Kevin's closing keynote presentation at the Design Management Institute's conference in London in 2010.
The presentation tackled two key questions: Why is design thinking such a hot topic with executives, but leaves so many designers cold? And: Does the demand for design thinking represent more of an opportunity than the thinking itself?
It was based on an article of the same title for the Design Management Review http://www.plan.bz/plan-views/2010/september/steppingup
22. Design thinking = Design process
tool for managers to tackle a wide range
of business problems
Source: Tim Brown, ‘Design Thinking’,
Harvard Business Review, June 2008
23. Bill Moggridge
New story, old idea
‘ esign thinking is
d
a new story, not
a new process.’
Bill Moggridge, Designerly Thinking:
In conversation with Bill Moggridge, NESTA,
12 June 2007
27. Helen Walters
Former editor of Design and Innovation,
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
‘ we] need [a] better
[
definition of design thinking,
more widely understood.
[it’s a] Wild west of
interpretation right now.’
Helen Walters, Tweet, 9 March 2010
28. Don Norman
‘ esign thinking
D
is a nonsensical
phrase that
deserves to die’
Don Norman, ‘The Research-Practice Gulf’,
Design Research Conference, 11 May 2010
29. Don Norman
‘ esign thinking is
D
a public relations
term for good, oldfashioned creative
thinking.’
Don Norman, ‘Design Thinking: A useful myth’,
Core77, 25 June 2010
32. The Big Re-Think
Redesigning business summit
11-12 March 2010
‘
Business leaders
are casting around
for new ideas...
...design thinking
is offering itself
up as one of the
new ideas’
Vijay V Vaitheeswaran, ‘The Big Re-Think:
redesigning business summit’, 11-12 March 2010
Vijay V Vaitheeswaran, Global Correspondent, The Economist
33. Crisis of trust and legitimacy
Richard Fuld, Ex-CEO Lehman Bros
46. 1997
Creative Britain
‘ e can say with
W
pride that Britain is the
“design workshop of
the world” – leading a
creative revolution’
Tony Blair, ‘Britain’s design industry,
Foreign and commonwealth office, 1998
47. 1997
The creative sector
40 million Americans !
Fine art auctions
Advertising
IT services
Music industry
Design
Gallery and museum
attendants
53. 2007
Raised aesthetic expectations
‘ he rise of look and
T
feel – aesthetics are a
universal human desire
NOT a luxury’
Virginia Postrel, ‘The Substance of Style’, 2003
62. Foundations
More than stylists
5 levels of design
5
Problem framing
4
Problem solving
3
Functionality
usability
2
Aesthetics
1
Accidental design
Source: adapted from www.bplusd.org
63. Foundations
More than stylists
5
Problem framing
4
Problem solving
3
Functionality
usability
2
Aesthetics
1
Accidental design
Source: adapted from www.bplusd.org
Design
64. Foundations
More than stylists
5
Problem framing
Design thinking
4
Problem solving
3
Functionality
usability
2
Aesthetics
1
Accidental design
Source: adapted from www.bplusd.org
Design
65. Foundations
Cross-silo facilitators
Taking a holistic view as interdisciplinary
translators and bridges between silos
Customer support
Channel
Packaging design
Finance
UX
Product design
Marketing
RD
Designers
66. Foundations
Cross-silo facilitators
Christopher Lorenz envisaged
a bigger role for designers in 1980s
‘ designers good]
[
translators, bridges
and catalysts [between
corporate silos]...
[playing the role of]
facilitator, coordinator,
evaluator and completer.’
Christopher Lorenz, ‘The Design Dimension’, 1986
69. Foundations
Synthesisers
Christopher Lorenz envisaged
a bigger role for designers in 1980s
‘t is not the mundane skills of
I
sketching, shaping and colouring
which make the industrial
designer such a valuable
resource, but the multi-faceted
ability to contribute to the work of
other disciplines, and to stimulate,
interpret and synthesise it.’
Christopher Lorenz, ‘The Design Dimension’, 1986
70. Foundations
Synthesisers
‘ aser intelligence probes
L
deeply into a topic, but ignores
opportunities to cross-pollinate...
Searchlight intelligence may not
probe as deeply but is always
scanning the environment and
[spotting] connections across
spheres.’
Howard Gardner, ‘Five Minds for the Future’, 2007
76. Foundations
Editors
Disciplined focus
‘t was about being very focused
I
and not trying to do too much…
the key was getting rid of stuff’
Jonathan Ive quoted in ‘The guts of a new machine’, New York Times,
30 November 2003
84. Recent steps
Engagement facilitators
‘
those looking for a prescribed
way to implement design
thinking are destined to be
disappointed. It’s a messy,
opaque process that depends
as much on group dynamics as
intellect or insight....the process
was more important than the
product.... the idea is that
people need a way to engage
in multiple places within their
community.’
Helen Walters, ‘Inside the Design Thinking Process’,
Businessweek.com,14 December 2009
86. Next steps
Design needs to raise its game
‘ reativity is not
C
in short supply...
Design no longer
delivers competitive
advantage’
Roberto Verganti, Design-Driven Innovation, 2009
87. Next steps
Design needs take more
of its own medicine
We need to innovate
how we innovate
There is no one size
fits all approach to
innovation
Roberto Verganti
88. Next steps
High quality design is hard
We’re all designers, it’s what
separates us from the apes
‘ esign is not
D
important.
Good design
is important.’
Jonathan Ive, ‘Lessons from America’,
Design Council / HEFCE, September 2006
92. Next steps
Vision
Over insight and empathy
‘ adical innovation
R
does not come
from users...
Designers have
become less visionary.
They have spent the
last 10 years getting
close to consumers
and trying to become
businessmen, and
have lost their visions.’
Roberto Verganti
The Big Re-Think: redesigning business summit
11-12 March 2010
93. Next steps
Consumer needs last
‘ echnology first,
T
invention second,
needs last.’
Don Norman, ‘Technology First, Needs Last’,
interactions.acm.org, March/April 2010