Dossiers - Helsinki Design Lab

Creative Collaborations

Last updated 04 November, 2012

An easy to read book containing 19 practical rules of thumb for individuals who are collaborating. Available as a free dowload.

introductionTruly creative collaborations are ones that result in unexpected outcomes. Working on projects like this require all participants to step outside of...

download call to actionAvailable as a free PDF. Or you can order a printed paperback at Lulu.com for about €8.

Clues to Open Helsinki

Last updated 18 March, 2012

A set of 19 'postcards from the future', written in 2010 to provoke thinking about the role of strategic design during Helsinki's World Design Capital 2012 year.

Design Ethnography Field Guide

Last updated 23 May, 2011

We created this sample "field guide" for participants of HDL Studios to use when venturing out to see the reality of a system as it is truly lived and experienced. Available in Finnish and English.

design flanders Different templates for different methods →servicedesigntoolkit.org As part of a larger "Service Design Toolkit", Design Flanders provide...

frogFour rules for 'designing design research' →frogdesign.com Jan Chipchase of Frog Design shares some insights from his many years leading that...

intro textAn essential part of any design activity is understanding the context one is working in, particularly the social context. Eventually when proposals...

AIGAMaking the case for design ethnography →aiga.org The AIGA and commercial consultancy Cheskin Added Value provide a joint document which lays...

notesStuff to incorporate (treat this as a notepad): http://www.servicedesigntoolkit.org/templates/ Lots here... seems like we should figure out a way...

Growing Västerbotten (HDL x UID)

Last updated 17 January, 2011

Umeå Institute of Design invited HDL to be part of their 'Prototyping the Future' experiment, a week where the school tests out new design practices. We hosted an Studio model looking at regenration of Sweden's Västerbotten county where Umeå is located.

opaqueThe county is opaque There's a lot of beautiful things on offer here but it can be hard to know how to take advantage of everything. Swedish...

TuesdayTuesday 09:00-12:00 Synthesis session: what do we know? 12:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-18:00 Field visits / fact finding

give backIt's not easy to give back Umeå has a lot of students but it's not always clear how we can contribute back while we're here.

Ageing Studio (2010)

Last updated 12 August, 2010

Most developed nations are going gray as their large boomer cohorts enter the later stages of life, and Finland will be amongst the first. HDL hosted a Studio on Ageing in the summer of 2010 to help understand what this will mean for Finland.

DIVIDER10 IDEAS (in no particular order)

Preparing For The WavePreparing For The Silver Wave The three descriptive models as conceptual starting points

Develop a New Social Charter3. Develop a New Social Charter Could Finland be the first nation ever to use a national co-creation event to develop a new social contract?

Education Studio (2010)

Last updated 12 August, 2010

Finland has one of the best education systems in the world. But how useful will this status be in an era with new challenges and new criteria for success? HDL developed the Studio on Education to think about the future of education by beginning with an unlikely starting point: school dropouts.

Education Studio SummaryThe studio suggested a series of seven priority shifts addressing key elements within the education ecology. The goal is to replace “I’m...

Discontinuation increased [everywhere] except for vocational education.

DIVIDER 10 IDEAS10 ideas (in no particular order)

Sustainability Studio (2010)

Last updated 10 August, 2010

Sitra has been focused on sustainability with its Low2No competition and other efforts. The HDL Studio on Sustainability built upon these by sketching a national strategy for a carbon neutral built environment.

Delivered District Heat Energy by Decade of ConstructionBuilding age is the greatest determinate of the energy efficiency of Finland's building stock.

Distribution of CO2 Emissions from Transport by Type 2002Distribution of CO2 Emissions from Transport by Type 2002

9. Performance Based Building Permits & Audits9. Performance Based Building Permits & Audits Carbon budgets should inform building design, permitting, and usage.

8. Invent Cellular Infrastructure8. Invent Cellular Infrastructure Explore smart grids and other technologies to make lower density viable with a smaller carbon footprint.