8/13/2019 BeyondDesignThinking Plan

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Not for everyoneDesign thinkers areright that there is amore strategic role fordesigners but onlyfor some designers.For those with thepotential and drive tostep up, traditionaldesign skills only getsthem so far. To raisetheir game, they mustacquire new know-how.

Design isnot importantDesign Thinking offereddesigning for non-designers. Let us beclear, purposefullyshaping our environmentis what separates all ofhumanity from baboons everyone can design.Exceptional design iswhat matters and is

much harder. To quoteJonathan Ive, Designis not important. Gooddesign is important.

Process isnot enoughUnwisely, DesignThinking sold a simpleand snappy versionof the product designprocess as a magicmethod, which couldbe applied universally.In reality, process isnothing without rstsetting the right context

(e.g. problem denition,and vision) and the rightdesign talent.

BeyondDesignThinkingPointers on stepping-upto a more strategic role

Design Thinking was the most potent pitch of design to business in history.For all its woolliness 1, the snappy message penetrated the C-suite like noother. In practice, design thinkers have struggled to deliver on their overblownpromises, and former evangelists 2 have distanced themselves from the term,while former clients 3 warn of it becoming just another fad that failed.

Designers on the ground, many having been wary of the spin from the outset 4,are now turning their back on it entirely. But are we really going to throw thebaby out with the bath water? For all its failings, Design Thinking uncoveredreal opportunities for design managers aiming to play a more strategic role inbusiness. The problem stemmed from a naive combination of overreach and alack of ambition to learn. It was unwise to claim that one simple approach couldbe the catch all solution to problems as disparate as climate change or thehealth care crisis. It was vain not to recognise that new capabilities would haveto be mastered to tackle more strategic challenges.

For those who are still serious about stepping up, its time to take stock andbrush up. Lets begin with three fundamentals.

Kevin McCullaghFounder, Plan

1 Kevin McCullagh, Stepping up: seizing the opportunities design thinking has uncovered, Design Management Review, September 20 102 Bruce Nussbaum, Design Thinking is a failed experiment, Fastcodesign.com, 4 June 20113 Geoff Mulgan, Design in public and social innovation what works, and what could do better, NESTA, February 20134 Gadi Amit, Making sense of Design Thinking: three denitions, two problems and one big question, fastcompany.com, 28 November 20095 Kevin McCullagh, Strategy for the real world, Design Management Review, Fall 2006

Cross-silocommunicationWorking at theintersection of marketingand R&D, designerscan play the role oftranslators or bridgesbetween departments.Being able to talkpeople and technologyenables them to

facilitate effective cross-functional dialogue.This ability couldbe strengthened bylearning the languageof nance and supplychains.

Five capabilities to build on Five capabilities to brush up on

Macro-microperspectiveSituating problemswithin a big-picturecontext is a strategicfundamental. Designstrategists earn theircoin by adoptingthis helicopter view,and zooming downto the ne details of

experience aesthetics.This helps seniormanagementengage with designeffectively. This is thehardest capability toacquire, as it requires asustained acquisition ofcontextual knowledge.

ExperienceawarenessMany designers aregood at graspingthe subtleties ofconsumer perceptionsand behaviors.Whether throughobservational researchor more intuitivecultural interpretation,

they situate and solveproblems in a culturalcontext. As productsand services becomemore complex, theability to focus onexperiences acrosstouch-points is morehighly valued.

AnalyticalrigourDesigners are oftencriticized for theiroverreliance on intuitionand lack of graspof reality5. Analyticaltechniques and toolsare relatively easyto pick up, but theyneed practice to wield

effectively. Rigour isa habit of mind thatis developed throughhigher levels ofsystematic interrogationof data than is usual indesign. Analytical rigourfused with intuitive leapsis a rare and potent mix.

Foresightand visionCreating the future ispart of every designers

job description. Whileothers seek data,designers spot ways tomake tomorrow easierand more enjoyablethan today. Fascinatedby change, they excel

at imagining futurescenarios, anticipatingnew needs andenvisioning potentialsolutions. As businessesdrown in data, clear-sighted visions aresorely needed.

OpportunityframingStrategic challengestend to be fuzzy,multi-dimensional andoften wide in scope.Designers are nottaught how to deneopportunities in waysthat are credible ina business context.

Framing essentiallyconsists of distillinga complex set of issuesdown to a few criticalvariables. These arethen used to frameproblem denitions,hypotheses and pointsof view.

Visualisation andprototypingMaking ideas tangibleby sketching andprototyping is oneof designers mostobvious skills. Howeveras design solutionsbecome more multi-faceted, this abilitywill become more

highly prized, but newtechniques will be needto be mastered frominfographics to Arduinoprototyping.

GuidanceframeworksTheres much truth inthe maxim Strategy iseasy, execution is hard.A sound strategy is aprecursor to success,but no guarantee quality of executionis critical. Strategistsappreciate the craft

and compromisesof design, whilending ways to helpdesigners focus onthe ultimate objectives by developing cleardecision-makingprinciples and tools.

Resolving andcompletingOne of designers mostunderrated abilities ispulling tangible stufftogether for deadlines.While the alpha IQswrestle with complexityand analysis paralysis,designers inch the ballforward by offering

tangible solutions in time for the keyproject review. Designstrategists build on thisdiscipline by producingobjects of synthesisbeyond design visuals.

Reasoning andcommunicationStrategies have atendency to bounceoff organizations,unless they arepresented with impactand socialized throughmore tailored one-to-one communication.To persuade,

messages should behoned to be clear,concise, and cogent.Make them appeal tothe head through soundrationale, and the heartthrough well-chosenexamples, metaphorsand stories.

Design Thinking is a failed experiment...The success rate for Design Thinkingprocesses was very low. Bruce Nussbaum

PROCESS

CONTEXT TALENT

Process is not enough, success also requiresdesign leaders to set the right context and deployhigh-quality design talent