Aalto DF
Insights
Xiaoqi Feng
Tua Björklund 15/03/2022
Vikki Eriksson
Tua Björklund 03/02/2022
Hanna Aarnio
Joel 13/11/2019
Anna Kuukka
Tua Björklund 06/04/2019Translating insight and creating tools for understanding
Anna has a multidisciplinary design background and she is accustomed to switching perspectives between research, trend forecasting, concept design, design management, product development and brand building. In Design Factory she focuses mainly on DesignBites project both as a researcher and in the development of insight. Anna is passionate about creating design solutions that bridge abstract and concrete ideas, enable stakeholders to share understanding, and, above all, improve the life of their end-users.
Anna has a MA in design from Aalto University (2013) including International Design Business Management as her Minor.
Teo Keipi
Tua Björklund 04/04/2019Social aspects of innovating design thinking
Teo is a social scientist with a background in social psychology, economic sociology and behavioural economics. His past research has involved group decision making, attitudes and behavioural patterns linked to identity including issues of trust, wellbeing, risk assessment, accountability and social tie effects among others. His research at the Design Factory focuses on mapping contextual factors that influence motivational, performance and cooperative aspects of organisational decision-making that can be enhanced by the design thinking approach.
In terms of Design Factory projects, Teo contributes primarily to Design+, DesignBites and DRIVE, studying how the design thinking approach and nuanced group dynamics can be leveraged for innovating business strategy.
In the private sector, Teo has been involved with building cooperative strategies between corporations and start-ups in addition to studying corporate experiences of innovating and integrating start-up expertise within complex and well-established companies.
Teo has a PhD in Economic Sociology from the University of Turku (2016).
Saurabh Deo
Joel 14/11/2018
Floris van der Marel
Joel 06/07/2018Floris is design researcher skilled in creative facilitation and design coaching combining Participatory Design and research practices to contribute to political activism by amplifying unheard voices and challenging power imbalances and normative hierarchies.
Based on data collected in the Design+ project Floris is contributing to our understanding of designers’ experiences in large tech organizations as they attempt to challenge the status quo in engineering-heavy organizational cultures and in DesignBites he’s diving into the creative responses of entrepreneurs and their communities tackling the pandemic. He’s also continuing working with participatory design in hospital settings based on a 2019-20 visit in Design Factory Melbourne.
Floris draws from a MSc degree in design research from Delft University of Technology and Middle East Technical University, as well as a BSc degree in industrial design engineering. Prior to joining Aalto Design Factory, he worked at the Frisian Design Factory in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Maria Talvinko
Tua Björklund 06/11/2017Maria is a researcher in the DesignBites project, specifically interested in the themes of storytelling, networks and ecosystems, and entrepreneurial identities. She comes from an international design business management (IDBM) background, with first-hand experience of entrepreneurship from running her own company TwentyKnots. She’s also a passionate photographer, and comfortable decoding narratives in not only in the interview data but also the Instagram feeds of the ventures we track.
Download our DesignBites report here.