What is Oodi? / Service design

Service design

Design input from the users

Oodi has been designed together with the city’s residents so that it can best correspond with the wishes and needs that library users have. Ideas, tips and dreams have been gathered at urban events and workshops, and through websites and various campaigns.

Dreams and participation

As the Central Library, Oodi is open to all people – a public space owned by the residents. That is why it must meet the varying needs of its different user groups and partners, and this would not be possible without collaborative design work.

Oodi’s design has been conducted by encouraging active participation amongst residents and partners in various ways. For example, the Unel-moi! campaign in 2012 gained over 2,300 ideas from the city’s residents for the further design of the Central Library. That same year, the library was among the first to test participatory budgeting, allowing residents to decide which four pilot tests would receive the 100,000 euros of funding available. Furthermore, the Central Library’s name is based on a suggestion by one of the city’s residents. An open naming competition resulted in over 1,600 entries, from which a jury chose the ultimate winner.

Friends of the Central Library

Friends of the Central Library was a participatory pilot project for community development, in which 28 user developers were able to offer their input for the library’s design from the users’ perspective. During the four-month project, input was collected from the Friends of the Central Library on subjects such as the functionality of the services and ideas for events.

I began experiencing ownership of the city, and for the first time in my life I felt I was truly a Helsinkian.
Friend of the Central Library

Service design as part of the planning process

Oodi’s planning process has utilised service design to achieve the best possible customer experience. Service design was used in the design of the signs and furniture, as well as the placement of the library’s materials. The natural solutions for each floor as well as the cooperation partners’ wishes were discussed together.

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Thank you for your feedback!

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