Design Times

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Dieter Rams’ glasses as captured by Annie Lebowitz in 2008. Dieter Rams, a well known member of the design community swore by these glasses as the one true symbol of his designer identity. The glasses will be entered into the Design Hall of fame this month in Switzerland.

WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN? THE DESIGNER USES IMAGERY, SYMBOLS, TYPE, COLOR, & MATERIAL TO

REPRESENT THE IDEAS THAT MUST BE CONVEYED & TO ORGANIZE THEM INTO A UNIFIED MESSAGE

A GRAPHIC DESIGNER IS A COMMUNICATOR: SOMEONE WHO TAKES IDEAS AND GIVES THEM VISUAL FORM SO THAT OTHERS CAN UNDERSTAND THEM. THE DESIGNER USES IMAGERY,SYMBOLS, TYPE, COLOR, & MATERIAL

Graphic designers perform this service on behalf of a

A graphic designer assimilates verbal concepts and gives

company or other organization to help that entity get

them form. A designer organizes the resulting form into a

its message out to its audience and, in so doing, evoke

tangible, navigable experience. The quality of the expe-

a particular response. Graphic design, as an industry, is

rience is dependent on the designer’s skill and sensibil-

a cousin to advertising, both of which were born from

ity in creating or selecting forms with which to manifest

the tumultuous period of the Industrial Revolution of

concepts, or messages. A designer is responsible for the

the late 1700s and early 1800s, when the working class-

intellectually and emotional vitality of the experience

finding itself with time on its hands and money to spend

he or she visits upon the audience for such messages.

in the pursuit of comfort-began to look for stuff to buy

The designer’s task is to elevate the experience of the

and things to do. Graphic design and advertising share

message above the banality of literal transmission and

one particular goal-to inform the public about goods,

the confusing self-indulgent egoism of mere eye-candy of

services, events, or ideas that someone believes will be

self fulfillment-although these might be important to the

important to them; but graphic design parts company

designer. Beauty is a function, after all, of any relevant

with advertising when it comes to ultimate purpose. Once

visual message. Just as prose can be dull and straightfor-

advertising informs its audience about some product

ward or well edited and lyrical, so too can a utilitarian

or event, it cajoles the audience into spending money.

object be designed to be more than just simply what it is.

Graphic design, however, simply seeks to clarify the mes-

Some time around 1932, Adolf Loos, the noted Viennese

sage and craft it into an emotional experience. Granted,

architect, said, “There is a great difference between an urn

graphic design often is used by advertising as a tool to

and a chamber pot, and in this difference there is leeway for

help sell goods and services; but the designing of mes-

culture.” That’s a lot of leeway. Designing is a discipline

sages is, at its core, its own endeavor altogether.

that integrates an enormous amount of knowledge and

This purpose is what differentiates graphic design from

skill with intuition, but it’s more than just the various

other disciplines in the visual arts-a purpose defined by

aspects that go into it: understanding the fundamentals

a client and manifested by a designer, rather than a pur-

of form and composition; applying those fundamentals

pose generated from within the designer. True, the fine

to evoke emotion and signify higher-order concepts; ma-

arts patron historically was often a client to the great

nipulating color messages; understanding semiotics and

painters, but, up until the nineteenth century, artistic

the relationship between difference kinds of visual signs;

creation was understood to be intrinsically a service in-

controlling the pacing of material and informational hi-

dustry. It wasn’t until the 1830s that the mystique of the

erarchy; integrating type and image for unified, coherent

bohemian painter as “expresser of self” arose and, even

messaging; and planning the fabrication of the work and

more recently-since the mid 1970s-the idea of the graphic

ensuring its physical quality as an object, whether it’s

designer as “author.”

printed, animated on screen, or built.

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Designer Briefcase, as designed by Tim Brown for Bruce Nussbaum in celebration of his first published article about Design Thinking on the Bloomberg Business website.

DESIGN THINKING SAVES LIVES QUESTION; HOW MANY DESIGNERS WILL IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB?

ANSWER; WHY A LIGHT BULB?

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THE METHODOLOGY COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS DESIGN THINKING IS A PROVEN & REPEATABLE PROBLEM SOLVING PROTOCOL THAT ANY BUSINESS OR PROFESSION CAN EMPLOY TO ACHIEVE EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS

DESIGN THINKING... WHAT IS THAT?

1 DEFINE THE PROBLEM

I have this image of Allen Samuels permanently emblazoned

Sounds simple but doing it right is perhaps the most im-

on my brain. This goes back to college. With his usual amaz-

portant of all the four stages. Another way to say it is

ing energy and unrestrained passion, this deeply passion-

defining the right problem to solve. Design thinking re-

ate design professor is explaining to us why the process of

quires a team or business to always question the brief,

design that we are learning is so important. Any profession,

the problem to be solved. To participate in defining the

he suggests with conviction, medicine, law, choreography

opportunity and to revise the opportunity before embark-

or politics can benefit by employing design thinking and

ing on its creation and execution. Participation usually

achieve better results. Although we all heard and believed

involves immersion and the intense cross examination of

then what he was saying, it has taken a great while for the

the filters that have been employed in defining a problem.

potential of his words to find purchase in a business envi-

In design thinking observation takes center stage. Obser-

ronment willing to accept his hypothesis.

vation can discern what people really do as opposed to

Although Design is most often used to describe an object

what you are told that they do. Getting out of the cube

or end result, Design in its most effective form is a pro-

and involving oneself in the process,product,shopping

cess, an action, a verb not a noun. A protocol for solving

experience or operating theater is fundamental. No one’s

problems and discovering new opportunities. Techniques

life was ever changed by a PowerPoint presentation.

and tools differ and their effectiveness are arguable but

Design thinking in problem definition also requires cross

the core of the process stays the same. It’s taken years

functional insight into each problem by varied perspec-

of slogging through Design = high style to bring us full

tives as well as constant and relentless questioning, like

circle to the simple truth about design thinking. That it

that of a small child, Why?, Why? Why? Until finally the

is a most powerful tool and when used effectively, can be

simple answers are behind you and the true issues are re-

the foundation for driving a brand or business forward.

vealed. Finally, defining the problem via design thinking

Basically Design thinking consists of four key elements.

requires the suspension of judgment in defining the prob-

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lem statement. What we say can be very different to what

new ideas can be fragile in their infancy. Design think-

of failure and encourages maximum input and participa-

we mean. The right words are important. It’s not “design

ing allows their potential to be realized by creating an

tion. Wild ideas are welcome, since these often lead to

a chair”, it’s…”create a way to suspend a person”. The goal

environment conducive to growth and experimentation,

the most creative solutions. Everyone is a designer, and

of the definition stage is to target the right problem to

and the making of mistakes in order to achieve out of the

design thinking is a way to apply design methodologies

solve, and then to frame the problem in a way that invites

ordinary results. At this stage many times options will

to any of life’s situations.

creative solutions.

need to be combined and smaller ideas integrated into

Simon goes on to describe a seven step process: Define,

Question; How many designers will it take to screw in a

the selected schemes that make it through. Which brings

Research, Ideate, Prototype, Choose, Implement, Learn.

light bulb?

us to stage 3.5.

Whether the protocol is outlined in a seven, four or even

Answer; Why a light bulb?

2 CREATE & CONSIDER MANY OPTIONS Even the most talented teams and businesses sometimes fall into the trap of solving a problem the same way ev-

3.5 REPEAT (OPTIONAL)

three stage process, see—shape—build, it all comes from the same place a proven method that always delivers. And

Design thinking may require looping steps 2 and 3 until

it doesn’t matter what opportunity or problem is put into

the right answers surface.

the front end of the process.

The end result of this simple yet highly effective protocol

ery time. Especially when successful results are produced

4 PICK THE WINNER, EXECUTE

and time is short. Design thinking requires that no mat-

At this point enough road has been traveled to insure

service. Implied in design thinking is an objective view

ter how obvious the solution may seem, many solutions

success. It’s the time to commit resources to achieve the

and a warm embrace of risk and new ideas.

be created for consideration. And created in a way that

early objectives. The byproduct of the process is often

That said, the outline above is a structure and while it

allows them to be judged equally as possible answers.

other unique ideas and strategies that are tangential to

may seem counter intuitive, structure can be one of the

Looking at a problem from more than one perspective

the initial objective as defined. Prototypes of solutions

key elements to enhancing creativity in problem solving.

always yields richer results.

are created in earnest, and testing becomes more critical

Design legend Charles Eames once famously said: “design

Many times we are not aware of the filters we may be bur-

and intense. At the end of stage 4 the problem is solved

depends largely on constraints”. This is very true; some-

dened with when we create answers to problems. In this

or the opportunity is fully uncovered.

times you need to draw the box in order to know what to

stage opportunites appear. The trick is to recognize them

While of late, there has been quite a lot of discussion

break out of. After that, the manner in which options are

as opportunities. Multiple perspectives and teamwork are

regarding what Design thinking is and how businesses can

considered, ideas are refined and selections are executed

crucial. Design thinking suggests that better answers hap-

leverage it, as suggested in the introduction to this piece

are the key.

pen when 5 people work on a problem for a day, than one

this is not a new or unproven idea.

Design thinking describes a repeatable process employing

person for five days. Designers have an advantage in the

From Wikipedia: Herbert Simon, in the “Sciences of

unique and creative techniques which yield guaranteed

use of 2D and 3 dimensional tools to demonstrate solutions

the Artificial” (MIT Press, 1969) has defined “design” as

results—usually results that exceed initial expectations.

and new ideas—tools which are almost always far more ef-

the “transformation of existing conditions into preferred

Extraordinary results that leapfrog the expected.

fective to demonstrate what is meant, than words.

ones” (p. 55). Design thinking is, then, always linked to

3 REFINE SELECTED DIRECTIONS

an improved future. Unlike critical thinking, which is a process of analysis and is associated with the ‘break-

A handful of promising results need to be embrace and

ing down’ of ideas, design thinking is a creative process

nurtured. Given a chance to grow protected from the evil

based around the ‘building up’ of ideas. There are no

idea-killers of previous experience. Even the strongest of

judgments in design thinking. This eliminates the fear

can be a better mousetrap, symphony, or dry cleaning

DESIGN THINKING IS A PROVEN AND REPEATABLE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROTOCOL. DESIGN THINKING DESCRIBES A REPEATABLE PROCESS EMPLOYING UNIQUE & CREATIVE

TECHNIQUES WHICH YIELD GUARANTEED RESULTS—USUALLY RESULTS THAT EXCEED INITIAL

EXPECTATIONS. EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS THAT LEAPFROG THE EXPECTED. THIS IS WHY IT IS SUCH

AN ATTRACTIVE, DYNAMIC & IMPORTANT METHODOLOGY FOR BUSINESSES TO EMBRACE TODAY.

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Dieter Rams reacting to the death of Design Thinking as captured by Ivring Penn, 2011.

DESIGN THINKING ISN’T A MIRACLE CURE, BUT HERE’S HOW IT HELPS LADIES & GENTLEMEN, LET ME BREAK THIS TO YOU GENTLY. DESIGN THINKING, THE TOPIC

WE’RE HERE TO ANALYZE & DISCUSS & GET TO GRIPS WITH SO YOU CAN GO BACK &

INSTANTLY TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESSES, IS NOT THE ANSWER.

KEVIN MCCULLAGH OF BRITISH PRODUCT STRATEGY CONSULTANCY, PLAN ORGANIZED A TWO-DAY EVENT FOR EXECUTIVES TO WRAP THEIR HEADS AROUND THE CONCEPT OF DESIGN THINKING—AND, IN PARTICULAR, TO THINK ABOUT HOW THEY MIGHT GO ABOUT IMPLEMENTING IT

Kevin invited me along to give an overview of some of the

cisely because it struck me as being the one place that

things I’ve been thinking recently. “Don’t hold back,” he

had its eye on both camps, on the creative industries and

advised. So I came up with a talk entitled, “Design Think-

on the business world writ large. And it struck me that

ing Won’t Save You” which aimed to outline what design

it’s at this nexus and intersection that the thriving busi-

thinking is *not* in order to help attendees figure out a

nesses of the future will be built.

practical way forward. Here’s an edited version of what

I joined the magazine back in 2006, which was a time

I said: Ladies and gentlemen, let me break this to you

when design thinking was really beginning to take hold as

gently. Design Thinking, the topic we’re here to analyze

a concept. My old boss, Bruce Nussbaum, emerged as its

and discuss and get to grips with so you can go back and

eloquent champion while the likes of Roger Martin from

instantly transform your businesses, is not the answer.

Rotman, IDEO’s Tim Brown, my new boss Larry Keeley and

Now before you throw down your coffee cups and storm

even the odd executive (AG Lafley of Procter and Gamble

out in disgust, let me explain that I’m not here to write

comes to mind) were widely quoted espousing its virtues.

off design thinking. Really, I’m not. In fact, I’ve been

Eager onlookers were left baffled about replicating this

a keen observer of the evolution of the discipline for a

success. Still, in the years that have followed, something

number of years now and I’m still curious to watch where

of a problem emerged. For all the gushing success stories

it goes and how it continues to evolve as its influence

that we and others wrote, most were often focused on

spreads throughout industries and around the world. So

one small project executed at the periphery of a mul-

to be clearer, I suppose I should say that design thinking

tinational organization. When we stopped and looked,

won’t save you, but it really might help:

it seemed like executives had issues rolling out design

First, some context: Until July of 2010, I was the edi-

thinking more widely throughout the firm. And much of

tor of innovation and design at Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

this stemmed from the fact that there was no consensus

Before that, I’d worked consistently in design journalism

on a definition of design thinking, let alone agreement

both here in New York and in London. The reason that I

as to who’s responsible for it, who actually executes it or

wanted to join BusinessWeek in the first place was pre-

how it might be implemented at scale.

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THE DESIGN THINKERS TOO MUCH OF THEIR O

IT CAPTURES MANY OF THE QUALITIES THAT CAUSE DESIGNERS TO CHOOSE TO MAKE A CAREER IN

& EXPEDITING IT. BUT IT’S NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR THE IMPORTANT, DIFFICULT JOB OF DESIGN

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And we’d be wise to note that there’s a reason that com-

they’ve been doing forever. Packaging still needs to be

You need to be prepared to rethink how you think about

panies such as Procter & Gamble and General Electric

thoughtfully created. Branding and marketing programs

projects, about who gets involved and when, about no

were held up time and again as being the poster chil-

still need to be brilliantly executed. Products still need

less than how you do things. The way that you approach

dren of this new discipline. Smartly, they had defined it

to be artfully designed to be appropriate for the modern

innovation itself will probably need to change. This might

according to their own terms, executing initiatives that

world. When it comes to digital experiences, for instance,

seem like a massive undertaking, but if you’re after genu-

were appropriate to their own internal cultures. And that

design is really the driving force that will determine

ine disruption more than incremental improvement, these

often left eager onlookers somewhat baffled as to how to

whether a product lives or dies in the marketplace.

kinds of measures are the only way to get the results that

replicate their success.

Design thinking is different. It captures many of the qual-

you need.

This is something that I think you need to think very

ities that cause designers to choose to make a career in

Design thinking is not a panacea. It is a process, just as

carefully about as you look to implement design thinking

their field, yes. And designers can most certainly play a

Six Sigma is a process. Both have their place in the modern

within your company. Coming up with ways to implement

key part in facilitating and expediting it. But it’s not a

enterprise. The quest for efficiency hasn’t gone away and

this philosophy and process throughout your organiza-

replacement for the important, difficult job of design that

in fact, in our economically straitened times, it’s sensible

tion, developing the ways to motivate and engage your

exists elsewhere in the organization.

to search for ever more rigorous savings anywhere you can.

employees along with the metrics to ensure that you have

The value of multi-disciplinary thinking is one that many

But design thinking can live alongside efficiency measures,

a sense of the real value of your achievements are all crit-

have touched upon in recent years. That includes the T-

as a smart investment in innovation that will help the com-

ical issues that need to be considered, carefully, upfront.

shaped thinkers championed by Bill Moggridge at IDEO,

pany remain viable as the future becomes the present.

Designers often bristle when the term design thinking

and the I-with-a-serif-shaped thinker introduced by Mi-

Somehow, for a time there it seemed like executives

comes up in conversation. It’s kind of counterintuitive,

crosoft Research’s Bill Buxton, right through to the col-

thought that if they bought into a program of design

right? But here’s why: Having been initially overjoyed

laboration across departments, functions and disciplines

thinking then all their problems would be solved. And we

that the C-suite was finally paying attention to design,

that constitutes genuine cross disciplinary activity. This,

should be honest, many designers were quite happy to

designers suddenly became terrified that they were ac-

I believe, is the way that innovation will emerge in our

perpetuate this myth and bask in their new status. Then

tually being beaten to the punch by business wolves in

fiendishly complex times.

the economy tanked and as Kevin wrote in a really bril-

designer clothing. Design thinking captures the qualities

Just as design thinking does not replace the need for de-

liant article published on Core77, “Many who had talked

that drew designers to the field. Suddenly, designers had

sign specialists, nor does it magically appear out of some

their way into high-flying positions were left gliding…

a problem on their hands. Don Norman, formerly of Apple,

black box. Design thinking isn’t fairy dust. It’s a tool to

Greater exposure to senior management’s interrogation had

once commented that “design thinking is a term that needs

be used appropriately. It might help to illuminate an an-

left many… well, exposed. The design thinkers had been

to die.” Designer Peter Merholz of Bay Area firm Adap-

swer but it is not the answer in and of itself.

drinking too much of their own Kool-Aid.”

tive Path wrote scornfully: “Design thinking is trotted out

Instead, it turns up insights galore, and there is real

The disconnect between the design department, the

as a salve for businesses who need help with innovation.”

value and skill to be had from synthesizing the messy,

D-suite, if you will, and the C-suite is still pretty pro-

He didn’t mean this as a compliment. Instead, his point

chaotic, confusing and often contradictory intellect of

nounced in most organizations. Designers who are look-

was that those extolling the virtues of design thinking

experts gathered from different fields to tackle a particu-

ing to take a more strategic role in the organization, who

are at best misguided, at worst likely to inflict dangerous

larly thorny problem. That’s all part of design thinking.

should really be the figures one would think of to drive

harm on the company at large, over-promising and under-

And designing an organizational structure in which this

these initiatives, need to ensure that they are well versed

delivering and in the process screwing up the delicate

kind of cross-fertilization of ideas can take place effec-

in the language of business. It’s totally reasonable for

business of design itself.

tively is tremendously challenging, particularly within

their nervous executive counterparts to want to under-

So let’s be very clear. Design thinking neither negates nor

large organizations where systems and departments have

stand an investment in regular terms. Fuzziness is not a

replaces the need for smart designers doing the work that

become entrenched over the years.

friend here. And yet, as I’ll get into in a moment, some-

S HAD BEEN DRINKING OWN KOOL-AID

N THEIR FIELD, YES. & DESIGNERS CAN MOST CERTAINLY PLAY A KEY PART IN FACILITATING

THAT EXISTS ELSEWHERE IN THE ORGANIZATION. times there’s no way to overcome that fuzziness. Leaps of

able hanging out in the world of the unknown, and this

and quirky. In fact, I would argue, beware the snakeoil

faith are necessary. But designers should do everything

confidence allows him to take risks and make intuitive

salesmen who promise you’ll never take another wrong step

they can to demonstrate that they have an understand-

bets that for the past decade or so have paid off every

again if you buy into design thinking. While some execu-

ing of what they’re asking, and put in place measure-

time. And he’s instilled this spirit in his team. New com-

tives have been running their businesses according to its

ments and metrics that are appropriate and that can show

pany leader Tim Cook is renowned for the creative way in

principles for years now, the formal discipline is still pretty

they’re not completely out of touch with the business of

which he worked on supplier issues.

new, and individual companies really have to figure out how

the business, even if they can’t fully guarantee that a bet

So now we get into something of a problem of terminol-

it can work for them. There’s no plug and play system you

will pay off.

ogy, because more than likely, Steve Jobs doesn’t consider

can simply install and roll out. Instead, you have to be pre-

Designers were quite happy to bask in their new status.

Apple’s approach to be “design thinking”. Yet he’s the con-

pared to be flexible and agile in your own thinking. You’ll

The two worlds of design and business still need to learn

summate example of one who’s built an organization on its

likely have to question and rethink internal processes. For

to meet half way. Think of an organization in which de-

promise. This approach of risk taking, of relying on intu-

there to be a chance of success, you’re going to have to

sign plays a central, driving role, and there’s really only

ition and experience rather than on the “facts” provided

ascertain what metrics you want to use to judge whether

one major cliché of an example to use: Apple. But what

by spreadsheets and data, is anathema to most analysis-

a program has been successful or not. And you’re going to

Apple has in Steve Jobs is what every organization look-

influenced C-suite members. But you need this kind of

have to figure out how to allocate resources to make sure

ing to embrace design as a genuine differentiating factor

champion if design thinking is to gain traction and pay off.

that an initiative even has a chance of taking off.

needs: a business expert who is able to act as a whole-

I once heard a discussion between the current director of

I know some of you are familiar with the work and think-

hearted champion of the value of design. In other words,

the Cooper-Hewitt museum, Bill Moggridge, and Hewlett

ing of Doblin’s Larry Keeley, with whom I’m working now.

Jobs has been utterly convinced that consumers will be

Packard’s VP of Design, Sam Lucente. Sam was talking

For a long time, Larry has been at the forefront of the

prepared to pay a premium for Apple’s products, and so

about how design thinking had helped him and his team

movement to transform the discipline of innovation from

he’s given the design department the responsibility to

to redevelop the design of one particular product that

a fuzzy, fluffy activity into a much more rigorous science.

make sure that every part of every one of those products

had done badly in the marketplace in order to produce a

His thinking in that arena holds for design thinking too.

doesn’t disappoint.

later, more successful version. The way he told the story,

It’s time to move beyond the either/or discussions so of-

He is also notorious for his pickiness. I’ve talked with

design thinking meant that this couldn’t be seen as a fail-

ten entertained within organizations. This isn’t about left

Apple designers who say he would scrap a project late in

ure, because every moment had been one of wonder and

brain vs right brain. This is about the need for analysis and

the game in order to make sure something is exactly as he

learning. My interpretation was initially a little less po-

synthesis. Both are critically important, from data analyt-

thinks it should be. Now I don’t know about you, but how

etic, that in fact design thinking no more guarantees the

ics to complexity management to iteration and rapid pro-

often does a project come back and it’s not quite how you

success in the marketplace of a product than any other

totyping. But even with all of this, there’s never going to

wanted it but it’s okay and it’s really too late to make the

tool or technique.

be a way to 100% guarantee success. The goal here is to be

changes to make it great and so you go with it? I know I’m

But actually, reframing failure in terms of learning is not

able to act with eyes wide open, to have a clear intent in

guilty of doing that. Jobs doesn’t countenance that ap-

just a kooky, quirky thing to do. In and of itself, it’s per-

mind and to have systems in place that allow you to reward

proach. And he’s set up processes to ensure that problems

haps a useful exercise. By taking the pressure off design

success and quickly move on from disappointment—and to

are caught, early, and the designers have enough time to

thinking and not expecting it to be the bright and shiny

make sure that your organization learns from those mis-

get back to the drawing board if necessary. This commit-

savior of the world, those trying out its techniques will be

takes and thus does not repeat them.

ment to excellence has helped turn Apple into the world’s

empowered to use it to its greatest advantage, to help in-

most valuable technology company.

troduce new techniques, to give new perspectives, to out-

Note too Jobs’ approach to customer research: “It isn’t the

line new ways of thinking or develop new entries to market.

consumers’ job to know what they want.” Jobs is comfort-

Reframing failure in terms of learning is not just a kooky

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