Design Thinking Blog

Overview of this Article: This is a post covering the rise of demand and need for Designers – but describes “T’ shaped Designers – often also called “Design Thinkers”.

Thoughts on this Article: I like seeing the beginning of this wave – and hope that it continues.  The elements of Design Thinking and the skills of a Design Thinker have the potential to revolutionize many new start ups.  This should be fun to follow.

Original Article and comments HERE at TechCrunch

Earlier this week 500 Startups announced the creation of The d.fund, a designer-centric fund with the aim of increasing the number of startups co-founded by people who have design experience. As quite a few startups like Tumblr, YouTube, Android and Flickr have achieved success because of their designer founders, d.fund founder and 500 Startups designer Enrique Allen wants to foster a community that replicates their success.

Design is valued more right now than it ever has been, hence the Quora question “Why is there such a stunningly short supply of designers in Silicon Valley right now?” Indeed, Allen tells me that the new fund has one goal, “How do we address this problem that everyone and their momma wants a designer, and there’s none to be had?”

Well The d.fund’s solution is to ask 50 or so rockstar mentors in the field, like YouTube’s Christina Brodbeck, Facebook’s Ben Blumenfeld and Google’s Chris Messina to become mentors and/or contribute a minimum of 50K to the pool. When the fund hits 50 investors, it can then fund 50 design centered startups in return.

When asked whether the fund was looking specifically for a UX, UI, or just plain graphic designer founders, Allen told me he was looking for “T-shaped people” a.k.a people with in-depth experience in one area but a broad outlook and a wide range of experiences.

“It’s going to take a different breed, a new generation of designers that not only have visual ability, interaction ability, information architecture and everything from user research and discovery to design ethnography to really foster consumer innovation,” Allen said.

Word.

More in the interview, above.

Overview of Site: This is just as it says..

Thoughts on this Site: Great Idea.  And some really good creative leadership thoughts that are presented.

Thoughts on this site:

http://thirtyconversationsondesign.com/

Overview of Article: This is a look at Open Design City, how it came into being, and what the implications might be if this concept emerges as a solid trend.

Thoughts on this Article: OK – this is just marginally related to Design Thinking, but I thought it was worth making it available.  The underlying concept here is getting the end users involved in the actual creation and production process.  In a sense, it is taking Design Thinking and giving the end  users the actual tools to make what they think would work.

While that may sound fun – and probably would be a lot of fun to do – there are problems.  There is a reason that the DT process includes a collaborative process of varied perspectives.  It keeps the product or service from becoming self serving or ineffective.  Having the end user as the designer/creator/user would seem to be a very limiting perspective.

Original Article and comments HERE at FastCompany

A Peek at the Future of DIY: Open-source Workshops

DIY reigns in the virtual world. With so many old points of friction removed, we can freely and cheaply build our own blogs, e-books, and Web magazines. But making real, live stuff still seems like a slog reserved for those who know their way around a bandsaw.

Not anymore. The open-source revolution is putting product design in the hands of regular Joes. Take Berlin-based Open Design City (ODC). It’s a workshop in which anyone can learn to make just about anything, whether a bioplastic wallet (above) or a lamp made out of sweaters (up top). The recipe is simple: Gather people willing to share ideas and collaborate. Teach them to use a few power-tools. Then make things — cool things, not junk even your mother’d be too embarrassed to display.

It’s a movement that has the potential to upend traditional modes of industrial design and manufacturing — and even change how we consume products. “I strongly believe we’ll see more spaces emerging like this,” says Christoph Fahle, of Open Design City. “It’s not so much about scientific development, because this work doesn’t require rocket science. It’s more about creating the social interactions that invent new things. If you look at Facebook, it wasn’t just its technology that changed society; rather it was the social idea.” Read the rest of this entry »

Design Thinking and Innovation

Overview of Post: This is another overview of Design Thinking with one exception:  it goes into details of the process and gives other resources.

Thoughts on this Post: I like this.  When people ask me for a quick handout on Design Thinking, this may become my “go to” article.  Thanks Kendall!

Original Post HERE at FilterTalent.com by Kendall Hopwood

We’re not talking pixels or picas; we’re talking process.

I suppose tough economic times often divide people into two camps: those who want to play it safe and follow the straight and narrow road, and those who see crisis as a time for ideation and innovation.

A methodology for idea-generating, design thinking characterizes the latter group (whether they’re cognizant of it or not). And whether it’s your job hunt, your business strategy, or global warming you want to change, shifting your process—or your entire organization’s—towards  design thinking is a means of facilitating change and discovering new ideas.

Not a Degree, a Methodology

David Kelley, founder and chairman of IDEO and the man who coined the term “design thinking,” describes design thinkers as people who have “this creative confidence that, when given a difficult problem, we have a methodology that enables us to come up with a solution that nobody has before.”

Accordingly, the implications of design thinking aren’t contained in the arena of aesthetics alone. Design thinking applies to marketing and sales, philanthropy, conservation efforts, education, business, and everything in between.

Some Defining Characteristics of Design Thinking

Some people think creativity is purely a gift, a moment of divine inspiration. The notion of design thinking, however, implies that creativity and innovation can be fostered through a process, and as Linda Tischler says in her article on David Kelley, it’s a process not unlike the scientific method.

So what are some characteristics of design thinking, and how can it be applied to your creative vision, business strategy, or organizational processes? Read the rest of this entry »

Overview of this Article: This is an overview of the author’s take on Tim Brown and Change by Design

Thoughts on this Article: Pretty good. It’s like reading an executive summary of the book.  You still should read the book.

What is Design Thinking, Really?

Original Article HERE at Emergent By Design

by Venessa Miemis

If you’re a businessperson or someone interested in understanding how to facilitate innovation, you’ve probably heard of “design thinking” by now. Coined by IDEO’s David Kelley, the term refers to a set of principles, from mindset to process, that can be applied to solve complex problems. I’ve seen articles lately ranging from those that highlight its potential, [Design Thinking for Social Innovation, How does design thinking give companies a competitive advantage?] to those that warn of it’s impending failure as a practice [Why Design Thinking Won't Save You , The Coming Boom and Bust of Design Thinking]. I’ve been eager to enter into the conversation, especially because some of the arguments around the topic don’t make sense to me and I wanted to know why. Change by Design, written by IDEO’s CEO Tim Brown, was on my winter reading list anyway, so I decided to finish it before bringing in my own perspectives.

I just got through the book a few days ago, and feel like I “get it.” So I’ve spent a few days reflecting on it and rereading some innovation articles, and think there is a bigger picture at the essence of design thinking that is being lost on some. I’m going to provide a brief summary of the book (from my interpretation), and tie in some other areas that brought me insights into these ideas.

Read the rest of this entry »

Overview of this Interview: This is PART 3 of an interview with Tom Kelley on many aspects of leading at IDEO and the things they are still learning as a company.

Thoughts on this Interview: Vern Burkhardt does a great job of asking insightful questions into the things that Tom has learned as a leader in a company that is rewriting the rules of design and business. I appreciate that Tom brings the importance that Face to Face communications as a primary issues for effectiveness.

Original Interview HERE at ideaconnection.com

Design Thinking for Innovation

Interview with Tom Kelley, General Manager of IDEO, and Author of The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation

Begin Part 3…

VB: Would you talk about the concept of mapping your customers’ or potential customers’ journeys?

Tom Kelley: We discovered while designing products and services that you can follow a customers’ journey every step along the way in their dealings with you. Some of the steps include discovering about your service, exploring your offering, trying it for the first time, becoming more familiar with it, and then using it on a regular basis. In each step you can distinguish yourself, you can provide something special as opposed to being the same as every one else.

One slightly extreme example is the backpack company, JanSport, which made its warranty services different than anybody else’s. If you send your backpack in to be re-sewn or repaired JanSport sends you a little postcard with a message from your backpack while it’s at camp. No one would say this warranty service is ordinary. Read the rest of this entry »

Now IDEO is being retained by Barack Obama’s White House to help to reinvigorate the American civil service; by the government of Iceland to help the country to innovate its way out of financial crisis; and by the Kellogg Foundation to reinvent education. Read the rest of this entry »

Overview of this Post: The d.school at Stanford has a bootcamp for students of Design Thinking. This article is an update on the projects and experiences of the participants.

Thoughts on this Post: It is interesting to see the process play out with those who are just learning the concepts.  This update also crosses into social uses of Design Thinking.

Original Post and Comments HERE at the d.school projects site

Redesigning Retirement

Our Bootcamp students wrapped up their second design projects this week, and the results were spectacular.

Twelve teams spent three weeks using the design process to re-invent “the Golden Years” for rebellious Baby Boomers. Students were asked to give particular focus to the empathy phase of the process, and develop a strong user Point of View (POV). Read the rest of this entry »

Overview of Article: This is Part 2 of an interview with David Butler that is a follows up on the Fast Company Article and Business Week article that have drawn so much attention.

Thoughts on this Article: I like the questions that are raised and David Butler’s honesty in his answers.  This is a great “rest of the story” to go with the original interviews.

Part 2 of Designing on Purpose: An Interview with David Butler, VP of Design at Coca-Cola

by Henning Fischer

Welcome to part 2 of our interview with David Butler, VP of Design for the Coca-Cola Company. Part 1 is available here. When we left off we were talking about the different roles that design fills within Coca-Cola. This part of the interview shifts gears a bit and talks about one of the major themes we’ll be exploring at MX: designing in a down economy.

[Henning Fischer] How do you design with purpose in a down economy?

[David Butler] That’s a good question. It’s all in how you look at it. That sounds kind of trite, but there’s a similar discussion about the value of design. Is part of the value of design driven towards productivity? Doing more with less? Or is designing to do more with less thought about in terms of sustainability? They’re both sort of the same thing. In a down economy, doing more with less is exactly the focus of the company. In reality it’s what we do every day. As designers it’s always about how we can provide more value or more enduring experiences. It’s not that different from what we do in an up economy.

[Brandon Schauer] Design is easily seen as a cost center in a tough economy. What advice would you give to people who are feeling that? Read the rest of this entry »

Overview of Article: This is an interview with David Butler that is a follows up on the Fast Company Article and Business Week article that have drawn so much attention.

Thoughts on this Article: I like the questions that are raised and David Butler’s honesty in his answers.  This is a great “rest of the story” to go with the original interviews.

Original Post and Comments HERE at Adaptive Path

by Henning Fischer

Photograph by Jake Chessum

Brandon Schauer and I (Henning Fischer) recently sat down with David Butler, VP of Design for the Coca-Cola Company and MX 2009 speaker. Here’s part 1 of “Designing on Purpose.”

[Henning Fischer] Could you tell us a little about yourself, your team, what you do for Coca-Cola and where you sit within the organization? Read the rest of this entry »