Aya Miura

Death and dying is a taboo subject in many countries around the world, and hospices have a negative perception in most societies. fuelfor gave a rich insight into their project journey, sharing stories from initial insights research with three local hospices and a funeral home in Singapore. This work helped to rethink the current experience … Continue reading “Transforming the experience of death and dying”

With the world becoming increasingly digital nowadays, Slava Kozlov, Summ()n (Russia/The Netherlands) discussed the issue of how this relates to empathy, compassion in the digital space. His talk opened up new fields like ‘Digital Empathy’, highlighting the capacity to translate tools and principles of design research into new digital realms. People increasingly live in a … Continue reading “Inspiring new empathic collaborations”

How to facilitate a cross-culture collaboration, with participants from around the world? This was the question addressed by STBY’s Geke (UK/NL) and Quicksand’s Ayush (India), who currently are working together on project for International Development and Social Impact for the ‘Global South’. Commissioned by Nesta and the Rockefeller Foundation, STBY & Quicksand took a co-design … Continue reading “Co-developing a toolkit for Social Impact”

The widespread sense of pressure we experience due to financial crisis often results in an inability to radically improve products, services or societies. These qualities can be regained if using ethnographic methods and emphatic prototype testing. Infact, not only regained, what other values can be created for organisations using such tools? When ethnographic praxis is … Continue reading “Turning fear of change into enthusiasm”

Transitioning to something new is hard work because you don’t always know what you are transitioning to. Sometimes, it could be that the skills are not always in place to make the new a reality. However, in most cases, its just that the pathway to ‘new’ is fraught with previously unthought of challenges. The danger … Continue reading “Transitioning to a new framework”

IDSL (France) is an innovation consultancy and a design company specialised in designing interaction. With the theme of “changing perspectives on empathy and participation”, Virginia Cruz, IDSL spoke about the collaboration of designers and ethnographers to help SNCF (French railway company) create an affordable highly qualitative bus travel service. The main question Virginia explored how … Continue reading “Innovation in bus travel across Europe”

Change is closely related to learning. There are many ways to learn, but playing and experimenting are two of the most powerful learning methodologies. Based on the 360 project that was conducted in collaboration with the Swindon Borough Council, UK, minds & makers from Germany, showed how such interventions help participants reflect their behaviors, routines … Continue reading “Stimulating a learning organisation”