The digital-only Knowledge of Design Week (KODW) 2020, which took place between 26 and 29 August, drew some 10,000 participants from Hong Kong, China and other parts of the world.

Themed around “Designing Digital Futures for the New Normal”, the four-day event, organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), explored how human-centred design serves as a bridge between “digital and technology” and “human and user needs” in the post-pandemic times via a series of 15 thematic sessions, interactive remote workshops and an exclusive online community and networking platform. Click here for the free sessions before 30 September.

This year, KODW invited more than 40 local and international speakers to share their experiences in braving the new normal and critically relevant insights about emerging cross-industry trends.

In the “Collaborative Creativity: Navigating Change and Ambiguity to Drive Progress” session, Eric Quint, former vice president, chief brand and design officer of 3M Company, said: “For me, design is all about creativity with purpose, driven by empathy. The success of design is closely linked to the level of interconnectivity of design.”

SK Lam, founder of AllRightsReserved shed light on creativity in the “From Content Curation to e-Commerce: New Future of Contents” session: “How a creation is evaluated must be based on whether it can improve the quality of life. It's like reaping what you sow.”

KODW 2020 was primarily sponsored by Create Hong Kong.

Professor Eric Yim, JP, chairman of HKDC, commented: “Technology is a powerful tool, but shaping change that really matters requires human perspective. To reimagine a better society and future, we need to interweave technology with good design – design based on human and user needs.”

Co-organised by HKDC and the Efficiency Office (EffO), an online Roundtable on Public Service Innovation targeting civil servants will be held on 10 September as a special session of the KODW 2020 programme. At the event, three speakers from varied disciplines will share their global experience in the process and adoption of Design Thinking for designing public services.

Meanwhile, Business of Design Week 2020 (BODW) – Asia’s leading event on design, innovation and brands – will be held between 30 November and 5 December under the theme “Vision 20/21”. More updates on the programme and speakers will be available on BODW social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and WeChat.