Producer Responsibility – A Design Study for Shared CRM

Overview

As part of Finland's circular-economy work, a government agency commissioned a design study to explore how a shared Customer Relationship Management (CRM) model could improve collaboration among the organisations involved in producer responsibility: the system that makes companies responsible for the recycling and lifecycle of their products.

I led the service design and research for this study, focusing on opportunities to create more efficient, transparent and data-driven collaboration.

Challenge

Producer responsibility involves multiple actors: companies, waste-management organisations and authorities. Each stakeholder operated with its own systems and data, resulting in fragmented communication, duplicated effort and limited visibility into shared processes.

The challenge was to understand:

• How data moves between organisations.

• Where collaboration breaks down.

• How a shared CRM solution could support both regulatory oversight and smoother cooperation.

This wasn't just a technical challenge; it was about designing the foundations for trust and shared understanding across a complex ecosystem.

Approach

Desk Research – Reviewed current CRM tools, processes and data management practices across organisations.

Stakeholder Interviews – Conducted in-depth interviews with producer-responsibility organisations, authorities and IT specialists to understand pain points and goals.

Journey Mapping – Visualised workflows to highlight overlaps, bottlenecks and opportunities for data integration.

Concept Exploration – Identified potential CRM functionalities and integration scenarios aligned with the client's digital strategy.

Synthesis & Recommendations – Compiled the findings into a report outlining key requirements and next steps for a possible system implementation.

Outcome

• An insight report and concept model outlining how a shared CRM system could improve coordination, efficiency and transparency.

• A clear visualisation of the ecosystem, helping stakeholders understand interdependencies and opportunities for collaboration.

• A foundation for future digital development supporting circular-economy goals.

Impact & Reflection

This study reinforced my passion for connecting systems thinking with human-centred design. It showed how clarity in processes and shared data structures can enable real collaboration, even in highly regulated environments.

It also reminded me that the value of design often lies in making the invisible visible: helping organisations see not only their pain points, but their potential for change.