We are an association of individuals across the world who deeply care about design: How we create new artefacts and systems, how we think about this creation process, and what is the impact of human-created artefacts on the world we live in and on ourselves. We express our caring for design through our efforts in research, education, practice, and outreach.
The Design Society is an international, interdisciplinary community of researchers, educators, and practitioners committed to advancing the field of design. We explore how design impacts society, technology, and human experience — and how to improve it through research, education, and collaboration.
Since our founding in 2000, we’ve brought together diverse perspectives through conferences, publications, Special Interest Groups, and regional chapters. From engineering design to creativity and systems thinking, our work spans boundaries to foster meaningful exchange and innovation.
As a non-profit charitable organisation, the Society is led by and for its members. Together, we develop tools, share insights, support emerging talent, and create platforms that shape the future of design — responsibly, inclusively, and globally.
The Design Society is built on the foundations laid by the WDK (Workshop Design-Konstruktion) Society. WDK was an informally constituted international society based on a common interest in engineering design. WDK was founded in the early nineteen eighties on the inspiration of Professor Vladimir Hubka (†) and with two other founding members, Professor Mogens Myrup Andreasen and Professor Umberto Pighini (†). Under Professor Hubka’s overall guidance and with the support of the founding members and Professor W. Ernst Eder (†), WDK grew to become the present truly international Design Society that has made major contributions to Design Science.
WDK was responsible for establishing the International Conferences on Engineering Design (ICED series) and has supported an extensive range of publications. It was Professor Umberto Pighini who took the bold initiative to establish the first conference in the ICED series in Rome in 1981 (ICED 81). Subsequently, many dedicated individuals have contributed to the development of WDK and the ICED series of conferences.
The Design Society was formed in 2000, building upon WDK’s foundation of 15 ICED conferences, 26 major publications and more than 60 workshops on a wide range of topics. At that time, the previous activities and responsibilities of WDK were turned over to the Design Society, including the right to continue the ICED conferences.
In order to initiate the Society, the Board of Management of WDK nominated the first Board of Management and Advisory Board for the period 2001-2003. By drawing lots, roughly one-third of the members of both Boards were replaced by democratically elected members in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Consequently, the start-up period of the Design Society ended after the General meeting at ICED07. The decision to create the Society took place at a gathering of the founding leadership on Rigi Mountain in Switzerland. Since then, the annual leadership gathering (Board of Management, Advisory Board, Chapter and SIG Leaders) is referred to as the “Rigi Meeting” although it takes place at various locations.
