DESIGNING FOR COMPANIES: CODIFYING WORKSHOPS FORMAT FOR SPRINT PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT

New codified methodologies for developing relevant products for companies are needed when product design workshops are set within the academic context, as companies funds academic design research and practice aiming to gain applicable results in their own production reality. The Design system of Politecnico di Milano (here in after Polimi Design System), by involving the Design School, uses to promote a mutual learning approach between designers and companies by directly engaging companies over the workshops duration. However, when academic research is funded by external companies, traditional design workshops methodologies need to be reframed. In this work the authors show a different methodology for conducting product design workshops within the context of the Polimi Design System. New insights and relevant results have been gained by conducting preliminary research in close collaboration with the reference company, aiming to reframe the organizational aspects and, in turn, the activities of a five days lasting design workshop. The involved company provided designers their domain-specific issues through a specific brief previously elaborated together with workshops academic facilitators, so that designers haven’t been overly constrained in extremely technical issues and have been able to develop both radical and incremental innovative products, thus providing the company with feasible results. The here presented experience is considered as the basis for further improvements and results validation over product design workshops at the Polimi Design System.