The Design-Driven process: why is it better than the others?

Welcome back Ladies and Gentleman! Today I would like to share an interesting conversation I had with a group of students willing to take Innovation class next semester: Juliet, John and Matt. We were discussing around one of my favorite topic: why Design-Driven approach is better than techno-push and demand-pull?

Here below I will report our discussion in retrospect.



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As you already know, there are three main processes used to develop an innovation: technology-push, demand-pull and design-driven. 

The first is completely technology driven and does not take into account customers; the second could be defined as a “costumers’ categories driven process”, because the customers tell you what they want: there is no newness of meanings. 

The design-driven approach instead, is more likely to generate new meanings because, starting from customers’ experience, it uses ethnography to propose them what they want, before they actually know it. In other words, it leads them outside of their categories. And for those of you who might not know what ethnography is, it is the “description and study of human culture” (Light Minds, 2005). 

And then they asked, “Why is ethnography effective in generating new meanings?”

Well, I answered, ethnography is fundamental because it helps you understand the aspirations, values, desires and behaviors of existing or potential customers in their normal environment (Light Minds, 2005).

Moreover, ethnography allows you to “highlights the differences between what people do and what they say they do, and as a result find needs that have not been directly expressed” (Light Minds, 2005). 

Only in this way you are able to fully comprehend the “job” people want a product or a service to do. Focusing on aspirations, values and desires allows you to predict data and show people something they desired even before their awareness. And predicting the future is the most powerful source of competitive advantage. This is the very tremendous advantage of the Design-Driven approach. 

“But Michele, how is the application of the Design-Driven approach possible in the real world?” John asked.

Well, I assure you it has nothing to do with witchcraft, magic or crystal balls. It is simply  a matter of applying a “very very rigorous process”, as head of Samsung Product Innovation Team Yoon C. Lee suggests. And this process is an on-going flow where five stages come one after the other.

The starting point is the current situation with the identification of the goal, which is  the problem you want to solve. After this step, you start to do research to understand customers’ categories. Usually product processes use two types of research: primary, which is based on ethnography and consists mainly of observation and deep interviews; and secondary, which is data driven and is aimed to support the actual existence and relevance of the problem.

After gathering enough information you start analyzing. Some frameworks are very effective in this step. 

“This is very confusing. I wonder how frameworks work” Juliet curiously pondered.

Well, as you can see they allow you to transform the “messy” data into meaningful information. You just organize your research and the frameworks help you to identify opportunity areas and ultimately lead you to the Point of View (POV), which will enable you to comprehend the customers’ necessities even if they do not know it yet.

At this point, the ideation starts. This is the phase where the flow of hypotheses and possibilities streams abundantly. This is when you start exploring what is outside of the box.

“And how do you choose the best idea?” John asked.

Here is one of the main reasons why the design driven approach is better than the others. You do not choose what you think is the best idea, you choose the most suitable. You need to make sure that your invention is not already on the market. You also need to start thinking about the feasibility of your “big idea” and here the analytic business approach could be determinant to make the right decision. 

Once the idea is chosen, concept testing starts. It is when you ask yourself: “could this really work?” Ethnography comes again as an extremely useful tool because it suggests you to observe people’s reaction to the idea and use feedback to learn. Yes, learning is once again a key word in the Design-Driven approach: learning from the recipient is always the best approach. 

Finally, once you have received enough feedback from your recipients, and consistently acted upon it, the final judge - the market – will emit the most important verdict. Not only the idea got real; now it is also in the real world. The market will tell if the invention can get into an innovation.

“So, Michele, you have thoroughly explained the process but give us a reason to choose the design approach considering its limited application to products”, Matt argued.

Well, you are mistaken, I said; the design thinking approach can be applied not only to products but also to processes and even business models. If product innovation focuses on the “What”, the other two focuses on the broader aspect of the “how”. But still, it is a “how” that differs in terms of scale. Service “how” involves a particular process of a business and the people affected by it (stakeholders), while business model “how” involves the business as a whole, being it the way an organization creates, deliver and capture value.

“Have you ever heard of Alexander Osterwalder’s Canvas model?” I rhetorically asked them.

His case is the application of the Design thinking approach to business models. To explain this linkage he uses a very effective analogy. Basically he applied the idea of car design process to business models. He emphasizes the consideration of many alternatives, the simulation and the testing, just as a car needs various sketches, prototypes and car tests.

This is another reason why the Design approach is better. Its action is almost a philosophy: it is so wide that it can be applied to extremely wide concepts.

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To conclude, let me share with you this video, which gives a very effective overall about the role of design in innovation.

Thank you for your attention!

-Michele Bellini-