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Leading the Design Thinking module at SPD, Scuola Politecnica di Design

Starting January 2025, I took on the role of Module Leader and Professor at Scuola Politecnica di Design (SPD), one of the most historic postgraduate design schools in Milan. Founded in 1954, SPD played a pivotal role in the development and international diffusion of Italian design as an industrial and cultural asset.

In this role, I will lead the Design Thinking module within the Master in Event and Exhibition Design, organized in collaboration with Fondazione Fiera Milano. This module is designed to provide students with a foundation of essential design methodologies that will underpin their 2-year journey at SPD.

Together we will look at the history and evolution of design thinking, including its recent period of perceived crisis, exploring also the connections (and disconnections) with the Italian ‘cultura del progetto’ rooted in SPD’s polytechnic approach. Applying this hybrid perspective to a concrete project scenario, we’ll put theory into practice for envisioning innovative event and exhibition experiences.

Psychology: I obtained my Bachelor Degree

After a long journey, happy to share I finally obtained my Bachelor Degree in Psychology at Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi. 

With a thesis titled Memory & Progress, the Technological Impact on Memory (available to read here in Italian), I analyzed the influences of technology on memory across the human evolution, from ancient history to today’s AI and digital technologies.

This milestone marks an important step in my career. It will allow me to integrate multiple new perspectives, while also adding many new activities to my practice around the connection between Design & Psychology: from exploring new areas in UX/UI, human perception, creative leadership for my activities in consulting and teaching.

In parallel, I’ve started the Master’s Degree program at Unimarconi, an additional step, particularly focused in gaining more practical experience in the field.

The d.MBA. An exciting new course to solidify strategy & business knowledge

Since long life learning is never enough, in the last month I’ve also enrolled in the d.MBA, an online business program specifically thought for experienced design professionals. This is already proving a great opportunity to systematize my experience gained in strategy and business design during my career, into a set of knowledge and methodologies that will let me expand my offerings and areas of intervention with my clients, collaborations and teaching activities.

d.MBA overview image. World's Besti MBA for Designers . Fabio Besti Brand Strategist

Designing Affluent Experiences: A Workshop for Illimity Bank at Domus Academy

In early 2025, I had the pleasure of leading a workshop as Project Leader for the Masters in Interaction & Service Design at Domus Academy. The academic project was developed in collaboration with Illimity, the leading digital bank in Italy founded by Corrado Passera, and challenged students to rethink the relationship between banks and affluent customers.

On the faculty team was also, Stefania Berselli, Service and UX Director at Sketchin, who joined as Project Expert — guiding students and projects along the way leveraging invaluable industry experience.

This was not just a design workshop—it was a 5 weeks long exploration into the evolving nature of value, trust, and experience in a sector rapidly shifting beyond traditional financial services.

Rethinking the Role of Banks

Illimity stands out in the financial landscape as a digital-first bank, born outside the constraints of legacy systems. With a strong commitment to innovation and technology, the bank offers a diverse set of services: from credit for high-potential companies to investment advisory, and lifestyle-driven solutions for its retail clients.

The brief for the workshop was ambitious: “Design an innovative experience that will position Illimity as a relevant player for the affluent target.” This required students to move beyond UX and into the territory of  strategic experience design, blending behavioral insights, service touchpoints, branding and multiple design disciplines.

Out of six team projects developed during the workshop, the following three were selected to represent the breadth and depth of design directions explored by the students.

1. Illimity Inspires

by Sruangrat Harnsiriwattana, Dima Wehbe, Jaysmi Badole

‘Illimity Inspires’ is a new service targeting mass affluent and upper class customers who have dreams. It aims to grant a wish of achieving goals in every stage of life. By opening a savings account, users can unlock privileges that includes special services such as My Consultant, My Milestone, My Journal and My Circle which provide curated experiences such as luxury investments and niche activities. The service promises that each customised dream would be fulfilled stress-free with the heartfelt cares from expertise consultant in an integration with the help of AI technology.

EXP 22 23 4 Team2 illimityInspires 5
EXP 22 23 4 Team2 illimityInspires 4
EXP 22 23 4 Team2 illimityInspires 6

2. Peace of Mind

by Chaya Chantharamethikun, Mahika Jain, Ekim Öztürk

Through features like the Peace of Mind Lounge, Beyond Branches, Virtual Manager, Personal Manager, and Lifestyle benefits, Illimity ensures a seamless and comfortable banking journey. By adding physical touchpoints and utilising the Peace of Mind application, clients can enjoy a mindful and stress-free banking experience. Illimity’s goal is to transform banking from a tedious task to a tranquil and enjoyable experience, instilling a sense of tranquility and trust in their affluent clientele.

EXP 22 23 4 Team1 Peace of Mind images1 scaled
EXP 22 23 4 Team1 Peace of Mind images2
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3. Passion

by Mary Murphy, Kajal Ramrup, Sukhanya Narayanan

Passion introduces a platform for shared investment in personal interests, where Illimity customers can fund, follow, and co-create niche projects—from art residencies to ethical start-ups. The model reimagines affluent banking as an enabler of community, collaboration, and meaning, positioning Illimity as a cultural catalyst.

EXP 22 23 4 Team3 PASSIONbyIllimity 5 scaled
EXP 22 23 4 Team3 PASSIONbyIllimity 4 scaled
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Each of these projects was developed through a deep and interdisciplinary design process: from trend research to persona development, experience mapping, prototyping, and storytelling. The workshop reflected the kind of collaboration that defines Domus Academy’s approach—where interaction design meets service innovation, and academic inquiry meets real-world transformation.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had the opportunity to guide such forward-looking educational experiences. In the past, I’ve led workshops for Domus Academy such as:

Reimagining the Brand Experience of Ostello Bello

Envisioning a New Normal, a speculative design sprint exploring new societal paradigms

These workshops are not only educational journeys but also platforms for applied innovation—where students design with purpose and companies receive fresh, strategic insights rooted in user experience and design envisioning.

Board of Innovation: 1 year, leading a complex rebranding project

Throughout 2022, I had the pleasure of working full-time with Board of Innovation, a fantastic business design firm that, after rapid growth, needed to reposition itself as a global innovation consultancy.

With the creative project led by the incredible DesignStudio, I was brought in as Senior Graphic Designer to supervise the final stages of brand development and guide its implementation. Leading the redesign of all key touchpoints and visual materials was as challenging as it was rewarding. Working with the amazing people at BOI, I oversaw the new brand adoption across continents, strengthening the company’s position as a global innovation firm.

While BOI’s brand identity already took another step recently, to follow the company’s strategic shift on AI innovation, this remains a great project that marked my career, and something I will always hold dear.

Finally, time was on my side to create a detailed case study, check it out here!

Cover of the Board of Innovation rebranding project, showcasing brand visuals, logo design and creative direction by DesignStudio, implementation by Fabio Besti

Hello to Spectr. A new perspective on society through design and tech innovation

After a long period of conceptualization, I’m happy to finally launch a brand new research and dissemination project. An opportunity to revisit much of the investigation work I normally do for my design and teaching activities and restructure it into a form of storytelling accessible to everybody.

This is Spectr.
An online communication channel and a tool for reflection, that will analyze those innovation signals and iconic projects, loaded with historic and symbolic value, capable of impacting our culture and minds.
An attempt to create an evolutionary perspective on the past, present, and future society through the lenses of design, technology, and speculative thinking.


We’re at the early stages and the main medium will be Instagram, where content will be shared more often and more comprehensively. I will use also Linkedin and Facebook, with different modalities according to the differences of the platforms and audiences.

Instagram   →     Linkedin   →    Facebook  →

Future of Mobility and Design. Foresight lectures at Domus Academy

In the last half of March 2021, I gave a couple of lectures on the future of mobility for Domus Academy (one of the most prestigious postgraduate design schools in Italy and Europe, with whom I collaborated before several times). Specifically, the lectures took place inside the Envisioning Workshops for the Masters in Product Design and in Urban Vision & Architectural Design.

The goal was to try to give a perspective on the rise and development of the concept of mobility, starting from the origin of history, and arriving at the most contemporary trajectories of technological and societal innovation.

In the first place, it was a great opportunity to share many insights from past projects on future mobility, especially those developed with the Bassetti Foundation. For instance, Meet the Media Guru | Around Mobility, a semester of research ad conferences created together with MEET, the Digital Culture Center of Milan; or Self-Driving Society, an extensive educational and research project developed with Politecnico di Milano.

The future of mobility & the design profession

It was extremely interesting to discuss such an important topic for the future of society and our profession. In fact, the rapid development of new mobility innovations is impacting deeply the world of design and its practice. Understanding these transformations and being able to navigate them, is going to be critical for designers, who will play a huge role in 

Here below a selection of the slides from the lectures:

Innovative Brand Licensing Strategies for MIND Milano: the workshop with POLI.design

Last March I led the first workshop of the 22° edition of the Specialising Master in Strategic Design by POLI.design, the post-graduate school of design at Politecnico di Milano (who I worked with also on the Lombardies exhibition for Expo2015). 

Together with the students, we tried to design innovative brand licensing strategies for MIND – Milano Innovation Design District. Three intensive weeks to envision the evolution and the exploitation of a new territorial brand, defining the new district born in the area of the Universal Exposition in 2015, that now aspires to become a hub for excellence in the fields of Life Sciences / Healthcare, Biotech / Pharma, Agri – food / Nutrition e Data Science / Big data. 

Awards by MIND Milano and Call 4 Ideas

The resulting projects will participate in the Call 4 Ideas launched by Mind Education, an initiative that involves students and universities in designing the city of the future, promoted by Arexpo and Lendlease, together with Human Technopole, IRCSS Galeazzi and Fondazione Triulza.

A great experience, with a special group of students, who put their enthusiasm and professionalism into the development of very interesting projects. 

Psychology and design: a new exciting chapter

Big news. After much reflection, I’ve decided to transform one of my biggest passions into a new path of evolution for myself and my profession. I enrolled in university again and started to study for the Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Science and Techniques at Guglielmo Marconi’s University.

Psychology for me has always been a constant interest, cultivated on the side for more than 10 years now, and has highly influenced the way I approach and practice design.

New perspectives, competencies, and knowledge will allow me to finally cross and intersect these two worlds in a very concrete way. I will be able to expand many of the themes and topics that already characterize my approach to design: like the relationship between form, artifacts, and the creation of meaning, the field of perception and sensoriality, the role of design and communication and how they influence people and behaviors, and last but not least, the impact of innovation of humans and society.

All topics that I’m already touching with my teaching activities, that now will be able to benefit from a systematic approach and rely on solid, academic foundations. Stay tuned for new projects and evolutions on the subject.

Workshop at Domus Academy: Design for the “New Normal”

A summary of the Envisioning workshop that I led last spring and summer for Domus Academy is now published on my website. Titled “The New Normal – A new tool for COVID19 and after”, the course saw students from all over the world work remotely to envision the long-term impact of the pandemic on society, in a scenario spanning between 2025 and 2050.

Started with a workshop and ended with 17 final graduation projects and theses, this interesting journey touched upon several disciplines: design research, users and market analysis, scenario building, speculative design, and of course all the main phases of a product design development process. Students adopted an interdisciplinary approach and succeeded in translating the challenges and opportunities into innovative products and solutions for our future, transformed way of living.

Aro by Pallavitha Halaga - New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy
Takomst by Chang WenHeng - New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy
Echo by Varvara Erikhova- New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy
SIUU by Tianze Chen - New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy
Wio.Share by Lee Nien-Chen - New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy
Get in Touch by Sukru Kaptanoglu - New Normal Envisioning Workshop - Fabio Besti & Domus Academy

As a case study on the website, I analyze the entire process, covering also the lectures, the exercises, and the topics presented, with a final showcase of the projects developed by students.

Discover the project  →