Education Archives | Fabio Besti

Mockup view of the slides of the Design Thinking course at Scuola Politecnica di Design, taught by prof. Fabio Besti, inside the Master of Event and Exhibition Design realized in collaboration with Fondazione Fiera Milano. Interdisciplinary Design News

Leading the 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.

Certification of Fabio Besti's Bachelor Degree in Psychologica Sicences and Techniques from Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi. Interdisciplinary Design News

I obtained my Bachelor Degree in Psychology

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: from exploring new areas in UX/UI, human perception, creative leadership for my activities in design, consulting and teaching.

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

d.MBA overview image. The collective of designers with business confidence. Fabio Besti Interdisciplinary Design News

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.

Future Mobility at Domus Academy. Lectures by Fabio Besti for the Masters in Product Design and Urban Vision & Architectural Design.

Lectures on the future of mobility, for the masters of 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.

Moreover, it was 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 shaping the way we live and move inside the urban spaces of the future.

Here below a selection of the slides from the lectures:

Brand Licensing for MIND Innovation District: 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.

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.

Design, psychology and the brain: a new research field

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.

New Normal Cover image XL Fabio Besti Interdisciplinary Design 3

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

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 →