Conference Agenda

The furniture industry is currently facing profound environmental and systemic challenges that demand radical transformation. Servitisation, understood as the shift from selling products to delivering value through integrated product–service systems, offers a potential pathway to foster circularity and long-term competitiveness. However, this change requires the adaptation and integration of circularity strategies within the sector. Strategic Design and Transition Design can provide solid theoretical and practical foundations to support this integration. Therefore, this article explores how participatory processes supported by design can assist companies in co-defining circular strategies through servitisation. Using Participatory Action Research within a leading Italian furniture manufacturer, the study proposes a process involving a series of collaborative workshops to map system dynamics, envision future scenarios, and define actionable directions. The process revealed both tangible and intangible strategic design outcomes. The process proposed highlights the potential of Strategic and Transition Design to guide businesses through design-led circular transitions.

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in organisations is often reduced to metric-driven compliance, overlooking the collective sensemaking required for systemic transformation. Through a longitudinal case study, we traced the evolution of ESG strategy and sensemaking processes across organisational layers. The study highlights (i) the nature of reflection determined by role, (ii) three recurring types of reflection, and (iii) the key transitions that marked the ESG journey in the case company. The results indicate that structured reflection can connect measurement with meaning, transforming ESG into a co-created learning system. These findings inform the Reflective ESG Learning Framework (R-ESG-LF), a learning infrastructure that positions guided reflection as a core design capability for long-term organisational learning. With structure, ESG becomes an opportunity for cross-level alignment and adaptive change. The research contributes to design transitions by formalising reflection as a mechanism for participatory alignment and adaptive change, bridging the gap between governance and practice.

A research project conducted in a major appliance company investigates how Ecodesign, when implemented through a design-led and cross-functional process, can evolve from a technical activity into a catalyst for organisational transformation. The study examines the application of a company-specific Ecodesign tool designed to guide product development teams and support adaptive change. A conceptual framework integrating Design-Led Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, and the Multi-Level Perspective is adopted to interpret how design mediates learning across functions. The paper focuses on the Seize phase, when Ecodesign is integrated into new product development routines through pilot projects. These pilots act as experimental settings in which cross-functional teams apply the Ecodesign tool to align design decisions with sustainability objectives, fostering the integration of new practices, routines and collaborative capabilities. The findings highlight major barriers and emerging opportunities to further scale Ecodesign implementation and build organisational readiness for sustainability-oriented transformation.

Robotaxi services are expanding rapidly, but interior cleanliness, valued by passengers, remains a critical weak link. This study examines embedding the Automated Robotaxi Interior Space Cleaning (ARISC) framework in existing operations via a product service system (PSS) architecture without reducing fleet availability. Methodologically, frame innovation is undertaken from companies’ internal processes and governance: first, the study benchmarks DiDi Autonomous Driving, Baidu’s Apollo Go, and SAIC Mobility Robotaxi, and maps existing Robotaxi service systems; second, eleven semi structured interviews with cleaning providers, company staff, and passengers yield 384 records indicating functional needs (air circulation, surface cleaning, waste removal) and value needs (trust, hygiene, convenience); finally, ARISC is proposed and its embedding pathway illustrated through a service blueprint. Viewed through a PSS lens, the framework organizes cross functional collaboration, provides operators a systemic transformation pathway, and guides management toward service strategies for long term competitiveness.

Organizations are increasingly immersed in automation programs aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, yet these initiatives fundamentally impact and reshape traditional workplaces. Prior research has examined automation's effects on workers who directly interact with it, but less attention has been given to how broader worker ecosystems are impacted. To address this gap, we investigate an autonomous shuttle bus project at an international airport. We conduct an interview study with nine external experts holding prior experience in similar automation contexts. To engage participants in discussing the impacts of a future autonomous bus operation, we utilize systemic design as a lens and conduct co-design activities with them. Our findings surface key tasks, responsibilities, scenarios, and implementation considerations that affect workers within the broader ecosystem. Through this empirical case, we intend to move beyond techno-centric approaches to automation and illustrate the value of incorporating systemic perspectives in worker-centered automation efforts.

This paper is based on interviews with 20 expert industrial designers with 8-40+ years of experience about how they are adopting generative AI into their workflows. Using thematic analysis, the study reveals how top-down pressure for speed and efficiency drives rapid, bottom-up adoption of generative AI tools. The core finding is that in this scramble for adoption, designers and design businesses risk cognitive offloading and significant loss of control over micro-decisions in key parts of the design process. By critically examining the potential loss of control and reflection, the inquiry explores how the value of industrial design work extends far beyond generating contextless output and what consequences this has for generative AI implementation. The investigation concludes with an actionable roadmap for decision-makers in industrial design businesses, considering when to adopt generative AI.