Tapani Jokinen – Integrating design thinking with life cycle thinking – “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution”

Tapani Jokinen is an internationally recognized strategic and ecodesign expert.

“I am a designer and design is by nature about solving problems. Design thinking is a creative systematic problem-solving process. It is a collaborative, iterative, explorative way of working. Identify, define the problem and find the creative solution. It’s human-centered creativity with purpose, but today it has to take into account social and environmental impacts at the system level. The design process is first and foremost a learning journey.”

His 25 years extensive experience in design gives him a unique insight in managing complex business, driving sustainability-led innovation and developing sustainable products and services.

“In my role as a Circular Design Consultant I have the opportunity to share my experiences in the field of design and circular design and constantly learn new things from my clients. Multidisciplinary Collaboration gives the opportunity to innovate and view a problem from a different perspective. Design is the tool that an organization can embrace to infuse creative thinking into the equation and help make a smoother transition to a circular economy. Design helps the organization fulfill its strategic intent and helps to adapt to upcoming changes.”

By integrating design thinking with life cycle thinking, he helps companies to accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy.

Besides his work as a Design Consultant at Fraunhofer IZM Berlin, he is the founder of TJ-Design, a creative consultancy that fuses strategic innovation and design with sustainability and ethical business practices. He also collaborates with Taival Advisory Oy.

Prior to this he was Head of the Design Portfolio and Strategy at Microsoft and Nokia, where he was a designer behind the iconic Nokia 3310.

Tapani is one of the authors of the Ecodesign Learning Factory program, where he is teaching and facilitating training modules, innovation workshops and lecturing circular design principles in seminars and conferences.

“Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. Stay away from your comfort zone gives you the opportunity to learn new. In circular design, it is often more important to unlearning from old habits, ways of thinking, and making products and services to enable new innovations and the adoption of better low-carbon technologies and processes, shaping the technologies that shape the world and us.”

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