CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR INNOVATION
The business and R&D landscape of Australia is rapidly changing and we believe that the only way to stay ahead of the curve is to use design thinking and co-creation methods to discover new offerings.
Our interdisciplinary teams work together on real world projects, with local and global partners, using human centered design methods to co-create extraordinary insights and outcomes. This diversity of minds, skills, and experience drives R&D capability and impact.
THE LATEST FROM DFM
Redesigning Scientific Research Spaces at the Australian Synchrotron
In the first collaborative project following the signing of an MOU between Design Factory Melbourne (DFM) and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), two honours students in the DFM global program have redesigned beamline user cabin spaces, used by scientists at the Australian Synchrotron.
Clever Ideas to Reduce Tyre Dust in Our Waterways
Swinburne design students have created concepts to reduce tyre dust levels and micro-plastics found in our waterways.
Astro Teller on Celebrating Failure
“Great dreams aren’t just visions,” says Astro Teller, “They’re visions coupled to strategies for making them real.”
Getting Results from Design Thinking
Design Thinking — It’s a term that’s become tied to the agenda of innovation and change. It has become the ‘new black’ and migrated from the agency to the boardroom with executives recognising the need to incorporate it into their long-term strategy. But what is design thinking?
7 Days of co-creation and innovation in Nantong
For 7 days in April our global team, working with Innospring, travelled to their partner university in Nantong, China, for an intensive week working with their team to speed their project along. The Innospring team have been tasked with exploring opportunities for developing services for smart buildings in China. Aaron Down, studying his BA Honours with DFM, shares a day in the life of his time there.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
DAILY PRACTICE OF INNOVATION
Small actions, big shifts
What makes up a typical workday? It can differ vastly from creating new ideas for a program launch to framing customer needs in a compelling way for a project proposal. How can we then make each day as productive as possible?
Over the last two years, we at DFM have gathered a range of productivity perspectives to the core work we do around innovation. Now, we are sharing our insights with everyone through this Daily Practice of Innovation: Small actions, big shifts book.
This book is a collection of insights and activities to find new perspectives in your daily work. In it, we explore how to set the foundations for a productive day, leverage the most of your time, find opportunities hidden in plain sight, boost energy, and gain new perspectives at work. The activities are brief and require no prior knowledge, so you can jump right into the doing.
We also love to thank Jaiden Gusti, our DFM alumnus, for the design of the book!
RE-THINK. RE-FRAME. RE-IMAGINE
A Year of Resilience
Is there a better time than now to illustrate the importance of innovative practices in the face of uncertainty?
The last 18 months have forced a lot of us to take a step back and assess our approach to challenging circumstances.
At DFM, we took this opportunity to embrace resilience and continue to convert our expertise into action. We remained curious and open to new opportunities and experimentation, seeking new ideas from a variety of perspectives. We directed our focus towards the future, imagining the possibilities of inclusive design, design for science and technology and innovation ecosystems.
Our new publication, Re-Think, Re-Frame, Re-Imagine, highlights the different avenues in which we applied this mindset, from our student and industry projects, professional workshops, community-based activities, and our latest research.
Discover our insights in our new publication, available online now.
GET A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE AS A DF STUDENT
Josh Bragagnolo
Industrial Design student Josh has completed both the local and global streams at DFM – read about his experience.
AMELIA IVERSON
Read about how Business student Amelia Iverson’s experience with DFM shaped her future path.
JAIDEN GUSTI
EMILY CHEESMAN
As part of Emily Cheesman’s Master of Occupational Therapy she is completing a stream of units with DFM. Read about her introduction to design thinking here.