IKEA collaboration became an eye-opener for innovation students
Over an intensive four-week period, students from the master’s programme Innovation through Business, Engineering and Design worked on a real-life development project together with IKEA. The result was creative solutions for sustainable textile use and new insights into how different areas of expertise can come together to drive innovation.
One of the participating students was Christoffer Holst, 23 years old, from Höllviken. He is specialising in business administration within the master’s programme and describes the project as both educational and inspiring.
“It started with IKEA giving us a fictional customer with a textile-related problem that needed solving. My group worked with a family who wanted to protect their textiles without compromising on design.”
“Our solution was a flexible textile protector that could be transformed into a cushion, which could also be used as a decorative interior design feature,” Christoffer explains.
International teams with diverse perspectives
The group consisted of five students from across the world, with backgrounds in business, engineering, and design – from Colombia, India, Iran, Mongolia, and Sweden.
“The collaboration worked really well, even though we sometimes had different perspectives. The engineer focused on the technical aspects, the designers on appearance and user experience, and within business we focused on market potential and pricing. It was precisely that mix that made the outcome so successful,” Christoffer continues.
Real learning – from classroom to reality
During the project, the students visited IKEA every week to learn how the work is carried out in practice. They received guidance from product developers and continuous feedback on their ideas. Holst believes that this type of project makes the education more complete.
Working with a real company made all the difference. It became more than just a school assignment. We genuinely wanted to understand the problem in depth and deliver something that could actually work in reality.
The project concluded with the students presenting their ideas to representatives from IKEA with various areas of expertise.
“It was incredibly rewarding to showcase our work to people who really know their field. Their feedback was both sharp and constructive, and I learned a lot from hearing their perspectives,” says Christoffer.
Collaboration leading to sustainable innovation
Tony Carlsson, Assignment Leader Schools & Education at IKEA Älmhult AB, was one of those who followed the project closely.
“It was very inspiring to see how enthusiastically the students took on the challenge. Going from not knowing each other to delivering as a cohesive team after only a few weeks is impressive. Their exciting ideas and fresh perspectives were truly refreshing,” says Tony.
Peter Lerman, programme coordinator for the master’s programme, also sees great value in the collaboration with IKEA.
“Working with real company challenges is both educational and inspiring. This type of collaboration train students to actually drive change towards a more sustainable society,” says Peter.
For Christoffer, the project confirmed that he has chosen the right education.
“I’ve really come to understand how important all disciplines are in innovation work. You learn to think more broadly and to appreciate both the creative and the technical aspects. And to be able to do that in an international environment with people from all over the world – that’s invaluable. For me, the master’s in innovation is the ideal preparation for a future career in a global context!”
