Design Thinking and Innovation
November 3, 2008
This talk introduces design thinking to the challenge of corporate innovation. Over the past 5 years, there has evolved a growing consensus that just talking about innovation is not enough. Effective innovation requires a thoughtful, research-based methdology.
Innovation doesn't just happen. It is not about light bulbs and flashes of brilliance. It is a discipline.
Design thinking is a methodology that makes innovation a disciplined practice. It is the application of the designer's methodology to the craft of corporate innovation. Why is this important?
Peter Drucker once stated that there are only two sources of value in a firm-innovation and marketing. Everything else, he suggested, is a cost. Yet, in most firms today, innovation is viewed as risky, edgy, 'creative,' and unpredictable.
Here we outline, through numerous examples, how 'design as innovation methodology' works.
Design as methodology includes:
- Observation of user experience in context (Ethnographic Research)
- Brainstorming
- Rapid prototyping with possible solutions
- Iterate
- Mine for feedback
- Implement
- Rinse and Repeat
Firms such as P&G, G.E., Kimberly Clark, General Mills, Bank of America, Umpqua Bank, Lenovo, Sirius Radio, and others, are working with design firms such as IDEO and Ziba to apply design thinking to generating differentiating innovation.
These companies demonstrate the 5 drivers of successful innovation:
- External Focus (on customer experience)
- Management of Constraints
- Up/Down Communication
- Ideas-to-action- mechanism.
- Collaboration across disciplines
This talk with provide you a took kit for how to build a research-based innovation methodology.