Design Factory

Review of the year 2021

What a year! 2021 in the Design Factory

From a wide variety of creative formats to the establishment of our own premises and the inclusion of the Design Factory in the global DF network: 2021 was an exciting year for the Design Factory Stuttgart with many great developments, opportunities and challenges that we would like to look back on and share with you.

Semester courses - start of the year

At the beginning of the year, we were in the middle of the winter semester from a student perspective. For the Design Factory, this meant carrying out an important pilot project: we organized the first digital semester course and were able to make the most of the digital format - this was reflected in the innovative solutions and designed prototypes on the one hand, and in the consistently positive feedback we received from all sides on the other.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the semester course also took place digitally in the following summer semester. In addition, we offered an on-site Future Game 2050 workshop for each of the student groups, who were also able to take a look inside ARENA2036. We would like to congratulate two teams in particular: Their prototypes made it into an invention disclosure from their industry partner!  

One highlight of the digital semesters for us was the successful implementation of the prototyping mindset in remote working spaces. The digital semesters have shown that visualizing an idea and thus transferring complex thoughts to team members and stakeholders also works from home and without any high-tech. The prototypes were built using the simplest and most everyday materials:

News from the Design Factory team

There was good news for the DF team in spring: Scarlett, Design Thinking expert and Design Factory community coach, became a permanent member of the ARENA2036 team on April 1. Since October, David Franjičević has been joining the Design Factory core team and actively supporting them.

Since August 2021, the Design Factory has also been firmly anchored in the ARENA2036: the yellow container on the ARENA2036 store floor has been the DF's own creative home ever since.

Semester courses - winter semester

Design Thinking is an iterative process - this also applies to the third generation of the Design Factory semester course, which takes place as a hybrid format and makes optimal use of the combination of digital methods and collaborative work on site and constantly optimizes it. We are delighted that we finally have the opportunity to enable teamwork on site and get the most out of the design thinking process. The student teams worked on three challenges from various ARENA2036 industry partners. All challenges relate to sustainability in the broader sense of economic, social and ecological opportunities and challenges.

We started each session with a joint kick-off on the ARENA2036 shopfloor in front of the Design Factory Container. Four student teams came together to work on the industry challenges. During the first touchpoints, many interviews were conducted and perspectives on the topics were explored thanks to hybrid formats. The teams were also able to build haptic prototypes together for the first time and test them with their industry partners in December. The feedback received will now be incorporated into the prototypes in an iteration loop typical of design thinking and presented at the gala event in January.  

Beginner training - first format

The new format of the Design Thinking entry-level training course for industry partners was launched in September. Participants came from the University of Stuttgart on the one hand and from ARENA2036 partner companies on the other. Other ARENA2036 employees also took part on site for prototype testing and as interview partners.

One-year anniversary of the Design Factory & admission to the Global Network

There were two major milestones this year: In August 2021, the Design Factory celebrated its first anniversary. In addition, Design Factory Stuttgart was accepted into the Design Factory Global Network(DFGN), a network for design factories worldwide, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. We would like to congratulate them once again and look forward to an intensive exchange with our colleagues from the other Design Factories, as we share the same mission: "create change in the world of learning and research through passion-based culture and effective problem solving."

Outlook for the coming year

2022 will also be a year full of news, as two major Design Factory projects will be launched in spring: Greenesto and the Design Factory Task Force.

• Making Stuttgart greener - through mobile workshop formats in the Stuttgart city area, which we carry out with an all-electric van. Our aim is to raise awareness of climate change among the city's residents and develop solutions together. "GREENESTO - adVANce your Mindset" is the most innovative idea to receive funding from the Stuttgart Climate Innovation Fund. Find out more in the press release from the City of Stuttgart and on the Greenesto website.
• The Design Factory Task Force is a collaboration between an industry partner and students that develops solutions using methods and coaching from the Design Factory. It will start in spring 2022 and you can read more about it on the Task Force homepage.

We are excited to see what else 2022 has in store for the Design Factory and would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues, partners, students and participants for their creative collaboration!

Merry Christmas and stay healthy,

Your Design Factory team