In 1969, a handful of designers with experience from major companies like AGA, Asea and IBM started a company called Designgruppen. The company rented spacious but cheap offices in a converted glue factory in Traneberg outside Stockholm. The first clients included AGA, Asea, ESAB and Kooperativa Förbundet.

Designgruppen wanted to work professionally and methodically with industrial products. According to one of the founders of Designgruppen, they wanted to distance themselves from the “punditry” that dominated the development of consumer goods at the time.

In 1971, a group of designers teamed up and called themselves Ergonomidesign. The main focus was user-oriented, inclusive design projects for clients like Handikappinstitutet (the Swedish Handicap Institute), Karolinska University Hospital, Styrelsen för teknisk utveckling (now the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems) and Permobil.

In 1974, Ergonomidesign moved into the converted factory that housed Designgruppen. After a while, the two companies got so intermingled that they decided to merge into a single company in 1979. The new company, Ergonomi Design Gruppen, moved a year later into a converted chapel in Bromma outside Stockholm. The company was run as co-operative with a rolling CEO and general meetings.

Throughout the 1980’s, Ergonomi Design Gruppen continued to work on user-oriented, inclusive products and work environments, with a heavy emphasis on systematic user research, stakeholder collaboration and sustainability. Clients included Bahco, BabyBjörn and Pfizer.

When the economy picked up in the mid 1990’s, Ergonomi Design Gruppen started to grow by employing young designers that added new, complementary skills yet shared the same fundamental values as the founders. In 2001, Ergonomi Design Gruppen hired their first professional CEO, Krister Torssell, and shortly afterwards the company reclaimed the name Ergonomidesign.

The world in which Ergonomidesign operates today is quite different compared to the one that dominated their founding period in the 1970’s. However, interestingly enough, the company’s core values and competences are perhaps more valid than ever. Using them as a springboard, Ergonomidesign has recently extended its reach by adding new services, by entering new market segments and by opening new offices.