
IKEA democratic design days keynote speaker presentations online
tune into DESIGNBOOM on friday @ 9:25AM to watch keynote speakers address themes such as: 'why designers need to think like entrepreneurs' and 'how to get under the skin of the user in the design process'.
IKEA democratic design days keynote speaker presentations online
what happens when good design is made accessible to everyone instead of just a few?
with the DEMOCRATIC DESIGN DAYS zurich keynote event fully booked, DESIGNBOOM partnered with IKEA to offer our readers the opportunity to watch the program presentations through live streaming on friday, february 19th, 2016.
the keynote speaker line-up included: marcus engman, head of design, IKEA of sweden; sharon baurley, head of products, royal college of art, london; patricia roller, startup investor, former co-CEO of FROG design; and alain de botton, philosopher and writer — a rare occasion to see him speaking via live stream. collectively, they addressed themes such as: ‘why designers need to think like entrepreneurs’, ‘how to get under the skin of the user in the design process’ and ‘why design matters’.
in case you missed it, the full speaker line-up is available to watch online here!
KEYNOTE EVENT LIVE STREAM PROGRAM
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MARCUS ENGMAN, head of design, IKEA of sweden: ‘we’re not just making things – we’re making things better’
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JON KUSTER, graduate of industrial design from royal college of art: ‘how to get under the skin of the user in the design process’
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PATRICIA ROLLER, start-up investor, former co-CEO of FROG design: ‘why designers need to think like entrepreneurs’
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ALAIN DE BOTTON, writer and philosopher: why design matters
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WHAT DESIGN CAN DO design challenge presentation with:
RICHARD VAN DER LAKEN, creative director WHAT DESIGN CAN DO: ‘how to harness the power of design for urgent societal issues’; DAGAN COHEN, WHAT DESIGN CAN DO challenge leader; and JONATHAN SPAMPINATO, head of communications & strategic planning, IKEA foundation.
full playlist of IKEA democratic design days keynote speakers presentations here
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on saturday 20 february, designers and creative thinkers gathered at the villa tobler near kunsthaus zurich to exchange ideas for the WHAT DESIGN CAN DO challenge, a global design challenge which aims to improve the lives of refugee families in urban areas. participants got a sense of the obstacles in the way of integrating refugees in host communities and tried to come up with possible solutions, working in multi-disciplinary teams. the workshop was hosted by amsterdam-based design platform WHAT DESIGN CAN DO.
the challenge has been developed in close collaboration with the IKEA foundation and the united nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). more information on WHAT DESIGN CAN DO here.
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DEMOCRATIC DESIGN DAYS, ZURICH 2016
‘we believe that design can change the world. the vision of IKEA is to create a better everyday life for the many people. our guiding principle for developing products and services is democratic design. it means a solution has to fulfill the five criteria of form, function, sustainability, quality and affordability. during the democratic design days we want to explore the potential and importance of design for societal change together with you – and our keynote speakers and designers.’ – simona scarpaleggia, CEO of IKEA switzerland
join the conversation
IKEA Switzerland’s twitter handle @IKEA_CH will cover the event with tweets, using the hashtag #DDDZurich and #IKEA.
*UPDATE: this article was updated on monday, february 22nd, 2016 with all hi-res video content of each speaker.

















