Circular Design: Systemic Innovation

How do you design circular systems, not just circular products? In this episode, Anne Farken from Designworks, a BMW Group Company, talks about why circular design is not only about the product itself, but about the ecosystem around it. The conversation looks at the gap between saying design should be integrated from the beginning and actually thinking product and business model together from day one. What you'll hear in this episode: • How to design the product ecosystem and integrate product development, business model, and value creation from day one • The role of designers in translating business model insights into product requirements and facilitating integration across teams • Why the more you rethink a product, the more you need tolerance for ambiguity and alignment across teams The episode also touches on why constraints and tradeoffs should be seen as creative opportunities. This is the final episode in the series Implementing Circular Design Principles, produced in collaboration with the German Design Council. The series explored how design decisions shape circular outcomes at the material, product, and system level, following the principles of Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.