service design

POLI.design
via Durando, 38/A
20158 Milano, Italy
T +39 02 2399 7217
F +39 02 2399 5970
www.polidesign.net
IV EDITION - 2016/2017
THE FIRST MASTER DEGREE IN
SERVICE DESIGN
AT THE POLITECNICO DI MILANO
YES!
:)
:)
WWW.POLIDESIGN.NET/SERVICEDESIGN
3
Recent years have been
marked by changes
in lifestyles, customs, and
the culture of consumption...
T
THE DIRECTOR’S CUT
he Master’s programme in Service Design was
created in response to the growing demand by
firms and the public sector for specific professionals
(designers, consultants, and creative directors) able to
handle the complexities of designing a service.
The structure of the economic activities generating
the wealth of the advanced countries has changed in
recent decades, shifting from the manufacture of goods
to the delivery of services. This process has been
accompanied by changes in lifestyles, customs,
and the culture of consumption. Together with
technological empowerment, these changes have given
rise to new relational and communicative linkages which
have helped develop what is termed the service economy.
This redefinition of everyday life within the service society
requires the updating and extension of the design,
production, and distribution skills of firms and public-sector
organizations.
Service design operates in this context by proposing an
integrated and multidisciplinary design approach
to create solutions blending material and immaterial
components (for example, communicative identity, or the
physical and virtual ‘touchpoints’ that evidence a service’s
features). Hence, service design generates systemic,
complex solutions which acquire material form in
distinctive kinds of service experience and interaction
incorporating the user’s viewpoint into the redesign of
corporate or institutional delivery.
Accordingly, the Master in Service Design programme
comprises new training processes centred on the analysis
of users and their participation in the design and interaction
phases until final delivery. It does so by integrating general
theory with methodology (design approaches and tools)
and hands-on experience (executive design of the service
and its prototyping).
Stefano Maffei
5
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
T
hrough its Consorzio POLI.design , the Politecnico
di Milano devotes a specialized upper-level
training programme to Service Design.
The Master in Service Design delivers an international
training programme – taught entirely in English –
to students and professionals wanting to gear their
professional skills to business and public-sector
services.
The Master’s programme is delivered by a teaching
faculty which embodies Italian and international
excellence in the academic and professional fields and
is completely held in English.
:)
The overall idea behind the Master in Service Design
stems from awareness of the profound changes that
have occurred in the supply of service-products
by firms and
public-sector organizations, and
their radical impacts on professional skills and
corporate capabilities. It is consequently essential
to train professionals who can construe and manage
the new patterns, both physical and virtual, of service
experience and interaction.
:)
By addressing the new challenges raised by the market,
the Consorzio POLI.design offers a training programme
devoted to the design, organization, management and
delivery of services.
YES!
The programme consists of modules on theory,
methodology and design, flanked by an internship. It
lasts for a total of 12 months with compulsory full-time
attendance of 3 days per week.
Students who have successfully completed the final
examination will be awarded a Master’s Degree in
Service Design by the Politecnico di Milano.
The future service designers trained by the Master’s
programme will be able to integrate strategic and
organizational abilities with design and production skills
to activate linkages with end users and the contexts in
which services are delivered.
“Service Design addresses the
functionality and form of services from
the perspective of the client. Service
designers interpret needs and behaviours
and transform them into potential future
services by creating, visualizing and
choreographing solutions”
[Birgit Mager, 2008]
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MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
CANDIDATES/OBJECTIVES
A
maximum of 30 places are available for each
edition of the Master Programme in Service
Design. Candidates are selected on the basis
of their academic and professional records, and by an
interview (which may also be conducted by telephone).
The Master’s programme invites applications from
candidates with a degree, Master’s degree, or
university-level diploma in design, architecture or
engineering, and from graduates in non-polytechical
disciplines for whom service design may significantly
augment their professional abilities. In fact, the Master’s
programme comprises an initial foundation course
intended to level students’ basic skills in service design.
PROFESSIONAL
QUALIFICATIONS/OUTCOMES
The Master’s programme in Service Design trains
specialists in the design of services for businesses and
public-sector organizations.
The programme’s overall objectives are to produce experts
and consultants with a design culture, vision, and the
abilities to design, manage, and organize the conception
and implementation of a service; to build specific skills;
and to develop innovation and entrepreneurship.
On conclusion of the programme, the participants will be
able to:
- devise systemic innovation models for services;
As regards aptitude, the programme prioritizes highlymotivated candidates with creative and relational skills,
curiosity, critical awareness, and a pragmatic mentality.
- deploy theoretical and critical skills to define
design fields and operate within a complex sociotechnical system;
Conditional admission to the programme may be
granted to:
- observe and analyse user experience in order to
construct a user-centred vision of complex interaction
processes (human, technological, environmental,
social);
- students enrolled at Italian universities whose final
degree examination is scheduled for a date subsequent
to the beginning of the Master’s course;
- students with foreign degrees whose validation is not
yet complete.
Admission to the Master’s programme may also be
granted to students possessing Italian university diplomas
or three-year degrees (awarded under the previous
university regulations) or qualifications acquired in
foreign countries, provided that they are accredited,
submitted in the original, translated, legalized by the
Italian consular authorities in the country in which they
have been awarded, and accompanied by a declaration
of legal validity.
The aims of the Master’s programme are the following:
- to enhance the basic skills of students with backgrounds
in the humanities by furnishing them with theoretical
knowledge and practical experience in service design;
- to provide the specific training required to refine the
design skills of students who have already acquired
experience in the design sector;
- to furnish the means necessary to enhance the
professional experience of students already in
employment.
- use specific service design tools and manage
their adaptation or redesign;
- manage all the phases of a service’s conception,
design and development using an advanced
approach also encompassing participatory and codesign techniques;
- foster self-entrepreneurship in the services sector.
Numerous employment opportunities are available to
graduates from the Service Design Master’s programme.
They range across the various areas of the stratified and
complex services market. Potential roles are the following:
- service designer as a specialist consultant at a
design agency;
- service designer as a consultant or employee of
public-sector organizations, research centres,
enterprises, and authorities;
- service designer as a consultant or employee of
private-sector organizations, research centres,
companies, and organizations;
- service designer as a self-employed professional
(start-upper).
Opportunities for employment are also available in
numerous other sectors: for example, banking and
insurance, health care and welfare, transport, retail (in
diverse market sectors), ICT-based industries, the third
sector (social innovation).
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
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COURSE PROGRAMME
AND TEACHING METHOD
T
he complex process of conceiving, producing, and delivering a service requires a broad and composite set of
skills comprising the following:
- a highly developed culture of innovation;
- a capacity for creative thought and action in regard to the various opportunity contexts that arise in the services
market;
- a specific capacity to identify and design interaction situations (macro-micro, front office-back office);
- a capacity for cultural and creative dialogue on social innovation via communication networks/technological
platforms.
Accordingly, the Master’s programme follows a syllabus combining general and methodological subjects with a series
of disciplinary and extra-disciplinary modules.
THE COURSE
The Master in Service Design course carries 60 university training credits (ECTF).
The requisite skills will be imparted by a highly experimental approach based on theoretical lessons, seminars, and
multidisciplinary design laboratories in various formats (Lectures, Enzymes, Service Design Pills, Service Jams, Service
Design Workshops ), each conducted by a different faculty member and centred on a specific topic.
The students will thus engage with design topics pertaining to diverse sectors (for instance, banking, health care, retail,
publishing, energy, telecommunications, transport, tourism, public governance). This curriculum will enhance and
extend their thematic and disciplinary knowledge together with a capacity for teamwork.
The course will impart knowledge on the entire service design process, from conception to prototyping. A capacity
to handle complexity and work at different project levels (processes, products, interactions), creativity, vision, and
knowledge of the dynamics of contemporary society: these are only some of the abilities that service designers deploy
in their professional practice.
The course programme is structured as follows:
1. Theory
2. Design
3. Further training
Classroom lectures, supplemented
by practical activities, divide between
two main areas:
The course comprises:
In synergy with the theoretical
and practical components of the
Master course, students undertake
an internship (of at least 475 hours)
in order to prolong their training, if
possible at the same companies or
organizations with which they have
carried out their research and design
work during the year.
//theoretical-critical: introductory
lessons on service design;
//m e t h o d o l o g i c a l - p r a c t i c a l :
lectures and seminars on the
processes, tools and approaches
used in service design.
//Service Design Workshops held
jointly with specific companies,
organizations, and/or agencies
operating in the services sector;
//Service Design Pills: seminars
focused on approaches, tools, and
themes specific to, or correlated
with, a service design project (e.g.
User Experience Design, Design
Management, Data Visualization);
//Service Jams: sessions on service
idea generation (mini-workshop);
The complex nature of service design
requires a broad and composite set of
skills...
User Centered Design,
SERVICE DESIGN
LECTURES
SERVICE WORKSHOPS
JAM
Service Business Model
PILLS and Planning...
SERVICE JAMS
Service Methods and Tools,
OCTOBER
INTERNSHIP
APRIL
SEPTEMBER
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
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COMMITMENT/
ATTENDANCE/LANGUAGE
A
ttendance is compulsory for three days a week
during the course term. A maximum absence of
25% is allowed.
Moreover, the faculty recommends that if students are
to gain maximum benefit from the course, they should
devote the other days in the week to direct experience
of Milanese design by attending events, seminars, and
shows organized in the city.
The Master in Service Design is completely held in English.
ASSESSMENT/GRADUATION
During the Master’s programme, members of the teaching
faculty will assess each student’s progress by means of
exercises, project revisions, and presentations.
Moreover, each student will take an individual final
examination consisting of discussion of the Final Project
Work. The purpose of the examination is to assess the
analytical, theoretical, and practical skills acquired by
the student during the Master’s programme. The final
examination and the assessments will be supervised by
the Master Board.
On conclusion of the Master’s programme, students who
have passed the final examination will receive a FirstLevel Master’s Degree in Service Design awarded
by the Politecnico di Milano.
YES!
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
12
SELECTION AND ADMISSION
PROCEDURE
S
election is based on assessment of the candidate’s
skills, aptitude, and experience, as well as his/her
goals and expectations. The assessment is made
by the members of the Master Board on the basis of the
candidate’s:
//academic record;
//professional curriculum;
//interview (also by telephone).
For admission to the programme, candidates must
possess a degree in industrial design, architecture
or engineering. Or they may be specialists in nonpolytechnical disciplines for whom polytechnical skills
can significantly enhance their prior professional training.
Also considered as a criterion for admission is significant
professional experience.
DOCUMENTATION FOR
ADMISSION
T
he following documents must be submitted by
applicants:
//application form completed in all its parts;
//updated CV (with a photograph);
//cover letter stating motivation, etc.;
//letters of reference, if relevant.
Submission of a portfolio is not compulsory for the
purposes of selection. However, it may assist the Master
Board in assessment of the candidate’s abilities. If a
portfolio is submitted, the candidate is recommended to
send it together with the other application documents.
To participate
in the selection process,
candidates must submit their
application materials
to [email protected]
or fax them to
+39 02 2399 5970.
COSTS
T
he cost of attendance on the Master’s programme
is 12,000 Euros, including the fee for enrolment
at the Politecnico di Milano. It is exempt from VAT
under article 10 DPR 633/72.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
P
artial scholarships may be granted on the basis of
the student’s academic record and motivation.
The Master Board reserves the right not to grant such
scholarships if it decides that candidates do not fulfil the
requisite standards.
The Italian Government grants a number of scholarships
to particularly deserving foreign students (further
information available at http://borseonline.foreign.it).
Candidates wishing to take part in the selection procedure
for the Master in Service Design must send the requisite
documentation by e-mail to [email protected]
or via fax to +39 02 23995970.
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TEACHING FACULTY
The course programme is taught by an outstanding Italian and international faculty. It is supervised by an Advisory
Board whose members represent Italian and international excellence in service design and innovation. Among them:
Alberto Colorni - Full Professor - Dipartimento di Design -
Lara Penin - Assistant Professor at Parsons The New School
Politecnico di Milano
for Design
Cristina Favini - Design Director at Logotel
Daniela Sangiorgi - Associate Professor - Design Department
Stefan Holmlid - Assistant Professor at Linkoping University
- Politecnico di Milano
Ilpo Koskinen - Sociologist and Industrial Design Professor
Ezio Manzini - International Design Theorist
Giuliano Simonelli - Presidente Consorzio POLI.design
Eduardo Stazsowski - Assistant Professor at Parsons The
New School for Design
Nicola Morelli - Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark
The faculty consists of lecturers belonging to Italian and foreign universities. The Master’s programme also draws on the
expertise of designers and entrepreneurs working in Italy and abroad. Here the previous editions’ teaching staff
Marika Arena - Assistant Professor, Dipartimento di Ingegneria
Gestionale, Politecnico di Milano
Damien Lanfrey - Membro della Segreteria Tecnica del
Ministro per l’Istruzione, l’Università e la Ricerca (MIUR)
Silvia Barbieri - Head of Strategy Department at FutureBrand
Ezio Manzini - International Design Theorist
Toke Barter - Design Director at ustwo™ Malmö
Luca Mascaro - Experience Architect & Entrepreneur
Luigi Brenna - Architect and Ph.D in Industrial Design at
Alessandro Masserdotti - FInteraction Designer and
Politecnico of Milano
funder of Dotdotdot
Gianluca Brugnoli - Creative Director at frog design Milano
Walter Mattana - Research Fellow and Contract Professor at
Politecnico di Milano, School of Design
Attila Bruni - Lecturer at the department of Sociology and
Alice Manzoni - Project Designer at Logotel
Social Research of the Trento University, where he teaches
Sociology of Technological Phenomena and Sociology of
Organization
Anna Meroni - Associate Professor - Design Department Politecnico di Milano
Dario Buzzini - Design Director presso IDEO, New York
Nicola Morelli - Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark
Enrico Cattaneo - Affiliate Professor at ESCP Europe,
Marzia Mortati - Researcher and Lecturer in Design at
Innovation Manager at Humanplus Research Foundation
Politecnico di Milano
Daniele Cerra - Senior Manager and Digital Innovation Officer
Liat Rogel - Service Designer
at the service design company Logotel
Paolo Ciuccarelli - Associate Professor at Politecnico di
Milano and Chair of the BSc and MSc in Communication Design
Alessandro Confalonieri - director of Intersezioni Design
Luca Simeone - Founder and Managing Partner of Vianet
Donatella Solda - Membro della Segreteria Tecnica del
Ministro per l’Istruzione, l’Università e la Ricerca (MIUR)
Integrated
Liat Rogel - Service designer, researcher and a lecturer
Alberto Cottica - Economist, expert on collaborative public
policies and online participation
Daniela Sangiorgi
- Associate Professor - Design
Department - Politecnico di Milano
Vincenzo Di Maria - International expert in Service Design
Chiara Torti - Senior Strategist & Service Designer at DINN!
and Innovation
Cristina Favini - Strategist, Manager of Design and Partner at
Logotel service design company
Daniele Galiffa - GoalShouter CEO
Adriano Gariglio - Service Designer Researche at e-Services
Mark Vanderbeeken - Partner, responsible for strategic
communications at Experientia
Carlo Vezzoli - Professor of product Design for environmental
Sustainability and System Design for Sustainability at Politecnico
di Milano
Alberto Giusti - Business Angel and Crowdfunding expert
Omar Vulpirani - Digital Strategist and Creative Content
Director / Innovation Lab Leader / Design Academic
Stefan Holmlid - Assistant Professor at Linkoping University
Michele Zini - ZPZ partners
for Life and Health - San Raffaele Scientific Institute
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
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RELATIONS WITH FIRMS
T
he Master’s programme in Service Design works with firms and institutions operating in diverse service sectors.
Firms support the entire design training course by assisting with creation of a programme that matches the demand
for new professional skills with the supply furnished by the Master.
During its past editions, the Master collaborated with a number of major corporate bodies: notably Confcommercio
Pistoia, Energy Group, Logotel, Reggio Children, and Confartigianato Lombardia, and it established
international partnerships with firms and service design agencies such as Ideo, Experientia, Scketchin, and Ustwo.
These significant joint ventures testify that process and service design furnishes opportunities for research and work not
only to designers but also to firms.
The selection board will be available two days a week to answer queries by candidates and furnish all necessary
information about the Master’s course.
Information about deadlines can be obtained from the POLI.design coordinating office.
FORMER EDITIONS’ COLLABORATIONS
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THEY SAY...
Some opinions of former Master students and teaching
staff
SONALI GOGIA from India
STUDENTS
The Master helped me fully familiarize with the service
design discipline, the intense workshops carried out with
real clients made me develop brand new skills in a very
short time frame and ultimately, working with people from
completely different cultures and backgrounds taught
me to face challenges from new perspectives.
Successful student version: “Deciding to pursue the
field of Service Design, seemed like a leap of faith a
year ago. Not only is Service Design still an emerging
field in India, but coming from a management and
retail background, made me apprehensive about how
I would acquire creative and multidisciplinary skills. The
Master’s exceeded my expectations. The approach to
teaching was practical and workshop based, allowing
me to apply my past work experience within a service
design framework to solve real business challenges. The
environment was collaborative and stimulating and I
cherish the network I created with a diverse and talented
set of students and professors. I encountered Logotel, a
Milan based service design agency through the Master’s
course. We found a synergistic fit and after completing
my internship with them, I now work there as a Project
Designer. Its quite amazing for me to get this international
exposure and strengthen my identity as a designer!”
CHRISTINA SADEK from Canada
SILVIA CACCIAMATTA from Italy
Background in Marketing, Innovation, and Telecom
Background in Interior Design and in Product Service
System Design both at Politecnico di Milano.
ALESSANDRO SPAZZOLI from Italy
Background in law
After graduating in Law I decided to enroll in the
Master in Service Design and to dive into this new field.
I always thought that innovation is a matter of putting
differentdisciplines into dialogue and surprisingly,
during themonths of the master, I discovered how
much potentialand touchpoints there are among my
background and the design field.
As a design thinker, innovation management practitioner,
and seasoned marketing professional I’m passionate
about bringing to market meaningful products, services,
and experiences. With this aim in mind, I’m extremely
happy with my decision to pursue the Service Design
Masters at Poli.Design. The course has provided me
with a holistic view and formal understanding of service
design principles and methods while enhancing my
creative problem-solving skills and level of critical
reflection in business, design, and life in general. The
structure fosters a deep, collaborative approach to active
learning, underpinned by integrated subject matter —
each project building upon the existing knowledge and
concepts of the previous one. I’ve particularly benefited
from high caliber lecturers from various disciplines with
contrasting styles and points of view, reflective of true
work situations. As paradigms shift, I always seek new
ways to engage clients in the cultural transitions that help
them enact relevant change and deliver on the needs of
both the consumer and the business. Having the skill-set
of a service designer helps me do so by transforming both
user and stakeholder relationships and experiences for
the better.
Background in management consulting,
management and behavioral training
retail
During my master, I learned the User Centered Design
approach that is the key factor for designing successful
products and services that can improve people’s life
quality. Because of that first experience, my interest in
service design has grown a lot and, after few years of
working, I decided I wanted to deep my knowledge in
services, and that’s how I got in contact with the Master in
Service Design at Polimi.
The master has given me the opportunity to empower
my skills, be stimulated by new design challenges in
practical workshops and be actively part of the network.
Having interesting discussion with the professors and
professionals in the fields, have helped us understanding
we are now part of a broader system that has not been
totally explored yet: the service design world. We have so
the possibility to shape it and to enrich it according to our
approach and with our personal contribution.
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MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
THEY SAY...
ADRIANA MATIZ from Colombia
Background
Consulting
in
International
Relations,
Innovation
I first discovered service design while trying to figure out
why people wouldn’t use the digital marketplace I was
working on. Once I realized the depth and power of the
service design tools for creating and adding value to the
user’s experiences, I quickly fell in love with the possibility
of understanding better how service systems work and
how we can improve them to deliver a better experience.
Once I decided that this was the path I wanted to follow I
encounter the Service Design Master at PoliDesign, which
caught my attention because of the way the program
was structured with enough flexibility to let me explore my
own interests and a practical approach to the learning
process. Up until know I can say that the experience has
been worthy, I have seen myself grow by learning not only
the theoretical and methodological aspects of service
design, but also the way in which a team of service
designers can approach issues and provide solutions in
a quick and practical way.
GABRIELLA PICCOLO from Italy
The Master in Service Design helped me look deeply into
UX reaserch. After the degree, I got the opportunity to
work for international clients, travelling abroad, getting
the chance to see other cultures and services.
My internship place became my workplace. At Experientia
I learnt how to interview people, how to get the right
insights out of the findings, how to design a workshop
and personas in details. I discovered passion for research
through the channel I like the most: video-ethnography. I
spent 1 month in Singapore doing my first field research
on healthcare and the experience was highly rewarded.
ANTONIO STARNINO from Canada
The strength of this master is in its focus on project based
learning. Having done client workshops, activities and
jams helped me understand how to develop a service
design project from start to finish, using a variety of
methods and strategies. Right now I am working in the
field of healthcare innovation and these experiences has
given me the confidence and ability to be able to speak
to patients, plan client workshops and develop and
prototype a variety of multi-stakeholder service solutions.
SARA MANZINI from Italy
Coming from a multidisciplinary design path, the Master
is Service Design has helped me focus on what I was
really into. I managed to funnel towards one direction all
the varied knowledge and skills developed in the different
cultural contexts I have lived, studied and worked in. That
has represented a turning point to my career, because I
was finally able to be part of a specific design field, where
flexibility and multidisciplinarity represent an important
value. I currently work as design researcher at frog,
where I’m constantly involved in international projects
that require high system thinking skills. That’s the most
exciting aspect of my job.
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THEY SAY...
TEACHING STAFF
DARIO BUZZINI
with the motivation and preparation of the students
created a terrific combination that was effective both as
educational process and as design experience.
Designer Director at IDEO
VINCENZO DI MARIA
The Master in Service design provides a unique and
international experience focused on the development of
tangible strategies via hands-on and iterative learning
modules. For example, students in my module learned to
successfully build, communicate and gather feedback on
their online service platforms in less than 48 hours. All with
plenty of fun. Service Design students work hard and play
hard.
LUCA SIMEONE
Founder and Managing Partner of Vianet
In the first edition of the Master’s, l taught the Design
Management Lab, a workshop oriented to complement
user-centered
approaches
with
management
techniques. The students worked in groups to address a
real-life, complex project: prototyping the user interface
of a digital platform funded by the European Commission.
During the course, the students had the chance to explore
different design techniques, apply them on a real project
and present their final work to a jury composed by senior
stakeholders of the project. The prototypes designed by
the students have been used to create the final version
of the digital platform. This hands-on approach coupled
Network catalyst at commongroundpeople
Service Design is an interdisciplinary field of practice
that embraces the best of design thinking mindset,
empathic research tools coming from ethnography
and marketing, innovative business strategy and value
creation models. The MA Service Design at Politecnico
in Milan brings together the best of academics, thinkers
and practitioners working in this fluid field across Europe,
preparing the students to approach the service industry
with a range of new tools and processes to improve,
reshape or to create new services. The students on the
course bring different experiences, backgrounds and
perspectives from all over the world, creating a strong
peer learning environment that allows them to grow both
personally and professionally. I would recommend the MA
Service Design at Politecnico in Milan as one of the top 5
learning programmes on this field internationally.
MASTER IN SERVICE DESIGN
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
www.polidesign.net/servicedesign
www.servicedesignmaster.com
/masterservicedesign
@MSDPolimi
20
MASTER IN
SERVICE DESIGN
THE MASTER BOARD
DIRECTOR
STEFANO MAFFEI
CO-DIRECTOR
BEATRICE VILLARI
GENERAL COORDINATOR
FRANCESCA FOGLIENI
:)
:)
NOTES
POLI.DESIGN
Ufficio Coordinamento Formazione
Politecnico di Milano
Via Durando 38/a Milano
T +39 02 2399 7217
F +39 02 2399 5970
[email protected]
www.polidesign.it/servicedesign