Design Thinking in Business

Continuum - Inside Design & Innovation

How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer

"How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer brings us a new view of the world, as we unfold the science behind the popular trivia game 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon'. Based on the idea that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association, 'six-degrees of separation' was supposedly an urban myth. Through this documentary we discover it's at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough."


How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer - Part 1 from gephi on Vimeo.


How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer - Part 2 from gephi on Vimeo.


How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer - Part 3 from gephi on Vimeo.

DesignThinkers at the Academy of Design, Finland

The Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Kuopio Academy of Design in Finland organises an event on sustainability, design and project management.

I will give a lecture on the value of 'design thinking' for the development and success of sustainable designs.

The lectures will be held on Monday March, 30, 2009.

Get more more information on the event at the Akatemia website (in Finnish) .... or visit the Facebook page of the event..

.

Design Ignites Change

"Creativity holds enormous power for fostering positive social change. Instilling this ideal in the next generation of creative professionals is core to Design Ignites Change, a collaboration

Design Ignites Change promotes and encourages talented high school and college students across the country to use design thinking and innovation to create messages for, and solutions to, pressing social problems."

More info...



Thanks Derek

New World of Work

"The world is changing at such rapid pace. We have entered a world where reality is no longer real, global institutions are going bust and CEO's are barely managing, let alone leading us through this change. However, opportunity is great and with this new world comes a new ethic of openness, sharing and collaboration..."



Thanks Lauren!

What The *#&! Is Social Design

“Softspot is an initiative that provides designers with the information and inspiration by which they can solve contemporary issues and educate the masses about the solutions designers provide for a more perfect and healthy world."

"The opening night of the SoftSpot's first exhibition was a great success. This time lapse is of the first hour of the show, and shows how the place filled up and is a quick documentation of how people flow through the space."

Matthew effect

I've been reading the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell and was struck by his descriptions on how the Matthew Effect (the rich get richer and the poor get poorer) is effecting our changes of success.

He unveils the important role 'relative age' plays in the lives and careers of successful people. And It's all about the system we use to find and select our biggest talents.

This first example used in the book makes this very clear:
In Canada young ice hockey players with talent are selected when they are 9 years old (not 10) for the all-starteams. The selections take place every year, at the beginning of the year. This simply means that if you are born in January your in luck. By the time the selection takes place, you are almost 10 years old. In your development you are way ahead of the kids born in December. Consequently they are selected and will enter special programs and receive extra training to further develop their talents. As a result most successful Ice Hockey players in Canada are born in January, February an March. This is a fact.

The way almost all countries select their talents in sports and education is basically the same. And as a result there are a lot of talented people left behind.

It makes you think. Why didn't anyone notice this before....?

Read the book (besides the Matthew Effect he describes some other worthwhile ideas.)
More on Outliers...

Core Principles

Seedmagazine is publishing a new column by Paola Antonelli on design and science. Paola Antonelli is the senior curator of design and architecture at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Her column will focus on innovation and consider objects as gateways to information and services; as means rather than mere commodities.

It struck a cord and left me hungry for more...

" From chairs to interfaces, from food-delivery trucks to conceptual scenarios on the impact of nanotechnology — design takes into account people's needs and concerns, helping them live better within the broad context of the world; it maximizes the available means to achieve the most satisfying outcome, and produces culture in the process."

"Designers stand between revolutions and everyday life."

"They're able to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and society and convert those changes into objects and ideas that people can understand."

"Design is looking for a unified theory — or maybe just for a theory tout court — for, in spite of its permanence and inevitability, it is still a rather unexplored region of human creativity."

"Science can teach design how to find its own core."

"Designers find themselves today at the center of an extraordinary wave of cross-pollination.
Because of their role as intermediaries between research and production, they often act as the primary interpreters in interdisciplinary teams, called upon not only to conceive objects, but also to devise scenarios and strategies."

Read the article...

Via Derek Stewart

Charles Ogilvie Talks About Service Innovation

Charles Ogilvie speaks about service innovation, new revenue models, and the use of airborne technology throughout Asia and the world at large.

Public Service Design

DesignThinkers at the Design Management Institute Conference in Milan

I have been invited to give break-out sessions on Service Design at the Design Management Institute Conference in Milan.

The theme of the conference: Facing/Changing – Changing/Facing REALITIES. "Let’s get real: the world of business is changing dramatically. Every day, we’re confronted with news of a rollercoaster economy, environmental actions and behaviors, and corporate pressure to succeed. Every day, we confront constantly evolving challenges that affect our roles as design leaders. What will have the biggest impact on our lives and work? How can we manage, meet, and change the future? "

The conference will be held at the Designmuseum La Triennale Di Milano on 1-3 April 2009.

Get more info...

John Cleese at the Creativity World Forum, about the importance of creativity

via Lauren

Help Us Write 'Intentions': A Book About Failure

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." - Sir Ken Robinson

Welcome to Intentions, a collaborative project between Arne van Oosterom and Kate Andrews.

Our aim is to create a book of compelling stories from around the world, capturing how young creative people struggle to make a difference, in an indifferent world.

The book 'Intentions' will tell stories about the importance of making mistakes. Because from failure we learn and grow. This is what being creative is all about. It is about learning by trying, sketching and experimenting. It is failure which makes us grow the most, not 'success'.

Intentions puts the importance of failure center stage for a change.

And we need your help! So, do you have a story to tell us about? Post it here on Facebook. And maybe you can become a part of Intentions.

JOIN US...

BOOKaBOOK lets Readers Decide

Just notised BOOKaBOOK. A very intresting concept:

"Most books that are written are never published. Why? Publishers reject more than 80% of the manuscripts that they receive from writers. This means that readers depend heavily on what publishers decide to publish. BOOKaBOOK wants to change this situation: readers decide what books are published."

BOOKaBOOK

Alex Nisbett in Prisson

"What role can design play in addressing some of the complex issues associated with the experience of visiting in prisons? More broadly, how can design-led strategies support the maintenance of family ties, an important factor in reducing a prisoner's risk of re-offending?"

Watch the film with Alex Nisbett. (Engine Service Design)

Twitter Interview

Had a nice surprice when I came home this afternoon. A week ago I (amongs others) had an experimental interview with the Dutch magazine Adformatie... on Twitter (@adformatie). And I didn't know they were going to print it. So I was a bit surpised when I saw my Tweets in print. But it turned out real nice.

Download the pdf (it's in Dutch)

Sustainable Mobility

Now!Move is a project we do on sustainable Mobility, mobility that doesn't take more than it gives.

The first subject we are tackling is our Congested Cities. The suffocating grip traffic has on our daily life. Specially in older cities, never build for large number of cars, we could do with a new approach.

A congested city (or country) usually means an economic congestion as well, but it definitely spells problems concerning safety and health for the people living in the city.

So what can we do? Well, one of the biggest problems is using your car for short trips. One possible solution: everyone should use a bicycle for trips shorter that 5 Km.

To a City like Amsterdam this would mean an almost car free city. It means an economic boast because of the more Accessible City, and last but not least it would have a big positive effect on health because of the improved air-quality, safety on the roads and people simply getting more exercise. There is a lot to profit.

Now, this is never going to happen quick. Mentalities, politics, laziness and old habits are in the way. They always are. But in due time there is no doubt that things will start moving.

Now!Move is going to give a little push.

This blog on the project is put up to keep you posted. But more important we set up a experimental "project twitter" to have a real conversation.

So join the conversation on Twitter (twitter.com/NowMove) and place @NowMove before your Tweets so we can track the conversation.

Joseph Pine: What Do Customers Really Want?

TED posted a great presentation held bij Joseph Pine from 2004 "What Do Customers Really Want?"



via Ferry van Ommen

Fourth Order Design? What Do You Think?

Lately people started talking to me about the "fourth order design" or systemic integration. The person who comes up the most in this discussion is Richard Buchanan.

And I found these articles from Jeff Howard:
Buchanan Keynote
Kip And Jamin Interview
I found this and this
And than there is this very informative website fourthorderdesign.com

That's about it...

I would like to form an opinion about it and need more information. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

And let me know what your thoughts are about the subject.
(ps: getting some great feedback. Please go to 'comments')

Service Stories #14

Interactive Table Bank Prototype

Making a good prototype film is never easy.

EasySMS Bank

I like to watch these prototype films. Specially when they are a bit strange like this one...

Niall Harbison On Customer Service

Visit his blog

Service Stories #13

Is "Transformation" a Better Concept Than "Innovation" to Guide us Forward?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on January 03

"We are having a great conversation on one of the most important subjects in our lives—how we can change our broken institutions and out-dated culture to survive and thrive within 21st century forces. The thread is brilliant and I’m learning a lot.

Here are the reasons why I think the concept of “transformation” is of great utility and power than “innovation at this point in time."

Read on...

via lauren and Jeff

Service Stories #12

Customer Service On Steroids... and something els

The powerful link between creativity and play

Tim Brown on TED

"At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play -- with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn't)."

DesignThinkers 5 Steps Service Innovation Method

DesignThinkers assists Public and Private organizations and companies in delivering the best possible service. We help them to be more innovative and competitive.

We created a 5 steps service innovation method to guide us while working on complex Service Design projects.

Download our 5 steps method.

Course On Service Design

Just got invited to give a course on service design (two days) in Innsbruck Austria at the MCI. That's going to be great!

Brand Book Holland

Some time ago we created a brand book (a silver box with three books in it... and a Miffy) for the economic image of Holland. This was part of a larger nation branding project we do for the Dutch government.

We created a mainly visual brand-book and it's used as a starting point and source of inspiration by the Dutch government and other Dutch organizations. We worked on this project with Simon Anholt and I've always been very pleased with the result.
Especially because we were aloud to tell an emotional story using images and narratives.

Just a few weeks a go we were asked to put the books online. This means I can share it with you now.

Take a look at "... and the Dutch created Holland"

Service Stories #11

I'm collecting these testimonials because they are of interest to me as a service designer. Besides that they are a powerful sign that the world is changing. Organizations and companies need to realize that they are becoming ever more transparent and vulnerable. If they like it or not. So it's time to pay attention.

Service Innovation Briefing by Innovaro

"Service innovation is fast becoming the most interesting and successful area of innovation for businesses. Now accounting for 70% of the aggregate production and employment in OECD nations, service innovation is widely seen as critical for longer-term growth and prosperity. While the economic downturn has hit some parts of the services sector very hard, it is clear that the trend towards service domination in the major economies is here to stay. The ageing population will have a greater need for social and health services; both the obese and the health conscious sections of society will drive an increase in wellness and nutrition services; and the opening up of all levels of education will drive innovation in the provision of teaching and learning.These are just three drivers of growth in the service sector."

Read the whole thing.....

(Via Choosenick)

IDEO Toolkit Human Centered Design

Great Toolkit by IDEO.

Why Customer Service Sucks

Service Stories #10

Rant about Western Union

What do service designers do?

Designing for Services in Science and Technology-Based Enterprises was an interdisciplinary research project (2006-2007) initiated by Saïd Business School (SBS) at the University of Oxford.

The study explored how academics, service designers, and science and technology entrepreneurs understand the designing of services in science and technology-based enterprises, and featured three case study projects in which service designers helped early stage science and technology enterprises (re)design their services.

Get the details via Putting People First or Lucy Kimbell

Service Stories #9

I am collecting these testimonies (service stories) from end-users because they are great research material and help us gain more insight. Beside that these videos illustrate the changing world companies and governments are facing.