A strategic approach to design innovative products & services within complex human & business systems in the era of AI.
This course explores what it means to design at the scale of ecosystems, blending systems thinking, service design and strategic business insights into a single integrated process.
ABOUT THIS COURSE
In a world where AI is making digital products increasingly easier to build and launch, the real competitive advantage is quickly shifting to the ability to understand and map complex interconnected human and business ecosystems, to shape lasting product and service strategies that create relevance and value for all.
Participants will learn how to map ecosystems in their complexity, identifying key stakeholders, information and value flows, interdependencies, and points of nodal leverage. They will learn how to translate that understanding into digital product and service concepts and strategies that are commercially grounded and humanly relevant. Working in teams on real-world challenges, participants will follow a structured creative process — from research and ecosystem mapping to opportunity framing, concept 1 development, and strategic planning — developing not just a service concept, but a clear-eyed view of the system it inhabits, the stakeholders it must serve, and the conditions under which it can genuinely thrive.
PRACTICAL METHODS & APPROACHES
INNOVATION IMPACT for industry participants
This course delivers practical, hands-on insights into tackling complex, systemic challenges, equipping them with approaches that go beyond isolated solutions. Participants gain methods and processes designed for replicability and direct application within their own organisations, enabling them to effectively drive and scale business innovation initiatives.
KEY LEARNINGS
TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is designed for a diverse group of participants working at the intersection of design, technology, and strategy. It is particularly suited for design students with a basic understanding of product and/or service design methodologies, product design professionals looking to develop more strategic, system-level approaches to innovation, and business strategists and technologists who want to apply design-driven methods to both framing and solving complex challenges.
Fabio is an award-winning design and strategy leader with three decades helping global organisations generate value and impact at the intersection of emerging technologies, business innovation and human behaviour.
He was most recently the Chief Design Officer and Digital Products Practice Lead at Fjord/Accenture Song, leading a team of 400 designers, business strategists and creative technologists across Italy.
Prior to Fjord/Accenture Song I was Vice President of Creative at frog design, leading frog’s global User Experience Strategy and Social Impact practices. Today Fabio works independently as a strategic design advisor and educator, helping organisations and teams to stay relevant by making sense of our fast-changing world.
Roberta is the founder and design director of oblo, a hyper-specialised strategic design studio based in Milan, working alongside public and private organisations to support innovation processes and socio-technical transformations.
She is a Service Design expert and author of Service Design Tools (first published in 2009 and updated in 2019).
Prior to founding oblo Roberta was Principal Designer at frog, leading global research and service design programs (across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America), and served as Head of Service Design at the Digital Transformation Team of the Italian Government.
