This article mainly explains the meaning of design-driven innovation, implementation methods and related summaries.
Description of design-driven innovation
When we think of innovation, the first thing that comes to mind in most people is technology. The overwhelming science and technology articles on the Internet talk about blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. There is no doubt that this kind of interesting technological development will be a hot topic in the product design industry for a long time.
But as a designer, looking forward to 2022, I would like to share the latest progress in the field of innovation management, that is: the new growth trend of design-driven innovation, which is not only reflected in the new iteration of technology, but also implies new design connotations.
I find that the fascinating thing about technology-driven innovation is that it is not only based on the observation of product value and vision in addition to technological improvement, but also on the new value that the innovation gives to human life.
User needs not only need to be satisfied in product form and function, but also in experience.
Successful design-driven innovators have the potential to create, change, and dominate the market. They are by no means simply adapting to the market. The reason is that they are better at observing, attracting and interacting with target customers. The vast majority of technological changes that accompany design-driven innovation are always amazing.
What is the meaning of design-driven?
What do we think of the term design-driven? Design-driven sounds cool, but what does it really mean?
Design-driven creators always keep their target users in mind.
They not only keep in mind the user-centered design concept, but also integrate the design into how users define products, services, hearts, and in their hearts. Their design goes beyond form and function, and at the same time unleashes the potential in the sense of design.
To illustrate what “designed for meaning” is, we can review recent MP3 and Apple iPod technologies. Back in 1997, MP3 was considered a substitute for Walkman and CD. In 2001, Apple provided an integrated process of searching, storing, combining and listening to the product iPod, iTunes application, and iTunes store. Through this behavior, Apple changed the business model of the music sales market.
Just as logic tells you to go from A to B, and imagination takes you anywhere. — Einstein
Considering that technology-driven and design-driven innovation are inseparable, design-driven is essential for creators. The investigation and research on black technology should be closely integrated with the research on radical innovation concepts.
How to design for meaning?
Not all organizations are top innovators, of course, there is no need in reality. As everyone knows, the professional level of a company depends on its value design capabilities and user experience design capabilities.
One of the most challenging reasons to become a design-driven innovator is that it needs to seamlessly connect people, processes, technology, and capital. This not only requires the organization to completely change its organization and structure, but also needs to think deeply about the changes in the organization. This is the “data revolution” widely discussed in today’s business trends. Based on this, how to design for meaning, this article puts forward three suggestions:
Building leadership
When the design is applied to the strategic level of the product, the support of the team or the executives of the active company is essential. More and more teams have gradually realized that the role of design leader has been established by clearly emphasizing design to the company’s executives. If the chief design officer, data management, chief user experience executive (or other related leadership roles) are in the process of design discussion, it is actually unlikely to be design-driven. We should have a plan to ensure the correctness of the product planning direction and decision-making.
Therefore, there is a design leader who formulates and perfects strategies, assesses the situation, develops a comprehensive plan, and develops a design process, integrating different projects and resources within the organization at the beginning. In order to realize the solution, the product designer of the team needs to be in the right position. The designer means the person who can solve the problem with professionalism, rather than making the product or solution “look beautiful”.
Building the centripetal force of the team
As you might think or experience from actual experience, to create a suitable and well-balanced team, so that everyone in the team can give full play to their talents, it takes time and energy, continuous efforts, and of course money . To make a team work well, it takes time for each other to build trust. The construction of trust comes from a common experience, an experience that allows team members to rely on each other.
Once you have a design team, this “special team” will act as an advocate for users. They will bring the customer’s point of view into business decisions, and proactively move the business goals in favor of the customer, while allowing employers Be aware of cultivating a culture of decision-making and behavior within the company to better serve customers.
At this stage, the company first pays attention to the target customers, and starts planning with the customer as the center. Through the company’s guidance, designers become the core of all product or service development, and design-driven processes around customer experience. By doing so, the organization will grow exponentially in terms of customer experience maturity.
We know that the benign collaboration between creative thinking and logical thinking is essential to create a holistic thinking that understands and solves new types of multidimensional problems. When designers appear in the team, they can share their views and knowledge with colleagues in other disciplines in order to improve the team’s design awareness and user experience concepts.
In this process, a more open, collaborative and knowledge-exploring culture and thinking mode can be cultivated, which combines logic and imagination to create new creative solutions.
Measurable project progress
To consolidate the designer’s design method requires attention to the customer’s measurement indicators. Customer satisfaction and retention are conventional measurement indicators. In addition to key performance indicators, measurement indicators should also include: customer life cycle data, real-time customer satisfaction, “leaky bucket” algorithm, and the proportion of issues that customers are most concerned about. This is the deepening relationship that runs through the customer and the brand.
The fact is, I found that once design is used in the organization and people start to experience it, people will no longer ask what ROI is, because people start to see changes in all measurement metrics. I also don’t believe that financial data analysis can convince executives. I have never succeeded in persuading any executive. Vision is king. After establishing the correct corporate culture and vision, data will prove its feasibility to a large extent.
Summary at the end of the article
Review the full text, in short, summarized as follows:
- Allocate budget for user experience design.
- The team has a design leader leading the work.
- Set up a design team and organize routine activities.
- Incorporate the design-driven process into the user’s use of the product path.
- Cultivate problem-solving professional designers in the team.
- The customer-centric concept runs through all organizations in the team.
- Pay attention to customer-related indicators, such as customer satisfaction, retention rate, engagement, customer life cycle value, error picking rate, etc.
In short, let everyone serve users and become the master of user experience. Design-driven innovation has been increasingly recognized and supported by more countries, and at the same time recognized by the European Commission, as a model of international business success and a strong competitive advantage. After all, it is the customer, not the manager, that determines the value of innovation in the end. The next time you think about whether a project is worth funding, design-driven innovation may be one of the elements you evaluate.
