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’.
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’.
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 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.
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.
