ID Seminar 2012

The annual Industrial Design Seminar 2012 discussed emerging transformations of the design practices with the help of several distinguished speakers. See their presentation in the documentation.

Click here to reach the documentation

Are there indications that design work is getting increasingly demanding and complex? How does emerging societal issues, shortage of resources, and transformations of businesses effect the knowledge designers need to have? How can designers work in order to create a sufficient knowledge regarding desirable futures? What does the trajectory of the design profession seem to be heading towards, shifting, converging or diverging? Will co-creation, workshops, probes, etc. become common in design  practice?

We will inquire into these issues at the seminar by exploring some current and emerging design practices, as well as discussing future challenges and opportunities. The aim is to create a better understanding of what  additional knowledge, methods and approaches designers might need  in a near future.

At the seminar there will be presentations by researchers and practitioners as well as discussions among them. The topics will include reflections on the concept of design thinking, as well as the challenges and opportunities with interdisciplinary work. Theories and practices of service design and product service systems will be presented, and issues of sustainability will be addressed. We will see several examples of current ways of working and also explorations of novel ways.


January 9, 2012

10:00-16:00 Public program of lectures and discussion (incl. lunch break)

Venue: Konstfack (address and directions), Svarta havet lecture hall
Admission: Open and free for the public
Language: English
Coffee/tea and snacks will be available. Lunch can be purchased.


Public program

09:30 Doors open

10:00 Introduction, Bo Westerlund

10:10 Sara Ilstedt, A sustainable future – a challenge for design?

10:30 Oksana Mont, Sustainable Lifestyles, through Systems of Joint Use

10:50 Erik Widmark, Profitable services can create a better everyday life

11:10 Fika/Break

11:30 Anna Rylander, Design-Driven Innovation - a pragmatistic reflection

11:50 Fredrik Sandberg, Design methods for creating knowledge on desirable services

12:10 Stefan Magnusson, Designers facilitate workshops in order to create knowing relevant for the assignment

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Reflection and discussion. All presenters get five to ten minutes each for reflections on the others’ talks. The presenters then form a panel that discusses questions and comments from the audience.

16:00 Wrap-up and thanks

Program can be subject to change.


About the presenters

Sara Ilstedt Hjelm is a Professor in product and service design at KTH. Her research has focus on issues such as health, wellbeing and sustainable design.

Stefan Magnusson is a Founding Partner and Senior Industrial Designer at No Picnic.

Oksana Mont is a Professor in Sustainable Consumption and Production at the International Institute of Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University.

Anna Rylander is a senior researcher at Business and Design Lab at the University of Gothenburg. Anna’s Research interests revolve around the roles of identity and design in knowledge work. She is currently exploring designers’ practices, identity constructions and roles in clients’ innovation processes.

Fredrik Sandberg is a PhD student in design at the Linnæus University and his research concerns exploring and developing design methods for design practitioners working in complex design situations. One of the questions that interests him is: what methods can be used to create and share knowledge in complex design situations?

Erik Widmark is a Service Design Director at Transformator. He has a passion for research and design thinking as well as problem defining and solving.

Bo Westerlund is a Professor in Industrial Design at Konstfack, his research has focus on how designers might work; the design approaches and processes that can lead to design proposals that are experienced as meaningful.