The Nokia Design archive – exploring unseen concepts of design and opportunities of design-driven transformation and change We investigate the role of design within Nokia in 1995-2015 by utilising a previously unexplored design archive consisting of thousands of concepts, prototypes, documents, and videos from the company's design department. Moving beyond the success-failure paradigm so often connected to Nokia's story, the archive offers a rare chance to gain a deeper understanding of design as a discursive tool for envisioning futures and impacting decision-making, and novel scientific knowledge on how design practices are used within a large corporation. We aim to establish a new field of research in Finland, where design history provides a deeper understanding of the processes behind design's role in creating change. This will allow us to examine design practices critically, situating the work in a larger narrative of societal, cultural and technological development.

2021

2025