how design conference 2010 process imporvement
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HOW Design Conference 2010:Design Process Improvement WorkshopIf you are interested in refining your design process, aligning your staff, and fixing your most frustrating problems, send me an email at [email protected].TRANSCRIPT
Dave HolstonDesign Management ConsultingThe Strategic Designerwww.the-strategic-designer.comdave@the-strategic-designer.com
Design process improvementHOW Design Conference, June 2010, Denver, CO
About me
Dave Holston• Director of Strategic Design Management at The University of
Texas at Austin• Owner/Design Management Consultant at The Strategic
Designer• Creative Director for Wavefly• Creative Director Blue Byte Software• Senior Art Director at Signature Communications• Design Lead at General Electric, Martin Marietta and Lockheed
Martin Government Services
Who are you?
Agenda
What you’ll learn• Discover the six steps to process improvement• Develop a more effective and efficient process• Increase customer satisfaction• Align your staffs understanding of your goals and their roles• Create a framework for continuous process improvement
Agenda
• Process improvement overview– The importance of design process– Exercise: Collaboration is key– Exercise: Common designer and client frustrations lists
– Exercise: Process improvement - Airplanes– Exercise: Communication is key
• 10 minute break• Refining your process
– Exercise: Writing a persuasive kick off speech
– Exercise: Create the “as is” flow chart
– Exercise: Four lenses– Exercise: Create the customer report card– Exercise: Write the “magic wand” process– Exercise: Create the refined process
Getting into teams
Teams• Elect a leader – facilitate, keep on track, present ideas• Elect a scribe – document• Elect a Kaizen master
Why process is important
Growing design firms need structure• Most design firms start from one or two people• As they grow there is a need to make implicit process explicit• Design organizations are about people working collaboratively• Process is a key tool for making collaboration successful
Why process is important
Big firms or departments need structure• Refine their in-house processes• No formalized process
– making it up as they went along– Reinventing the wheel– “Building the plane while it was in the air”
Why process is important
Design process improvement process• Interview players in the creative process• Constructed a workflow chart• Identified three tiers of of work• Created individual workflow diagrams for each tier
– Workflow, roles and responsibilities and detailed description of the work
• Trained the design team
Why process is important
Why• Standard operating procedures• Training tool for staff• Tool for clients• Allows the client to see the repercussion of their actions
– A small change can add up to several hours– The change may take a minute, but the process provides for
quality protections for the client
Why process is important
“Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives theprocess we will only ever go to where we've already been. If processdrives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we
want to be there.” - Bruce Mau
The value of process
TRUST
The value of process
DESIGN IS A DISCIPLINE,
NOT AN ARTISTIC INDULGENCE
The value of process
Clients want assurance
“Gut instinct scares the crap out of (business) people, because you
might be wrong. If you’ve taught all your life that process equals
success, then you will naturally want to know that the people you are
engaging with have a process, that you can understand so you can
make a rational judgment.”
Dave Mason, Principal, SamataMason
The value of process
Design thinking is process driven
“design skills and business skills are converging…It's time to
embrace a new value proposition based on creating -- indeed, often
co-creating -- new products and services with customers that fill their
needs, make them happy, and make companies and shareholders
rich.” Martin goes on to say that the design skills of “understanding,
empathy, problem solving” are what business need today.”
Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto
The value of process
A tool for collaboration– Transparency– Gets everyone on the same page– Inclusiveness– Alignment– Working in cross-functional
teams– Death of the design egotist
The value of process
On a side note:
HOWARD ROARK
MUST DIE
The value of process - collaboration
The Drawing Game: Collaboration rules
• Choose a partner• Work silently• Take turns drawing parts of a face,
one feature at a time• When you hesitate, stop drawing • Now write the first letter of this
characters name• Keep going till someone hesitates
The value of process – client centric
Audience perspective– Working with audiences to gain insight– Testing concepts with audiences– Understanding audience values
– Hallmark• What resonated with audiences• Increase presence within retail environments• Have audiences draw the logo to see what they recalled• Have audiences pick the color• “incorporate the customers voice”
The value of process - speed
Speed– Provides a framework for moving forward– Mitigates confusion– Aligns stakeholders at the beginning of the process
– Lucent Technologies• IPO date approaching• 12 weeks to re-brand the company• Naming and identity• Lucent’s IPO ended up being the largest in US History, raising roughly
$2.9 billion.• Landor stuck to their process
The value of process - risk
Risk– Process manages risk– Risk management tools
• Sign offs• Design briefs• Change orders
– Kraft Foods• 13 people responsible for 220 brands• 175 design jobs simultaneously• Targeted and well crafted
The value of process – work issues
When something goes wrong at work,
what is our first reaction?
The value of process – work issues
EXERCISE: Common designer frustrations
• List your top ten project frustrations
EXERCISE: Common client frustrations
• From a client perspective list your project frustrations
The design process
DesignResearch
Concept Development
DesignDevelopment
ProjectInitiation Measuring ROI
Brainstorming
Brain sketching
Concept screening
Visualization
Prototyping
Sign offSign off
Design metricsSituational analysis
Business analysis
Interviews
Focus groups
Ethnography
Setting the expectation
The value of design
Establishing the relationship
Project requirements
Design Process: Bielenberg
John Bielenberg
THINK WRONG
Design Process: Bielenberg
• Heuristics are pathways in the brain• Trying to disrupt the orthodoxies • What people pay attention to is what is different • What is good is typically based on what they’ve seen previously
Construct a debris field
Find thebig idea
Make things then
get out
Build a brief Select and do it
THINK WRONGTHINK WRONGTHINK WRONG THINK WRONG
Create a vivid pictureof the problem to be
solved and the results to be achieved
Show the environmentwhere the solution will live Generate disruptive
Content and design ideasQuickly bring ideas to life
Seek outside influences
Design Process: Beruit
Michael Beruit
MAGIC
Design Process: Beruit
• Intuition and iteration• Artful making: cheap and rapid iteration rather than on intensive
up-front planning• Elevating collaboration and iteration as key parts of the design process. • An “emergent” approach
Magic Justify solutionDevelop other
solutionsListen
Design Process: GSD&M
GSD&M
DYNAMICCOLLABORATION
Design Process: GSD&M
• The process is collaborative, engaging as many “smart people” as possible. – The first step is to admit that you don’t have the corner on “smarts.” – Ideation lab online collaboration tool– Anonymous– Top ten ideas
Look forcollaborators
Onlinediscussion
DesignDevelopment
Admit you don’t have all the answers
Exercise: Refining your process
Exercise: Refining your process
Scenario
Your team is one of several airplane production lines that are in direct competition
with each other in the production of paper airplanes. You will begin with the raw
materials and produce airplanes as quickly as you can.
Game flow• The game will consist of three rounds. Each round will have three phases:
– Phase 1: You will produce airplanes– Phase 2: Kaizen master will provide you feedback– Phase 3: Make changes in the production process to increase efficiency
and quality for the next round
Exercise: Refining your process - Kaizen
The Kaizen Master– Kai (change), zen (become good)– Elimination of waste and inefficiency
Kaizen five elementsTeamworkPersonal disciplineImproved moraleQuality circlesSuggestions for improvement
Kaizen five frameworkSeiri – tidinessSeiton – orderlinessSeiso – cleanlinessSeiketsu – standardized clean upShitsuke - discipline
Exercise: Refining your process - Kaizen
“Stand in a circle” method• The Kaizen master will stand in a circle• The rest of the team will build airplanes
Goals• Eliminate waste • Identify “Non value” activities• On a piece of paper find 10 things to improve each phase• Choose one of the improvements and address it immediately
Exercise: Refining your process - Kaizen
Seven types of waste• Overproduction – Use more resources than you
need to deliver to your customer.• Unnecessary transportation – Moving the product
creates risk• Inventory – Materials that are not producing income• Motion – Too many motions to create the product• Defects – Defects equal extra costs in rework and
rescheduling• Over-processing – Creating more than what the
customer wants• Waiting – Whenever projects are waiting to be
worked on
無駄(muda)
Exercise: Refining your process
Folder Wing Maker Paint Department
Paper Clip Kaizen manager/Observer
Time keeper/Quality control
Pull one sheet of the appropriate colored paper from stock (to your right)
Place the paper in front of you so that the long edges are at the top and bottom
Fold the paper in half by matching the right edge with the left edge
Fold the right edge toward the center, creating a 45-degree angle
Fold the left edge toward the center, creating a V shapeRefold the paper in half
Dots should be placed according to the following production schedule:
Blue planes get one dotYellow planes get two dotsOrange planes get three dots
Place paper clips on the leading edge of the plane in the center of the fuselage according to the following production schedule
Blue planes 1Yellow planes 3Orange planes 2
KaizenObserve the productionWrite 5 process related actions that can be modified
.
Quality controlAfter each phase note how many planes were created to spec, and how many where not to spec
Keep time.
Exercise: Refining your process
Round 1In four minutes
have four team members build…
8 Blue planes with 1 dot and 1 paper clip
8 Yellow planes with 2 dots and 3 paper clips
8 Orange planes with 3 dots and 2 paper clips
Exercise: Refining your process - Lean
Round 2In four minutes
have four team members build…
8 Blue planes with 1 dot and 1 paper clip8 Yellow planes with 2 dots and 3 paper clips8 Orange planes with 3 dots and 2 paper clips
Exercise: Refining your process - Lean
Round 3In three minutes
have four team members build…
8 Blue planes with 1 dot and 1 paper clip8 Yellow planes with 2 dots and 3 paper clips8 Orange planes with 3 dots and 2 paper clips
5 principals of process redesign
• Mange work structure• Information flow• Design guides• Organizing people• General guidance
1. Manage work structure
• Design the process around value adding activities• Single point of contact• Reduce rework and waiting• Reduce setup times• Use concurrent design processes whenever possible• Reduce checks and reviews• Build quality in at the beginning• Don’t let anything disrupt the value stream
2. Information flow
• Bring downstream information needs upstream• Capture project data once, and share it widely• Share all relevant information
3. Design guides
• Involve as few people as possible in the process• Ensure 100 quality at the beginning of the process• Test the process to see where it will break• Install metrics and feedback to correct problems• Standardize process
4. Organizing people
• Co-locate your team• Use multifunctional teams• Use multi-skilled teams
Design process improvement workshop
10 min break(Incubation time)
The Process Improvement Process
Create the“As is” chart
Four LensesAnalysis
Customer Report card
Build theteam
New processchart
Step 1: Create the process improvement team
Build the team• Compliance vs. Commitment• Design staff knows the job the best and can…
– Address frustration– Bottlenecks– Bureaucracy – Simplify processes– Increase teamwork
• Make a list of who you would have on your design process redesign team
Step 1: Create the process improvement team
Design staff and clients
involved in the change
will help support it later on(this is your mantra)
EXERCISE: Writing a persuasive kick-off speech
Getting people onboard is critical• Change is hard for some teams.
– Honor the past– Highlight past successes– Highlight people’s contributions– Highlight the attitudes that help– Show appreciation for everyone’s hard work
EXERCISE: Writing a persuasive kick-off speech
Talk about the present• The current situation• Problems and issues• Who’s involved• Why the problem occurred• What will happen if nothing is done
EXERCISE: Writing a persuasive kick-off speech
Talk about the future• The target goal – the reason for change• What past traits will help with the future• What new traits are needed• Improvement is
– Quality– Service – Cost– Time– Features
EXERCISE: Writing a persuasive kick-off speech
Talk about what staff can expect• Job description• Work location• Pay levels• Workload• Potential job loss• Let people know that everyone will have a part to play
Wrap up• Acknowledge that mistakes will be made – learning experiences• Get staff buy-in• Promise to keep staff informed
EXERCISE: Create a macro level flow chart
The big picture• Create a macro level flow chart of the main process• Define what excellence looks like at each step• What organizations are doing a good job at each step?• Is there a “gap” between current performance and excellence?• How do you close the “gap.”
DesignResearch
Concept Development
DesignDevelopment
ProjectInitiation Measuring ROI
Sign offSign off
Step 2: Create the “best practice” process chart
How• Choose a project: Web design, brochure design, brand identity design• List the project staff along the left side of the page (Client, art director,
designer, Web programmer…)• Write the macro level phases at the top of the page• Start with the first phase – discuss what should happen first, second
third…)• Repeat for the remaining phases
Step 2: Create the “best practice” process chart
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Frustration
Why frustration• People can clearly see the process• People can communicate about their concerns• Problem areas become visible• People are able to offer ideas for improvement• People gain buy-in to the process
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Frustration
How• For each process step ask “ is there anything frustrating about
this step?”• Write the number of the step, and problem on the flip chart• Have team members write ways to eliminate the problem.
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Frustration
Sorting the ideas
High
Value to the customer and
impact
Low
Cheap and easy Expensive and difficult
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Time
Why• Time is a critical dimension of customer satisfaction• Getting clients their designs quickly is a value adding activity• Inspection, moving, setup, rework and waiting create added
costs
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Time
How• For each step consider what percentage your time is spent
– Processing time - actual work– Setup time – work done prior to the actual work (setting up
equipment, locating files, collecting data)– Wait time – answering calls, email, meetings– Inspection time – client reviews, internal reviews– Rework time – time spent correcting quality issues
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Time
Step no. Processing Time
SetupTime
WaitTime
MoveTime
Inspecting Time
Rework Time Total
1Project initiation
15 min 30 sec 1 min 15 sec 16 min, 45 sec.
2Determine
budg/sched
5 min 5 sec 4 hours 4 hrs, 5 min, 5 sec
3Set up
Discovery meeting
17 min 15 min 5 min 5 min 42 min
Process cycle time sheet
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Quality
Why• Quality is ranked as most important by customers• Identify quality issues and rank them, and find their root cause• Try to produce quality without review an inspection
How
1. Describe the problem in detail ( errors, rework, excessive client reviews).
2. What is the effect on customers, staff and others?
3. What do you do to fix the problem?
4. How often does the problem occur – daily, weekly, monthly?
Step 3: Review through the four lenses - Cost
Why• Lets you calculate the return on your redesign investment• Lets you see what steps in the process consume the most money?• Allows for activity-based costing – see how much time and dollars
Step 4: Create the customer report card
Customer report card• Ask customers what they need from the process• Pick a group of customers to give feedback on customer
satisfaction• Ask customer to rank their wants • Ask them to grade how well the process performs each of their
criteria ( A,B,C,D,…)• Ask the customer what an A grade looks like for each item.
Step 4: Create the customer report card
Ranked criteria Process performance
What an “A” looks like
Competitor 1 Competitor 2
On time delivery B Delivery on or before the date defined in the contract
Meets deadlines 80% of the time.
Does not meet deadlines. Many disruptions in the schedule
High quality design A Sophisticated, branded, tested
Meets brand standards. Provides multiple options. Provides testing
Meets brand requirements
Inclusion/collaboration
B Listening, questioning, feedback, review time
Empathic and inclusive in their approach
Works in a vacuum.Limited communication
Service C Friendly, reliable and proactive
Friendly, reliable and responsive
Friendly service, but limited communication
Step 5: Write the “magic wand” story
Write a story about the new process.• Make believe you have a magic wand and can do anything.• Don’t worry about current realities.• Read the story aloud.• Once the story is read, team members can “bring it back to
reality” to make it doable.
• Ask “What aspects of this story can be altered so that it can be done?”
Step 6: Create the new process chart
• Make changes based on feedback• Refine into one design• Test the design through role-playing, simulation or practice• Review the new process with management
– Review, questions, suggestions and implementation options• Share the final design with staff
– Review, questions, suggestions and implementation options• Share the final design with clients
– Review, questions, suggestions and implementation options
Step 6: Create the new process chart
• Role-playing– Each team member assumes the role of client, designer, Art
Director, programmer.– Send fake projects through the system to see where it will
break
• Practice
– Use real project inputs– Use real project participants
Dave HolstonDesign Management ConsultingThe Strategic Designerwww.the-strategic-designer.comdave@the-strategic-designer.com
Design process improvementHOW Design Conference, June 2010, Denver, CO