Facts... January 2007
Denmark: Creating value through user-driven design and innovation The Danish Government’s strategy states that, “strengthening user-driven innovation” is a top priority. We define user-driven design and innovation as a process where message and language are given more importance than functionality and technology. In a Danish context, user-driven design and innovation starts with people not technology. It follows that new inventions are primarily social constructions and that the technical aspects are less important. The value of products or services has always been about creating relevant benefits for users. Read on and learn how successful Danish companies and design schools demonstrate unique capabilities in mastering user-driven design and innovation.
Main traits of Danish user-driven design and innovation Danish society and companies are living proof that user-driven design and innovation makes good business sense. Design-driven innovation simply generates value for a company. This occurs on three levels: aesthetic qualities are the most commonly appreciated and easily perceived value, but there are also two other, lesser-known dimensions: • Economic value for business. • Social value for people. Taken together these can be a powerful combination with the potential to enhance people’s quality of life. Three distinct streams and three special skills are evident within the field of Danish user-driven design and innovation. The first stream is characterised by an artistic ethos and aesthetic of the highest international calibre. The second is marked by an ability to use design for commercial success and thereby create jobs and generate export earnings. The third stream can be seen as design as a knowledge-heavy service. User-driven design and innovation in a people-centric society User-driven design and innovation is a relatively unusual discipline combining yet going beyond design and innovation. In practical terms, Invest in Denmark likes to present it as a Danish competence, delivering cutting edge solutions created at the intersection of technology, business and human values. Indeed, Danish companies have been churning out such solutions for decades.
User-Driven DesiGn AnD innovAtion
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TECHNOLOGY
BUSINESS
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HUMAN VALUES SOURCE: STANFORD D -SCHOOL.
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But to fully understand where user-driven design and innovation in Denmark is heading, another element needs to be included – namely that of giving MEANING to a new product or service. This is about the experience the individual user attaches to a product or service. For example, can Starbucks be said to be the 21st Century coffee-drinking experience? Nowadays, a Starbucks coffee is not just a coffee – it is a lifestyle choice.
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“Denmark is the leading
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European country when it comes to user-centred
USER (NEEDS) MEANING
MESSAGE (LANGUAGE)
FORM (STYLE)
innovation” Eric Von Hippel, professor at ssachusetts’s Institute of Technology (MIT), in interview with European Business Forum 2005 Source: Stanford D-school.
Danish user-driven design and innovation is moving rapidly towards the top of the European league when it comes to solutions for the Experience Economy and conceptual solutions. The remainder of this fact sheet documents Denmark’s principal capabilities in industries where Danish companies lead the way in expertise and business acumen. Acoustics Bang & Olufsen has come out on top in a test of in-car audio systems. Its Advanced Sound System for the Audi A8 was named the best factory-fitted audio system. ”The audio system for Audi sets the standard for in-car hi-fi worldwide,” concludes the magazine.
User-Driven DESIGN AND Innovation
Software and IT Danish theoretical computer scientists have a very long tradition of developing well-defined and structured tools for programming languages. For example, some of the developers behind objectoriented programming languages such as JAVA, C++, TurboPascal and VisualProlog were from Denmark. User-producer linkages Coloplast is an international company that develops, manufactures and markets medical products and services designed to improve the quality of life of its customers. Based in Humlebaek, Denmark, it has subsidiaries worldwide. The range of products and services supplied by Coloplast includes urology and continence care products, ostomy care products, dressings for treatment of chronic wounds, skincare products for prevention and treatment, and breast forms and special textiles for women after breast surgery. Coloplast developed the world’s first disposable ostomy bag and is continuing to improve ostomy care through user-driven innovation and the development of new products. The company is committed to working closely with both stoma care professionals and patients to help people with a stoma maintain their lifestyle and live a full life after ostomy surgery. Human and social value The LifeStraw, a drinking straw designed by the Danish company Vestergaard Frandsen, can prevent waterborne illnesses, such as typhoid and diarrhoea, that kill at least two million people every year in the developing world. Costing just $3, it works by turning surface water into drinking water, thus providing access to safe water for victims of hurricanes, earthquakes or other disasters. Lifestraw won the”body” category prize in the 2005 Index Awards. Human senses AnyBody Technology has developed a computer system for the simulation of human movement. It uses highly detailed models of the human body to map the musculoskeletal system and compute muscle forces, joint movements, metabolism, and the mechanics and efficiency of given movements. The system is used to test the ergonomic design of devices that interact with the human body, including driver rehabilitation equipment, space utilisation in cars, furniture and sports equipment. The system can also be used to simulate orthopaedic surgery and to optimise prostheses and implants. Business concepts Cryptomathic is one of the world’s leading providers of security solutions. The company delivers solutions for e-banking, PKI-initiatives, card personalisation and advanced key management through best-of-breed security software and services. It has been involved in the design and implementation of numerous security systems and is widely consulted on IT security issues by major companies from around the world, particularly Europe and the USA. Knud E. Hansen is a firm of naval architects whose reputation is founded on 65 years of ship design. Renowed world-wide, Knud E. Hansen has designed thousands of ships and is a consultant on all types of vessels, including passenger ships, Ro-Ro ships, container ships and special purpose vessels. One of the company’s most prestigious projects to date was its specialist consultancy work on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.
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The future of Danish user-driven design and innovation DUCI The Danish User-Centred Innovation Lab (DUCI) is a joint initiative between Copenhagen Business School and MIT. Based at Copenhagen Business School, DUCI is a unique attempt to understand the issues involved in user-driven innovation processes, with particular emphasis on managing user-driven innovation. Denmark has been at the forefront of the international effort to create policies that favour user-driven innovation. DUCI’s location, at the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant user-driven regions, makes for a truly inspirational and developmental setting. 180º Academy In early 2007, a number of leading Danish companies launched a new innovation and concept initiator study programme called the 180º Academy (”One-Eighty Academy”). The first group of students will start classes in June on a study programme that is the only one of its kind in the world. Practical, interdisciplinary and radically user-driven, it combines humanistic methodologies with design and business thinking. But above all, it is about people and not technology. The Danish education system and Danish companies’ approach to design-driven innovation can be summed up as the user-driven design and innovation compass. The compass is a tool for crossdisciplinary navigation, communication and cooperation about design, innovation, technology and business – in short a user-driven design and innovation model for the experience economy.
STRATEGY HUMANS
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PROCESS
TECHNOLOGY
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EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
CULTURE PHILOSOPHY
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