Picture Design Foundation Finland
Design stories from Helsinki
Design thinking isn’t just about creating better products and services; it can be used to make entire cities better.
Design enables cities to make changes that both save money and hit their target, say strategic designer Marco Steinberg and Tiina-Kaisa Laakso-Liukkonen, counsel of the International Design Foundation, interviewed in the web publication Designstoriesfromhelsinki.fi.
User-driven and participatory design shape products and services that correspond to an actual need. Participatory city planning has led to less complaints from citizens. Design methods should be a firm part of public service structures so that design can stick to the inside layers of urban development.
The City of Helsinki itself is known for a well-designed curiosity: design thinking is embraced and put to practice on all employee levels, including management. Staff is trained to put design practices into use. Professional training de-mystifies the design process, says Jorma Lehtonen, Design Agent, Design Foundation Finland, in his interview.
The design stories from Helsinki told in the newly published web publication include examples of a museum renewed through design (Helsinki Art Museum HAM), tackling youth homelessness through experimentation (A Home That Fits – an initiative run by the City’s Youth Department) and the Helsinki Region Infoshare database and website, where city-related data has been shared openly since 2011.
Helsinki was nominated World Design Capital in 2012. In 2014 Helsinki was awarded City of Design status as part of the Creative Cities Network established by Unesco.
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