Design Strategy

“IN ORDER TO DO A BETTER JOB OF DEVELOPING, COMMUNICATING, AND PURSUING A STRATEGY, YOU NEED TO LEARN TO THINK LIKE A DESIGNER.” ~Tim Brown, CEO of innovative design firm, IDEO.

Design Strategy is the space between design and business strategy.  It is a creative, iterative process informed by having empathy for the customer.  As a result – insights are gained that lead to undiscovered opportunities, typically, not seen by the “business as usual” mentality.   These opportunities inform and improve a product, service, system, or policy, and are ultimately more prosperous.

The steps are:

LEARN:  This process is about engaging all stakeholders through the process of UNDERSTANDING and discovery.

• Research –  understand the industry and current circumstances (Quantitative).
• Define – the problem by interviewing stakeholders involved with empathy (Qualitative).
• Discover  – the opportunity after synthesis of research, both quantitative and qualitative.

DESIGN:  This process is about the DEVELOPMENT of an idea to reality.

• Ideate – brainstorm & sketch ideas.
• Prototype  – build these ideas out in various iterations.
• Test – take it to the real world and get feedback.  Revise prototype(s) as needed and test again.

APPLY:  This process is all about IMPLEMENTATION.

• Adopt –  make prototype a reality and begin implementation.
• Evaluate –  revise & refine process or product based on capabilities and newly discovered flaws.
• Integrate –  fully implement refined process and/or deliver product and build in a process for attainable growth.

REPEAT:  Design is never done.   It is important to keep learning and updating to improve.