marketing + design + strategy

Consumer centric AND employee centric, define your people to define the vision

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:24:20 +0000

Why?

Because they carry the vision already

Because they will need to carry the vision going forwards

Because they are the company

Because every employee will be empowered

Because business will be played out in genuine relationships, there’s no hiding

Because it’s a grounded way of bridging the vision reality gap

The Tenets of Digital Strategy

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:17:00 +0100

The Tenets of Digital Strategy

Business needs right brain

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:42:16 +0100

Business needs right brain

Anyone else?

Sun, 30 May 2010 09:41:51 +0100

Understanding comes from placing something by asking:

How productive (the doing)

How profound (the thinking)

How connected (the spirit)

Social dynamics of organisational change

Mon, 24 May 2010 19:52:18 +0100

Social dynamics of organisational change:

A good post building on the ‘Design Thinking organisations’ debate.

The key to organisational change is in social dynamics, which are based on social values, which are socially constructed truths I’d add (post on ‘social constructs’ to come).

Social dynamics feed off relationship, and depend on good will, commitment, purpose.

To change an organisation you’ve got to understand how people tick, what motivates them etc.

Dan Pink’s book ‘Drive’ makes the statement that people are generally more motivated by autonomy, mastery and purpose than the traditional stick and carrot. It’s that kind of insight that makes the difference.

Can organisations be beautiful?

Thu, 06 May 2010 16:49:00 +0100

Can organisations be beautiful?:

If great product designs have functional and emotional elements, with the emotional side built on meaning, what about organisations? Can they have a meaning based quality to them?

Behaviour of strategic designers

Thu, 06 May 2010 13:50:22 +0100

Behaviour of strategic designers:

8 ways to behave as a strategic designer designing for social impact, but very relevant for designers working in business.

The big re-think, reflections

Sun, 02 May 2010 15:59:00 +0100

The big re-think, reflections:

An interesting article on where design is going. Some reflections on the reflections:
For me much of the activity around what design is has greatest value in opening up design and bringing others in. In business design needs to be relational and participatory to be strategic.

I’m working through what is unique at the intersection between design and business.

Vision resilience. For designers vision is about depth through divergence & convergence, for business it’s about clarity and resilience, robustness.

Collaboration engagement. For designers relationship is about creativity, for business it’s about frameworks, rules of engagement, consensus.

Communication timing. For designers it’s continual and flexible, for business it’s about implications and closure.

Creativity appropriation. For designers recognition is respect, in business respect is day to day appropriation (of ideas and process). This is perhaps the most directly interesting and relevant point for the article. Grasping too thinly at the creative process and accomplishments doesn’t make for a strategic role in business. A generous willingness to mix with the messy and release ownership of the juicy core of design is a start point. Clarity on what design thinking is can help a lot, in the context of learning the uniqueness at the intersection of design and business.

I guess the summary is that when design meets business high quality design expertise is essential but not the ‘solution’.

iPhone 4G spotted in the wild [PICS]

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:21:22 +0100

iPhone 4G spotted in the wild [PICS]

Why the local Post Office? If David Cameron knows in his gut...

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:32:44 +0100

Why the local Post Office?

If David Cameron knows in his gut that losing the local Post Office would be a mistake then he needs to speak to us designers in forming his argument.

We deal in the holistic value of things day in day out.

Design strategy is process

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 10:32:00 +0100

Traditional business might have treated a design strategy as a masterplan, a series of defined steps intended to control the future; the hopes for the future would be in the plan.

The new is to see it as process in the sense that it’s a way of doing things, an attitude, an intent; the methods aren’t defined so much as the intent. It’s an organic order.

A product of a process is a reflection of the process, so a design strategy can’t but represent process.

Having said that the best design strategies are crystal clear, design strategy isn’t only process…

Six sigma vs design thinking

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:39:30 +0100

Six sigma vs design thinking:

This article got me thinking.

The relationship between the two types of process, and ways of thinking, can be heavy going. It needs people who can bridge it.

Industrial Design always claimed to bridge between industry and consumer. Now markets and business are maturing to the point where ‘design strategist’ types bridge between old business (six sigma alone) and design thinking.

Where does ‘metrics’ come into this, for design in business?

I feel although a corporate creative competence does of course need to be managed it’s management on a different basis, defined by different values, and different kinds of metrics.

It’s along the lines that old business craves clarity and decision but new business will also need to seek depth and vision. How do you measure depth? Or vision? Or purpose? Or cultural capital?

I feel like these things require relationship, people within a corporation need to ‘feel’ something to be ‘on-board’, just as the consumer needs to ‘connect’ with something emotionally and experience it meaningfully. It’s like the designed product is a reflection of the design process, so in this new world we need new business that is connected (not only by process) and speaks in ‘depth’ and ‘vision’.

Meaning. You can’t go far wrong with a Dieter Rams quote can...

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:50:48 +0000

Meaning.

You can’t go far wrong with a Dieter Rams quote can you:

“Good Design is making something intelligible and memorable, great design is making something memorable and meaningful.”

Making something intelligible is to make sound decisions in the design process, something is memorable when it is a good design and easy to remember for making a clear statement; it becomes an icon.

But making something meaningful is better still. The meaning of something is derived from how it fits into a context, a culture, and point in time and history. A product with meaning might communicate a value like authenticity or playfulness, or remind us of something else, or the time when…

An example would be making a kettle out of copper, most people will have come across the old copper pots so straight away they’d be thinking of quality, homeliness, social hubbub in a way that wouldn’t be prompted by a plastic kettle.

Meaning depends on culture, on context and history, so we need to understand that stuff. People are inevitably engaged with their surroundings so it depends on their baggage, where they’re coming from, their lives, their journey, and habitat.

People generally respond to meaning by intuition, which is informed by experience, so someone’s understanding of meaning will depend on them and their subjective view. Intuition deals in emotion which is a very powerful motivator and compass, in a sense we can’t avoid meaning.

Depth, the new clarity

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:41:39 +0000

Traditional business has valued clarity and decision above all.

New business will need to value depth and vision.

That’s not to say the depth can’t be clear, the best visions are extremely clear, they need to be.

Practical steps to in-house design strategy 2 Map the consumer...

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:17:00 +0000

Practical steps to in-house design strategy 2

Map the consumer and develop a ‘worldview’ of cultural context.

This means telling stories about people and their lives in a way that helps make internal decisions such as what products to do, who to target… It could be personas, or mindsets, or matrices, or journeys etc.

Having a broad view helps to build a worldview on a cultural level to understand motivations and behaviour, helping you make better decisions. Going broad brings more clarity and conviction rather than less, knowing who you aren’t targeting and what behaviours you’re not facilitating brings focus.

User-Centered Innovation Is Not Sustainable

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 11:32:18 +0000

User-Centered Innovation Is Not Sustainable:

The big re-think continues… A good statement post.

Design Thinking is Dead. Long Live Design Orientation.

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:12:51 +0000

Design Thinking is Dead. Long Live Design Orientation.:

The Design Thinking meme has been around for a long time — since around 2007 — but only recently did it pick up some steam due to the global financial crisis (driven largely by an as of yet unacknowledged global, fundamental crisis at the very heart of business and capitalism itself).

As…

I agree design orientation sounds like a good signpost for a mindset that’s needed within business. Working as a strategic designer in a domestic appliance manufacturer I feel there is a balance to be struck between encouraging design thinking in all and recognising leadership in it, and that the design thinking signpost doesn’t fully describe the change in mindset.

I believe designers have a very exciting leadership role to play, but that the leadership type and style will be different to traditional leadership, and that’s necessarily so.

It’s like design is evolving beyond it’s traditional silo. Where I work we’re only early on the curve but there is progress. I’d say the evolution beyond the silo depends in large part on individuals carrying the skills and design mindset as pioneers, design as an organisational function is still seen as a silo.

In this process strategic type designers naturally have a vision for a new way of working, organisational makeup etc, but from experience I’d say some the keys are:

Patience; evolution from the bottom up takes time.

Readiness for opportunity; when senior management open doors you need to be ready to go for it even if you’ve just taken a few blows along the way.

Discipline; making sure you’re present at cross disciplinary or senior management progress meetings, however time consuming (or boring).

I agree that designers evolve into this kind of role, and feel that ‘design management’ needs to catch up with that process. The profession as a whole is maturing in the marketplace and education needs to find a way to tap into that. For me design orientation is a good signpost, and that design’s role is increased rather than decreased as design thinking is promoted, it’s a mindset change that design can lead by evolving beyond it’s traditional silo.

Thanks for the post Raymond.

Practical steps to in-house design strategy 1 Find a way of...

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:32:00 +0000

Practical steps to in-house design strategy 1

Find a way of developing, communicating and agreeing the design direction of a product without referencing a design itself.

This has been very important for us.

If you want understanding/discussion/agreement on a broad basis (brand, consumer, trend etc) that needs to be done before designs are viewed and judged, if you’ve got to a concept presentation it’s already too late.

Coming in early with design direction keeps the thinking on the level you need, and gives you a chance to inform the choice of design by building a mental library in people, important business types, so when they see the design they’re already on board. It also gives them a chance to voice their intuitive understanding and thoughts before being asked to respond to a static design, something they’re normally not used to doing.

It’s about taking people on a journey, bringing them in on the process.

Having Ideas Versus Having a Vision

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:46:25 +0000

Having Ideas Versus Having a Vision:

Excellent post by Roberto Verganti.

Transforming design conference, London 21-22 April

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:48:40 +0000

Transforming design conference, London 21-22 April:

-How to lead and encourage design investment

-What design can and can’t deliver

-Have we arrived at the Golden Age of Design?

-How design methods being used to address social problems

-The new economic ecosystem

-How strategic design thinking must constantly evolve within a company’s DNA

-The transformational potential of design

-Design as a method for navigating complexity

-How designing for services takes designers closer to management and strategy

Good stuff…