PDPcontinuoused | Aalto Design Factory

Anna Kuukka

Tua Björklund 06/04/2019

Translating 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.

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Teo Keipi

Tua Björklund 04/04/2019

Social 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).

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Senni Kirjavainen

admin 13/08/2015

Senni is a designer doing research on design processes and ways of supporting creativity. She is involved for example in Design+ tracking initiatives taking design thinking to practice large tech companies.

Senni is passionate about smooth user experiences and services that really serve their purpose. She draws from a MA degree in industrial design from Aalto University, and doctoral studies in engineering design.

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Tua Björklund

admin 10/09/2014

Connecting theory and practice

Tua is the co-director of the Design Factory, an assistant professor in leading for creativity in the School of Engineering and the deputy director of Materials to Product (M2P). Her work revolves around understanding, teaching and developing co-creation efforts, turning ideas into improvements in organizations and education.

Tua heads research at the Design Factory, looking into sustainable design practices, innovation in organisations, co-creation and the impact of the Design Factory. In addition, she manages the research projects CREATNet, Design Plus, Design+Sustainability, and ATTRACT, investigating how design thinking can change the way companies organise for innovation and how collaborative experimentation can give rise to new opportunities. She is also a deputy editor at the Journal of Engineering Education.

On the teaching front, Tua is a part of Design Factory efforts to promote developing university teaching. She teaches responsible innovation and human-centered design in Mechanical Engineering in Society, Prototyping for Innovation, and Design thinking and creativity for innovation, as well as design innovation in executive and professional education.

Tua has a DSc degree in work psychology from the Aalto University School of Science, and an MA degree in cognitive science from the University of Helsinki.

Publications on the Design Factory

Recent journal publications

Hölttä-Otto, K., Björklund, T.A., Klippert, M., Otto, K., Krause, D., Eckert, C., Nespoli, O. & Albers, A. (in press). Facing extreme uncertainty – how the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced product development. International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation.
Surma-aho, A., Björklund, T.A. & Hölttä-Otto, K. (in press). User and stakeholder perspective taking in novice design teams. Design Science.
Björklund, T.A., Gilmartin, S.K. & Sheppard, S. (2023). The dynamics of innovation efforts in the early career. Creativity and Innovation Management, 32, 80-99.
Perttunen, E., Keipi, T., Hwang, S., & Björklund, T.A. (2023). Getting by with a little help from my friends: The impact of the pandemic on the collaboration of small Finnish food and beverage ventures. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 27(1/2), 51-76.
Björklund, T.A. & Hannukainen, P. (2022). Tracking design from offerings to strategy. Touchpoint, 13(1), 86-92.
Feng, X. & Björklund, T.A. (2022). Looking beyond your own speciality: student and faculty perceptions of collaboration opportunities. CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation, 6(2): 20-27
Björklund, T.A., Mikkonen, M., Mattila, P. & van der Marel, F. (2020). Expanding entrepreneurial solution spaces in times of crisis: Business model experimentation amongst packaged food and beverage ventures. Journal of Business Venturing Insights.
Björklund, T.A., Keipi, T. & Maula, H. (2020). Crafters, explorers, innovators, and co-creators – Narratives in designers’ identity work. Design Studies.
Björklund, T.A., Maula, H., Soule, S. & Maula, J. (2020). Integrating design into organizations: The coevolution of design capabilities. California Management Review.
Sheppard, S.D., Björklund, T.A., Chen, H.L., Gilmartin, S.K., Atwood, S., Reynolds Brubaker, E., et al. (2020). Connecting people and ideas: Making sense of a research lab through creating a shared frame. International Journal of Engineering Education, 36(2).

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