commonground

What commonground does

commonground srl is a privately held Service Design and Design Thinking studio incorporated in Italy, with operational offices in Bologna (Via Oberdan 19) and a legal seat in Siracusa (Viale Scala Greca 181A), and a historical footprint that included London and Lisbon between 2010 and 2017 before consolidating in Italy in 2018. The firm is co-founded and operated by Vincenzo Di Maria (Service Design, facilitation, training) and Claudia Busetto (Information Architecture, digital Service Design Thinking), with a stated headcount range of 1-10 and no external investors or parent company.

The firm's commercial offering is organized around four core service lines — research and testing (user research, analysis, prototyping, testing of products and services), training (custom courses for designers and non-designers combining theory and practice), co-design events and workshops (facilitation or train-the-facilitator formats for innovation events), and Design Therapy (strategic consulting for untangling situations and decision-making) — supplemented by design coaching, a dedicated Service Design per Startups offering, and a free 1-hour 1:1 consultation used to convert prospects. Methodologically, commonground frames its work as Service Design governing adjacent practices including Design Thinking, User Experience Design, facilitation, Information Architecture, Customer Experience Design, and communication design. The technological base is methodology-led rather than platform-based: there is no proprietary software, no app, and no public API or integration surface; delivery is conducted through consulting engagements.

The business model is sales-led professional services on a project basis with defined objectives, expectations, resources, and risks per engagement. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The firm targets private companies, Italian public administration, third-sector organizations, and design agencies (the latter as resellers/partners who channel corporate work to commonground). Geographic scope is Italy and Europe. Acquisition channels are content marketing on commongroundpeople.com, organic social (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter), email inquiries, direct outreach, referrals, and partnerships with design agencies.

Name

commonground

Legal name

commonground srl

Website

https://commongroundpeople.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

commonground is a privately held Italian Service Design and Design Thinking studio offering research, training, co-design workshops, and strategic consulting to private companies, public administration, and third-sector organizations across Italy and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Castel Guelfo Di Bologna

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services - Research and Testing: Research, analysis, prototyping, and testing of products and services to help clients understand what to improve.
2. Professional Services - Training: Custom courses for designers and non-designers, mixing theory and practice of design methodologies.
3. Professional Services - Events and Workshops: Specific formats for innovation and co-design events. Services include facilitation or teaching clients to facilitate.
4. Design Therapy: Strategic consulting to help professionals and organizations untangle situations and make decisions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

commonground is a Service Design and Design Thinking studio that delivers four core paid services to organizations: Research and Testing (ricerca e test), Training (formazione) on design methods, Co-design Events and Workshops (eventi e workshop di co-design), and Design Therapy (strategic consulting). Offerings are sold as project-based consulting engagements targeting improvements to services, customer experiences, and internal processes.

Product overview

commonground is a Service Design and Design Thinking studio based in Bologna, Italy, offering consulting services to help organizations improve services, experiences, and internal processes. Their portfolio consists of four core services: Ricerca e test (research, analysis, prototyping and testing), Formazione (custom training courses), Eventi e workshop di co-design (innovation and co-design events), and Design terapia (strategic consulting). These are complemented by methodologies including Service Design, Design Thinking, User Experience Design, Facilitation, Information Architecture, Customer Experience Design, and Communication services. They also offer design coaching and one-hour consulting sessions as additional offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ricerca e test (Research and Testing) Research, analysis, prototyping, and testing of products and services to help client organizations identify what to improve. Delivered as a professional services engagement to organizations in Italy and Europe.
• Formazione (Training) Custom-made courses for designers and non-designers that blend the theory and practice of Service Design and design methods. Sold as a standalone training offering to client organizations.
• Eventi e workshop di co-design (Co-design Events and Workshops) Design and facilitation of specific formats for innovation and co-design events, with the option for commonground to either facilitate directly or train client teams to facilitate themselves. Sold as a standalone workshop/event offering.
• Design terapia (Design Therapy) Strategic consulting engagement to help professionals and organizations untangle complex situations and make strategic decisions, applying design methods to problem framing and decision clarity. Sold as a standalone strategic consulting offering.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Design agenciescoreStrategic or Co-development Partnercommonground collaborates with design agencies as strategic partners for delivering projects to corporate clients. These agencies provide access to enterprise accounts while commonground contributes research, usability analysis, and training program creation capabilities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: Iconic design and innovation consultancy offering human-centered design, service design, and strategic facilitation. Comparable in core methodology and workshop-driven engagement model, but at a much larger scale and global brand recognition.
• Designit (Wipro): Global design and innovation consultancy acquired by Wipro, providing strategy, service design, and digital product work. Comparable in service design and innovation offerings but operates at significantly larger scale across multiple geographies.
• Method (GlobalLogic): Global experience design and engineering consultancy now part of GlobalLogic, providing strategy, research, and product design. Comparable in design-driven transformation offerings, with significantly broader delivery capability.
• frog (Capgemini Invent): Global design and strategy firm integrated into Capgemini Invent, delivering service design, brand, and product innovation. Comparable in design thinking and service design methodologies but with global reach and enterprise-scale resources.
• Adaptive Path (Capital One): Pioneer in UX and service design, now part of Capital One's design organization. Comparable in service design and research heritage; operates within a much larger institutional context.

Emerging players

• Nielsen Norman Group: UX research, training, and consulting firm offering courses and workshops that overlap with commonground's training and research streams. Comparable in content-led training model and thought leadership, but with a global audience and stronger focus on UX than service design broadly.

Direct peers

• Karoshi: Italian design and innovation consultancy working on service design, UX, and digital strategy for public and private clients. Comparable in size, geography, and methodology focus.
• Livework: European service design consultancy offering research, prototyping, training, and facilitation for public and private sector clients. Closely comparable to commonground in offering mix, methodology focus, and project-based delivery model.
• AQuest: Italian UX and Service Design studio with a similar mix of research, training, and consulting. Comparable Italian-market boutique with overlapping methodology and customer segments.

Regional players

• TSW (Tata Steelwave/Italian agency): Italian design and innovation firm offering research, UX, and service design across European markets. Comparable in service mix and Italian footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/commongroundppl
• Facebookfacebook.com/commongroundppl
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/commongroundpeople

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about commonground