How Design Enhances Startup Ecosystem: Design Education Centered Interventions

Abstract This paper explores the ways in which design and startup ecosystem affect each other by design education centered interventions. Study is based on some design related processes that have been implemented within the context of undergraduate and graduate level industrial design courses in collaboration with entrepreneurship ecosystem. While in graduate level courses, design thinking methods were used to intervene the startups’ processes; in undergraduate level courses, three different design processes were actualized; first; an entrepreneurial design approach towards the graduation project; second, a design studio project about developing a working digital product from an existing maker project; and third one, developing visual identity for startups. Findings of this study show the need for designer’s engagement in such processes and reveal the value of collaborative work. This study suggests a new ecosystem including design education and other design related stakeholders to enhance productivity and originality.