Light in the Dark- Design Jam
How can you attract tourist to come to Finland outside of the summer season, especially during the dark winter period? This is one of the main questions the EU-funded project Light in the Dark strives to answer. (Simpson, J & Engberg, M 2024)
As a part of the project Light in the Dark, and in connection with a course in service design for approximately 70 third year-students of business at Novia UAS, a so-called design jam was carried out. The design jam consisted of a day’s work in randomly selected groups of five persons from three student teams, as well as seven exchange students from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Prior to the event, which took place on April 4, 2024, the students participated in expert lectures about service design, as well as carried out projects for different commissioners. The projects varied from creating new services to improving existing ones, with the help of service design tools that the students had familiarized with as part of the course. This gave them a solid ground to stand on for the conclusion of the course design jam.
The design jam challenged the students with “how to sell darkness to tourists coming to the Finnish archipelago”. The idea stemmed from an article in the local newspaper about how appealing and exotic the Finnish darkness and stillness outside of the tourist season could be for foreigners, if only we knew how to package and sell it (Malkamäki, 2024). Personas developed by Visit Finland were added to the equation, and the student groups were told to choose a persona, as well as a European market to aim their offering at.
Figure 1. Personas created based on customer segmentation. (Visit Finland, 2023)
After that, they were asked to develop a 2–3-day package with activities for the target group and to develop a pitch to present their ideas. The pitch had to include pricing information.
The assignment was presented to the students by James Simpson, the Project Manager for Light in the Dark, who also gave a brief introduction of the project. In addition, the Tourism Director of Pargas, Benjamin Donner, presented the tourism sector and current topics in relation to that. After him, sustainability coordinator Maria Pick from Örö presented how Kimito and Örö have worked with darkness in the form of a festival called Mörkö, and what kind of activities it involved, to provide some examples as well as inspiration to the students.
Service design is all about understanding and fulfilling customer needs. To find out which these are and to achieve the best fit, there are several methods ranging from creating personas and empathy maps to outlining customer journeys and service blueprints. According to the double diamond framework (portrayed in the figure below), service design is an iterative process, starting with a clear definition of the problem before focusing on developing and delivering the solution. In designing the service, you move between divergent and convergent thinking. (Stickdorn & Schneider, 2012)
Figure 2. The double diamond. (Dwass, 2023)
During the design jam, the students worked in groups based on the double diamond model: first researching the problem, then brainstorming, developing, and testing different ideas with the commissioners, mentors, and potential customers. They used several service design tools in the process. After this, they developed a presentation in a pitch format, which they in the afternoon pitched to a jury of the above people. The jury chose the winning pitch, and the group was rewarded with a dinner at the Archipelago Bar (Skärgårdsbaren). The winners, the group called “The Stellar Archipelago Trips” introduced the slogan “Discover the bright side of darkness”, developed a comprehensive 3-day-package consisting of different activities with clear pricing information. They further included visual and auditive elements in their pitch, giving the audience the opportunity to imagine how the experience would feel.
Based on reflections afterwards, the students appreciated the possibility to work intensively and creatively with new people on a real assignment, applying the theory they had learned prior to the design jam. “One of the highlights of the course for me was undoubtedly the Service Design Jam. It was a dynamic experience that combined applying learned service design tools with collaborating in a new, randomly assigned group on a fresh project.”
The seven exchange students were in different groups, which made them the only non-Finnish person in the group and brought some diversity and fresh perspectives, while at the same time giving the exchange students an insight into Finnish tourism. This is something that should be paid more attention to when welcoming exchange students to our campuses: include them more in mixed groups to get to know and work with Finnish students, whereby both parties can learn from each other. As one of the exchange students put it: “Typically, we do not collaborate with mixed teams, preferring to work exclusively with other exchange students. I believe that this diverse composition was a valuable addition to the project.”
Design jams, hackathons and other similar events provide a platform for students to apply their learnings, meet new people and use the differences within the group to create innovative ideas in a short time frame. Several students made remarks about the event, challenging them to think creatively, collectively and outside the box, something that they feel they can make use of also outside of this event. “I found it impressive to see how different perspectives and skill sets converged to create a multitude of innovative solutions within a constrained timeframe. In general, this activity highlighted the power and necessity of thinking creatively and I found this to be a valuable learning experience.”
Novia Business will continue to include these kinds of events in future courses, as it has proven to be an effective method for engaging students as well as enhancing their learning. A follow-up design jam is planned within the project for the spring of 2025, preferably in collaboration with students from project partners in different countries, further adding to the diversity factor.
References
- Simpson, J. & Engberg, M. (2024). Interreg Baltic Sea Region Light in the Dark. Novialia. Retrieved 31.5. 2024 from https://novialia.novia.fi/novialia/bloggar/fui-bloggen/interreg-baltic-sea-region-light-in-the-dark-
- Godesky, J. (2023). The problem with the double diamond. Retrieved 10.6.2024 from https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/the-problem-with-the-double-diamond-57ab03719ce0
- Malkamäki, E. (2024). Yötaivas voisi olla saariston matkailuvaltti. Turun Sanomat. Stickdorn, M., & Schneider, J. (2012). This is service design thinking: Basic, tools, cases. BIS., Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral-proquest com.ezproxy.novia.filibnoviaebooksdetail.actiondocID= 2095550
- Visit Finland (2023). Tunnista kohderyhmäsi, asiakkaasi ja vahvuutesi. Retrieved 20.5.2024 from Matkailun kohderyhmät - Visit Finland
Design Jam Photo: Anna Gröning/ Light in the Dark project
The blogpost has been reviewed by Novia's editorial board and accepted for publication on 10.6.2024.
Posta din kommentar
Kommentarer
umývadlová batéria 11 maj 2026 21:06 (7 dagar sen)
Your way of telling all in this post is actually pleasant, every one
can effortlessly know it, Thanks a lot.
Crypto.com Contact Number 11 maj 2026 20:58 (7 dagar sen)
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the challenges.
It was definitely informative. Your site is very useful.
Thanks for sharing!
Dog tracker 11 maj 2026 20:45 (7 dagar sen)
Hi every one, here every one is sharing such familiarity, thus it's fastidious to read this weblog, and I used to pay a quick visit this webpage
everyday.
Sports jerseys 11 maj 2026 20:35 (7 dagar sen)
Fantastic web site. Plenty of useful information here.
I am sending it to some buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And obviously, thank you on your effort!
gsc108 daftar 11 maj 2026 20:17 (7 dagar sen)
GSC108 menghadirkan platform hiburan digital dengan akses cepat dan fitur lengkap.
Login melalui gsc108 login serta nikmati
proses daftar gsc108 yang mudah, aman, dan nyaman untuk semua pengguna online akti
signal strength 11 maj 2026 20:14 (7 dagar sen)
Please let me know if you're looking for a writer for your blog.
You have some really great posts and I feel I
would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some
of the load off, I'd love to write some articles for your
blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested.
Thank you!
cibai 11 maj 2026 20:03 (7 dagar sen)
bokep
Paragraph writing is also a excitement, if you know
after that you can write or else it is complicated to write.
New Orleans driving School 11 maj 2026 19:56 (7 dagar sen)
Jungle Driving School Omaha
4020 S 147th Տt, Omaha,
NE 68137, United Stаteѕ
14024170547
New Orleans driving School
emperor color 11 maj 2026 19:56 (7 dagar sen)
As a professional industrial chemical manufacturer, Emperor Color delivers premium dyes,
pigments, and dispersing agents for commercial and
industrial applications worldwide. Their featured products include Acid Black 2 for deep
coloration processes, Solvent Black 7 for solvent-compatible systems, Basic Green 4 for vibrant industrial coloring, and Basic Violet 10 for versatile dyeing applications.
The company’s dispersant additives are designed to optimize pigment performance and
formulation stability across multiple industries.
Emperor Color focuses on reliable product quality, advanced manufacturing standards, and efficient worldwide supply support to help businesses achieve consistent industrial production results.
بهترین روشها برای شروع بازی انفجار 11 maj 2026 19:55 (7 dagar sen)
درود، خودم اخیرا به صورت کاملا تصادفی در فضای وب
با این وبسایت آشنا شدم و راستش رو بخواید برام جالب بود.
اطلاعاتش مفید بود و خیلی کم پیش میاد همچین منبعی ببینم.
احساس میکنم برای افراد مختلف ارزش دیدن داره.
برای کسایی که دنبال منبع معتبر هستن پیشنهاد میکنم حتما یه
نگاهی بندازن. به طور کلی خوشم اومد
و احتمالا باز هم سر میزنم
خلاصهوار
برای کسانی که
بازیهای شرطی
فعال هستن
این پلتفرم شرطی
مطمئناً میتونه
مفید واقع بشه
جالبه که
مجموعههایی مثل
دامنه enfejaгonline
و
sibbet آنلاین
در حال رشد هستن
در کل داستان
قابل قبول بود
و
بیتردید
بازدیدمیکنم
.
« föregående 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 nästa »
Inga har kommenterat på denna sida ännu