferla and Christoffer Elby)

Oversharing - a card game that encourages talking about sexual fantasies. (Students: Giulia Ferla and Christoffer Elby)

Over the course of two months, they went through various phases of concept development. Some students experimented with new technologies such as wearables to improve their workflow and mental health. Others focused on creating a children's book to help children develop better sleep habits. Another group targeted the 70+ generation and designed a service concept to break down digital barriers for seniors.

 

"For Futurice it is important to be in dialogue with the design thinkers, innovators and service creators of tomorrow to know what occupies them, what they see as problems worth solving and to hear their perspectives and suggestions."
Louise Fuglsang, Lead Service Designer, Futurice

 

 

The collaboration with Futurice exceeded expectations on all sides. Louise Fuglesang and Laura Araujo gave students a comprehensive introduction to how Futurice works and how they use design thinking techniques to develop new products and services. With access to their tools and project examples, students had the opportunity to explore different methods and templates and implement what worked best for them and their specific challenge. The assignment was open enough to explore and structured enough for students to focus on.

Brain waves – using neuroergonomics to relief our overloaded brains. Séverine Bouyssou and Paolo Tortone

 

As the students already had some prior knowledge of design thinking from previous courses, the project with Futurice was a perfect opportunity to deepen their understanding of the process. The final presentations demonstrated their ability to define problems worth solving, build empathy, develop and prototype their ideas, and bring concepts to life through storytelling. The support and input from Futurice throughout the process, as well as the opportunity to present to a panel of the industry experts David Tupili (Smith + Nephew) and Francesca Cignola (Nui Care), was invaluable and provided a unique learning experience for the group. Lecturer Prof. Jenny Bergström extends her sincere thanks to all participants for their participation and commitment.