Impulse: SAP’s Design Festival Gets Hearts Pumping in Mannheim
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On June 26, the Alte Schildkrötfabrik in Mannheim hosted the very first Impulse Design Festival — SAP’s new internal event created by and for the design community.
Born from a desire to outgrow usual corporate design events, Impulse was initiated as a playground, a place to get inspired, and a pulse check on where we are and where we want to go as a design community. Unlike typical design conferences that often stay within the boundaries of tools, trends, and case studies, the event challenged foundational assumptions about technology, collaboration, space, and even emotion, while offering perspectives that were as provoking as they were inspiring.
The festival kicked off on a sunny Thursday morning with an eclectic set of keynote speakers. We heard from Horst Hoertner about explorations the Ars Electronica Future Lab is making by using AI to build upon and collaborate with art. Tim Reusch provided a closer look at how Vitra goes beyond designing office chairs to conceptualizing and realizing entire workspaces that are functional, inspiring, and engaging enough to be thought of as “destinations.” After a short coffee break in the courtyard, we wrapped up the morning with two lighthearted, yet thoroughly thought provoking talks. Andreas Refsgaard walked us through his delightfully funny yet provocative projects, all of which use AI as a tool to uncover something about the human condition in the 21st century. The morning closed with an inspiring talk from Katrin Hansmeier on how humor and joy can be used as a tool to diffuse difficult situations in the workplace.
After lunch, attendees joined workshops covering a number of hands-on topics, and activities that spanned tooling, design practices, and culture. In addition to the workshops, there were booths set up to play and interact with tools like Figma, Adobe Firefly, Apple VisionPro, and more.
The afternoon featured a powerful talk from designer Pablo Stanley, in which he led us through a journey of self-discovery sparked by his growing reliance on AI chat bots, and what it revealed to him about the future of working and living with AI. Arin Bohwmick, SAP's Chief Design Officer, closed out the program with remarks on where we go from here as a design community, urging us to take the inspiration from the day forward with us throughout our work.
The day was chock-full of activities, inspiring talks, hands-on exercises, and more. But perhaps the most dynamic moments were everything that happened in between. The canteen and courtyard were both brimming with conversation, connections, and laughter all day. It was exciting it was to be surrounded by so many design colleagues from around the world, making new connections, meeting new people, and embracing all things design.
By all accounts, the inaugural Impulse event was a success!
Do you want to be part of this global design community?
At SAP, designers bring a rich mix of backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking. Events like Impulse inspire designers by providing new ways to hone their craft and learn from industry leaders. Explore SAP Design's open positions to learn more about opportunities to join this inclusive, innovative community.