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Keep in touch: a friend book for building your student network
A student team designed a friend book for Aalto University Shop to help students build contacts and make connections.
Friends Made at Aalto – the friend book was one of a hundred ideas listed by BA Design students Leena Hurtig, Kasi Jutila and Taija Piikkilä at the start of the Design Project course.
The course client, Aalto University Shop, was looking for an affordable item that also works as a gift. On the course, student teams developed a product from idea to implementation. The friendship book was selected from among eight concepts suggested by students. The book will be on sale at Aalto University Shop from 17 August 2026, priced at €4.90.
Course instructor Simo Puintila was excited by the friend book concept and encouraged the team to take it forward. According to Taija Piikkilä, the idea is familiar to many, as lots of people in Finland had a friend book as a child. 'We wanted to adapt the concept to a university environment. Networking events are often separate from the Aalto community, and networking on LinkedIn or social media doesn’t necessarily build a genuine connection.'
We started by asking what would be most useful and how the book would be used. We added a feature where each writer suggests someone new to connect with. That way, a real network could emerge,' says Kasi Jutila. Later, when you’re founding a company or need an expert in a specific field, the book could be helpful. 'We hope that in 10 years’ time the book will be a fun and useful memento of university life.'
In user testing, the group received valuable feedback from other students. 'At first, the content was a complete mystery. We revised the book and its questions based on the feedback. During testing we had the rewarding feeling that this is actually a really good product', says Leena Hurtig.
Design studies are practical and solution‑focused
On project courses, the brief is open. Instead of a predefined task, you have to make all the choices yourself.
Taija Piikkilä finds industry briefs particularly interesting, as they show the kinds of work you might do in the future. The courses also provide support and mentoring from the teaching staff. 'Studying on the Bachelor’s Programme in Design has been more hands‑on than I expected from university studies, and that’s been very positive.'
'There are very few courses that simply teach you how to do something—for example, how to lay out a page in a book. I can decide for myself what matters and what I want to do. On the course, you learn how to put it into practice', says Kasi Jutila.
Implementing something new isn’t always a straightforward or easy process. 'Even when everything goes well, project courses take you through the full range of emotions. You have to make decisions and move forward in some direction, even when you’re unsure. You also have to trust the process', says Taija Piikkilä.
'When we decided to make a book, we figured out ourselves how to do it. That requires a lot of self-direction. You get more out of the courses the more time you invest in them.'
Clear goals steer the work. 'You have to find out about what users need. You also have to decide how to allocate your time to the project', says Leena Hurtig.
The creative process is about gathering understanding
The group praises how smoothly the teamwork went: everyone contributed. Friend book was on Leena’s ideas list, which Taija developed into a concept for the interim presentation and gave a name. Leena focused especially on the layout of the inner pages, Kasi came up with the recommendation section, and we carried out user testing together. No one sat on the side; communication within the team was smooth and the project progressed quickly.
User testing provided important perspectives for the process. It’s easier to make choices, when you have gathered knowledge. 'It’s important not to keep polishing a project endlessly, but to keep it moving sensibly,' emphasises Leena Hurtig.
The designers are keen to hear whether the book helps in getting new contacts and whether the recommendation feature works in practice: do the recommended people respond when approached?
'We encourage people to take the book to all events, give it to their guests, and build their network with a low threshold. This can open up new social contacts at a time when spontaneous encounters have become less common', says Leena Hurtig.
User feedback about the book can be sent to aaltofriendbook@gmail.com.
The book will be on sale at Aalto University Shop from 17 August 2026, priced at €4.90.
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