The Future is Pink
Designing for Serendipitous Encounters in the Workplace
Bachelor Graduation Project // Sept 2017 – Feb 2018 // Coached by: prof. dr. ir. Caroline Hummels and Jorge Alves Lino // Client: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden // Coaching in RISE: dr. Ambra Trotto
The Future is Pink is a project concerning the development of a collaborative workplace in an iconic building in the city of Umeå, the north of Sweden. In this project a macro and a micro perspective were used to look at the future of the building Scharinska Villan.
Through the curation of various workshops with stakeholders, a future scenario for the use of this building was developed: a collaborative workplace functioning as a hub for social innovation and transformation. With this scenario in mind, a micro-perspective was taken to look at design opportunities and the concept Collect to Connect was developed.
Collect to Connect is an automated co-creation curator where personal values, expertise, interests, and challenges of individuals are used to connect people within this building. The system aims to provide visitors of the building with insights about each other, creating an environment where serendipities - unexpected discoveries - between people can happen. It is a system that empowers visitors to feel connected to the activities in the building, stimulating people to create new relationships and co-working practices.
Reflection
The Future is Pink has been a very broad project where designing took place on a systemic level as well as on a micro-level, indicating the complexity of a real time case. Through this project I learned how to switch quickly from a micro to macro perspective and to bridge these perspectives through a design intervention.
