The first steps in a new reality

The system change of the early 1990s brought Poland a true explosion of entrepreneurship. In every line of business, private companies were springing up, and, of course, the design industry was no exception. We founded the Ergodesign studio, thus launching a new phase in the history of Polish design

The beginning of Ergodesign

In the 1990s, we implemented dozens of products. Ergodesign could be found in almost every Polish home. We created mass-produced industrial designs with an emphasis on form, function, and durability, which were the most important values at the time

The spirit of 1990s design

Our most famous designs at the time were the Crystal kettle and the Alexis slicer. Today, they are considered design icons of the 1990s and are still even used in homes and featured in design museums. Looking at these designs, you can see the spirit of the 90’s design and the influence of pop culture

We introduce user-centered design

The 2000s were a time when the design industry in Poland advanced in every way, and so did we. We not only focused on the product itself, but its context, the market, and communication with the customer. This was the point where we fully realized the impact of user-centered design

Ergodesign creates well-known Polish brands

One of our flagship projects is the X-lander, a brand of baby strollers which became an enormous success. Suffice to say, at that time the X-lander logo appeared on every second stroller purchased in Poland. Yet baby strollers have a brief life-span — children just grow out of them quickly. We took this as a challenge, and thus emerged the concept for Next Way, an innovative service to give products a second life

Signs of circular approach

This was the first time we used a refurbish and resell business model for our client’s company. Did we consider this to be a success? Of course! The idea was superb, innovative, and forward-looking. Unfortunately, none of this translated into market success. We had set off a bit too early, but today our solution stands as proof that even back then we were thinking in terms of circular design, anticipating the trend by at least a decade

Design as a tool for growth

Twenty years have passed since the system transformation. Companies that were created in the early 1990s are entering their mature phase and are beginning to face mature challenges. In response to these needs we are creating design-based development strategies. This decade is a time for us to move from product and user design to strategic design

The power of change through design

After dozens of design strategies developed for our clients we have acquired a certainty with regard to our competencies in strategic design and the power of design in changing business

The leap to circularity

Yet we still felt something was missing, that our work was shortsighted. We knew that, as a design studio, we could do more. We were inspired by some new catchphrases: environmental, environment-friendly, sustainable, regenerating, renewable, recyclable… We realized that we were always skimming across the surface, but our motivation was increasing. And then we encountered the principles of the circular economy

Our circular transformation

The circular economy is an entirely new economic model – it is holistic and geared toward action, not just theory. This is what persuaded us it was right. This is an environment perfect for the optimistic spirit of activist design. After thirty years, we’ve reached a new starting point – we’re looping what used to be linear

Time for learning

We came to our transformation process as a team. First we gave ourselves time to learn. We organized over twenty internal workshops. We ran research projects on materials and tools, we hunted down the best practices. This stage concluded with setting up our own podcast. A year later, we felt ready for our circular coming out. It was time to do some experiments

Time for experimenting

We invited out clients and their real projects to join our work. We worked with a young circular start-up. We collaborated with recognized brands, redefining their catalogue and making them more environment- and user-friendly. Our clients also include traditional companies, whom we help by managing materials in their production process

Ergodesign HUB

Circular design has opened us up to new experiments. We have reorganized our work, drawing from the lean management concept. All this serves to build, measure, and learn faster. We have also created Ergodesign HUB: a space with partitioned laboratories and a creative playground for ourselves and our clients, so we can work arm-in-arm. We see circular design as a synonym for innovation

Our circular ambition: Circular Change by Design

Begin with the aspiration, and the rest will follow. Our HUB is meant to join companies and serve as an ecosystem for innovation. We are working to be an accelerator for circular design. And to have a portfolio of clients who began their circular transformation with us by the year 2025