Comments on: Is Design Thinking bullshit?

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:35:13 +0000

@Phillip: You’re completely right. IDEO branded design thinking, to the extent that they pass it off as their own. This, in itself, is impressive. Though designers may have used it before, I think that IDEO is the first agency to sell it to corporations as a consulting package.

I agree that this is the future of innovation–but not because it is associated with design. Rapid-prototyping is borrowed from engineering, though it does seem to mirror the design process well, making the term “design thinking” easy for corporate executives to digest.

I’m also beginning to develop a different idea of design that actually runs counter to “distinguishing oneself.” The superb designs that we see from Amazon, Craigslist, and Zappos have little to do with aesthetics and touchpoints, and more to do with UX. I’m beginning to think that even a homogenized design can overcome its ugly precense in the marketplace.

By: Phillip Maddox

Phillip Maddox — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:11:34 +0000

Great article, but I disagree that IDEO “created” Design Thinking. IDEO BRANDED Design Thinking. This is a concept that Designers have understood and practiced for decades. Meanwhile, walking amongst the suits muttering to themselves, because they were (are) continuously held down by lame homogenized decisions that were forced upon them as “just designers”.

This is the new age of innovation. Businesses are able to prototype and launch products & initiatives faster than ever thanks to our good friend technology, so it’s only natural that design and ideas become the big winner.

Design has always been about distinguishing oneself from others. Creating a look, feeling, or idea around your brand is paramount to succeed. Otherwise you are competing strictly based on price and perceived quality.

Those things are certainly important, but consumers need a reason to remember / love your company or product. They are not loyal at the onset.

I hope this trend picks up even more and finds it’s way into smaller markets.

By: Visual Designers on Instructional Design Teams « Visualness

Visual Designers on Instructional Design Teams « Visualness — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:27:10 +0000

[...] more design thinking (there’s a whole world and recent body of thought and academia and controversy [great article, btw] on this topic) into an organization. I found her taxonomy to be a nice [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:54:51 +0000

@Clive: Can’t agree more, but then again, every firm claims that they invented some type of framework/idea/notion. But could you clarify what you mean by design thinking is better than IDEO? Is not design thinking = IDEO?

@Paula: I’m familiar with the Rotman program in Toronto–widely considered one of the strongest “academic” design thinking programs.

But I’m curious why you think that this is a stronger publication than the book I mentioned from Tim Brown. Is Roger considered the leading thinker? Do his ideas differ?

By: Clive Grinyer

Clive Grinyer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:34:47 +0000

Yes IDEO are mastubatory but they did not “invent” Design Thinking. They are just doing what they did with Innovation – write a book of their own projects and claim the territory – as if they invented Brainstorming, for goodness sake. So a triumph of PR. Design Thinking is better than IDEO and truly transferable to any act of product or service, commercial or punblis sector, if only for the reason that everything is designed, just not conciously or well.

By: Rotkapchen

Rotkapchen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:22:46 +0000

Matt: Great insights, particularly considering your ‘early’ career. A lot of clues in your ability to ‘see’ this clearly to be found in your education path (love that you shared those details).

Actually, the ‘best’ upcoming book on Design Thinking is Roger Martin’s http://twurl.nl/zq43ge, due out in November “The Design of Business…” http://press.harvardbusiness.org/the-design-of-business

My ‘alternate’ Wikipedia entry may be of interest http://twurl.nl/lvlrry

Find other Design Thinkers on our LinkedIn group http://twurl.nl/y5px4o

By: DesignNotes by Michael Surtees » Blog Archive » Link Drop (6·19·09)

DesignNotes by Michael Surtees » Blog Archive » Link Drop (6·19·09) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:37:05 +0000

[...] Is Design Thinking bullshit? How could I not include a post with a title like that in Link Drop? Nothing really new again about design, but interesting how they compare “design thinking” to the ppt version of how a product is developed. Has a couple links included in the post worth looking at too. [...]