Collaborative and Industrial Design

Interested in expanding industrial design with human-centred approaches, strategic thinking and research? Visit the Collaborative and Industrial Design Programme website coid.aalto.fi for exciting stories about CoID students’ innovative projects, the student community, and more information about the courses and faculty members.

The Master’s programme in Collaborative and Industrial Design (CoID) focuses on design's role in society. It provides skills to work as design entrepreneurs and in a range of roles within industry, business, communities, education and the government. The programme extends industrial design into interaction design, service design, co-design and other emerging fields in which design activities can enhance the quality of the environment and people’s life. Students learn empathic, critical, strategic and technical skills needed in design innovation processes. They are also encouraged to explore novel roles in design industry.

The CoID programme is based on design-based problem setting, elaboration, problem-solving and communication. An essential part of the education is project-based. The contents of the education cover: design thinking and communication; briefing; concept design and prototyping; research, implementation and evaluation; and new and emerging themes in design. These skills are applied all the way from product development for business and industry to problems originating from the public sector and non-governmental organisations.

Applicants for the CoID programme in apply in the master’s level admissions in the field of Art and Design. The programme seeks students with skills to develop processes and structures, to create innovative design solutions both individually and in team settings, with personal and artistic insightfulness, ideation skill, and goal-orientation and motivation. 

Eligible applicants for the programme have earned a Bachelor of Arts (Art and Design) or completed equivalent studies. The Master’s Programme in Collaborative and Industrial Design consists of advanced studies which can be completed in two years. 

Students are granted admission to the programme through a two-phase process. In the first phase students are evaluated based on the application as a whole, including portfolio, previous studies, CV and letter of motivation. In the second phase, the most suitable applicants are invited for an interview, from which a smaller subset of applicants is offered a study place. Applicants accepted to the programme may be required to take supplementary studies.