Tieto, YFD, Inklusiiv and Flow Festival launch inclusive design collaboration

Tieto Tech Consulting has partnered with Young Finnish Design (YFD) to support young designers in Finland and to promote the role of inclusive design in creating experiences that work for more people. The collaboration brings together four organizations: Tieto, Young Finnish Design, Flow Festival and Inklusiiv — united by a shared commitment to designing better, more inclusive experiences for a diverse range of users and festival goers. Tieto serves as a partner to each organisation also beyond this collaboration.

Together, Tieto, Young Finnish Design, Flow Festival and Inklusiiv set a shared challenge for young designers and jointly launch a concept-level design competition focused on inclusive design. The competition invites designers to identify and address invisible barriers in everyday experiences, using the Flow Festival context as a real-world and inspiring environment for inclusive design exploration.

“Inclusive design is not about adding special solutions. It’s about removing unnecessary friction, and that’s how truly scalable, meaningful experiences are built.”
— Petra Tarkkala, Head of Design, Tieto Tech Consulting Finland

Young Finnish Design plays a central role in the collaboration by engaging young designers across Finland and providing them with a platform to work on meaningful, real-world challenges. The competition offers participants an opportunity to develop inclusive design concepts, gain visibility and connect with established organisations that value responsible and human-centred design.

“Young, early-career designers bring value by approaching the world without fixed assumptions or “this is how it’s always been done” thinking. They are often more sensitive to subtle, hidden barriers that
others may not notice or may have come to see as normal. It is precisely this fresh, experimental, and user-centered way of thinking that can open entirely new ways of making the Flow Festival genuinely more inclusive for everyone.”
— Elisa Luoto, CEO & Co-founder, Young Finnish Design

The design challenge is grounded in the context of Flow Festival, a leading music and cultural festival with an ambition to be an experience where everyone can feel they belong. While accessibility is often understood in physical terms, this competition shifts the focus to invisible barriers — such as social anxiety, sensory or cognitive overload, unclear digital services, cultural norms, or uncertainty about how to navigate the festival environment. By opening its festival context as a case, Flow Festival enables designers to explore how inclusive thinking can improve experiences broadly, without creating separate or “special” solutions.

“Flow Festival is committed to making the event as accessible and inclusive as possible for all visitors, regardless of ability. We continuously work to advance equality and inclusivity across the festival experience and look forward to the new perspectives and ideas this competition may bring.”
— Vilja Grotenfelt, Sales and Marketing Director, Flow Festival

Inklusiiv contributes expertise in building the human skills that modern organisations depend on — including how to design for difference in practice. In this collaboration, Inklusiiv helps frame inclusivity questions responsibly and ensures user understanding and accessibility are thoughtfully embedded in the design process.

“This competition is important because it brings the perspectives of young designers. Applying design thinking and inclusive design principles to an event like Flow goes beyond accessibility. Designing experiences that work for more people enriches the spirit of the festival and how we experience events altogether.”
— Yesmith Sánchez, Managing Partner, Inklusiiv

The winner of the competition will be selected by a jury made up of representatives from the partner organisations. The competition highlights a key principle of inclusive design: solutions created for overlooked perspectives often improve experiences for many. Invisible barriers rarely disappear through complexity — instead, they are addressed through clarity, empathy and thoughtful design choices. The winner will be announced at Flow Festival as part of the Flow Talks programme on Saturday, 15 August. The Flow Talks programme is open to all Flow Festival ticket holders.

Through this collaboration and competition, young designers are invited to contribute to a more inclusive future — transforming insight and empathy into concrete design concepts.

“Inclusion begins where invisible barriers are finally seen.”

Learn more about the competition: https://www.youngfinnishdesign.com/inclusive-design-competition