Burt Rutan — Scaled Composites : Discovery documentary

(How to get to) The future of Design in the Netherlands

marcel
marcel
Aug 9, 2017 · 12 min read

Reading time ± 12–15 minutes

10 years of service design in the Netherlands

31Volts is 10 years old. Young! Yeah!! All the more reason to look back and reflect on all the things we’ve achieved. I made quite a list of topics to talk about already. From the difficulties of changing design education to the Return on Investment of Design Driven Innovation. From the admirable ambitions of the young designers that I’ve met to helping organizations grow towards a more designerly culture. From the value of learning by doing to doing proper design research.

Yes we do talk to people on top of elevators and yes we do visit the Egyptian desert. If that is what it takes, we will do it!

As one of the first service design studio’s in the Netherlands, we’ve learned a lot these last 10 years. I’ve learned a lot! Not only by working on design challenges, but even more through everything around the projects.

Service design has little to do with making beautiful and functional ‘things’. And yet, that is what many people understand design is. Service design is about innovating the relationship between cliënt (organizations) and their customers. By design. Vague, abstract and not very tangible, that is the world we are working in. Add to that the ‘creating of the unknown future’, the ‘what if?’… and you get a sense of what we are dealing with on a day to day basis. Quite a challenge, especially in a country with a very distinctive design culture. Dutch Design.

The most exciting organizations we meet are the ones that understand the value of the relationship they have with their customers. Moving (from a product orientated company) towards a customer-centric one is often the starting point for our conversations. Talking about ‘design as the means of making their ambitions a reality’ is often the next topic we talk about.

In theory, there is a perfect match between the ambition to doing things better (and doing better things) for people and a design approach to making this ambition a reality. In theory. Unfortunately the match is often a gap. Many businesses are organized by doing the same things as effective and efficient as possible. A good thing, unless you want to innovate your business, your culture or the way you work. Changing the existing paradigm is inevitable. Think for example about product oriented companies that want to move towards a more sustainable future. The Circular Economy.

Design has the ability to make this change a reality. Not by designing new ‘artifacts’, but by changing by design. Changing by doing, by trying ideas out through prototypes and most importantly, by putting people first. Changing by stating a moonshot goal first, and then talking about spacesuits and rockets.

Unfortunately designers, as the experts of creating a meaningful future for people, are often not involved in the process of change. Or they are not aware that they could. Many designers I know, perhaps the majority of the dutch design scene, are ok with just styling the spacesuits.

In theory, there is a perfect match between the ambition to doing things better (and doing better things) for people and a design approach to making this ambition a reality.

This gap between what many organizations (even society and politics) want and the role the design approach and designers have, is bugging me for a while now. I wish I could call it a lesson, but I can’t. It’s still a mystery to me how we could close this gap, creating this match. In practice.

What is going on?

It is not disputed that the world is in serious need of creative capacity. Not only do we need solutions, we need people and organizations that are skilled into creating these solution. Global warming a problem? Sure! Now stop complaining and let’s get to work, see if we can change the future for the better! That is what we need.

The highest rewards in today’s economy go to the people who trade value, and not to the people who create value.

~Roger Martin~

In 2010 an IBM report (Capitalizing on Complexity) stated the need of 1500 CEO’s: Creative leadership, reinvented customer relationships and operational dexterity. Topics that are a complete fit with the world designers live in. Using creativity in order to create value for people.

Over the last few years IBM has invested over 100 million dollar in design by building their own design studios. Hiring different people, doing different things. Although not alone, IBM is one of the few companies that have embraced design as a new core value to accelerate innovation. In the Netherlands there are unfortunately few examples. Phillips Design of course. And perhaps KLM with their TU Delft collaboration. (We did a lot of projects for KLM in 2011–2013. Was this the fire starter?) So there are organizations that have come to the conclusion that integrating creativity, often through the more applied version design, is worth the risk. But only a few and in a design savvy country like the Netherlands this worries me a lot. Is there something that we (designers and the design sector) have done wrong? Haven’t we be outspoken enough on the value of design? Or did we decide to stick to the artistic and/or skill based form of design? Dutch Design!?

What is going on here?

Most of the clients we meet are awesome, they really are. We often meet people that have experience in working with (service) designers. However we also meet many for whom design, service design, design thinking or any other kind of design driver innovation is still a mystery. Never heard about it. At all. Sure, design is about making practical things attractive, right? Aesthetics and functionality of products are important. However there is more. Ask Richard Buchanan.

Their narrow view on all that design could bring is something we as designers should worry about. Should fix. It is our responsibility to be the teacher. Let’s talk about the design skills and design approach that provides us with new and valuable solutions. Let’s start today.

What service design does is bringing design and the design process to the front stage of projects. Framing a (business) challenge or ambition is for clients often the first introduction to design. Projects never start with solution, but always with trying to understand the real problem. Co-creation, building prototypes and talking to people (on top of elevators) is also part of service design. We have learned that design is no longer something that is exclusively reserved for designers. Without trying to simplify by definitions, design is a way of working, an approach for change, for creating new products and services with the intent of improving the life of people. But how much effort do designers put in getting this message across? How much effort do we put in teaching people that design might be the way to go if you want to be more relevant in the future. Too little I’m afraid.

We could talk about Design Thinking Courses. And the need of Building a Design Driven Culture for Innovation. But like most things in life, this will take time and effort. A student project, or a 5 day workshop program is not enough.

I remember a former CEO explaining to a student of mine:

When we wanted new ideas, we used to create a team of trainees for a few month. Had them explore the challenge and come up with new ideas. And after they were done, they went back to work…

They went back to work? Huh?

Design isn’t easy

Getting the message across that design, and creativity in general, isn’t as easy as it looks… Not easy at all. It requires faith in doing crazy things. Talking to a mechanic ‘on top of an elevator’ (check ✔), following people around town to better understand the dynamics of a museum visit (check ✔), creating toolboxes to facilitate conversations (check ✔), claiming ground within organizations by building Design Studio’s (check ✔) and delivering reports in the form of social objects, talking pieces (check ✔).

There are many articles and books that can help you to learn about all the things a modern designer does. Whether it is about human-Centered design, design thinking or about the necessary skills like design research, building Customer Journey Maps and prototyping. Like many things it takes effort and experience to become good at what you want to do. To become a designer.

I often refer to the process that has led Richard Branson to create Virgin Galactic. Soon he will be able to take you to into space. For only €/$ 200k, you can be an astronaut! In a spaceship designed by Burt Rutan. Burt was the one that designed and build the first privately financed manned spaceship to win the X-Prize in 2004. And in order to win the prize he had to come up with a totally new approach on returning back to earth. And in order to come up with his solution he and his team made foam models of their spaceship concept and throw them of the Mojave Desert Airport Control Tower. Just to see what would happen.

Creating a company like Virgin Galactic require designers to start with making prototypes to test concepts and ideas. There just isn’t a shortcut. You need to dare to make ‘foam models’ of your idea. And you also have to become good at it. Comfortable with it.

I remember a workshop we facilitated for 28 country CEO’s of a large global firm. We talked about design thinking, service design and how an organization like theirs could benefit from the design approach. We worked with Lego to come up with new services for their portfolio. The most surprising reflection I recall was one of the CEO’s:

How come that we have to deal with uncertainty for the second day in a row. This is really uncomfortable. Not knowing what the result will be of our effort.

Now imagine talking to a clients, explaining the need of throwing (metaphorical) foam models from a tower. Just to see what happens. To learn from. This is what any form of design driven innovation project requires. There just isn’t a shortcut. Selling the need for exploring alternative concepts and solutions. So we need to talk about design to clients by showing them. No more abstract, process posters of the ‘the-6-steps-of-design-thinking’, but examples of (yes!) foam models and (yes!) design research done on elevators. It is our task to create better educated clients. I know all of our service design friends and we at 31Volts are doing this, one company at a time. One conference at a time. One project at a time. But how about the policymakers in design, the branch organizations?

The future of design in the Netherlands will be determined by a moonshot vision about the future of design. Will we choose to position design as an artistic craft? Creating provoking products, talking pieces that help us to ‘look differently’ to the world around us? Or do we leave this to the artists and decide on a more practical, more strategic and more human-centered approach? Not visualizing alternative futures, but creating the future, one project at a time.

At 31Volts we made our decision. How about you? How about the design sector in the Netherlands?

Please check out this amazing article The Future of Design: When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It by Don Norman that I recently found. Worth every second of your time!

So, what do we need to do?

I truly think that many dutch designers have a narrow perspective on their role in the world, society and economy. I’m taking a shortcut here, I know. And I do understand that I’m not making friends here, but I believe this to be true.

Every so often I talk to a colleague in the field. Many times I’ve hear them say things like: ‘What you guys at 31Volts do, is just too difficult.’ or ‘I just love to hold something in my hand when the project is done.’ or ‘Show me your personal fascination!’ (directed to students by former colleagues at WDKA) or ‘Strategic design, pfff not for me. All these politics. I’d rather keep on designing flyers and posters.’ and even ‘You need to explain to your clients what the benefits are of your product in (preferably) percentage of created value is.’ Even the last statement, although a metric of value is very much end product orientated, very short term and transactional.

In the Netherlands the services part of our gross domestic product (the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year.) is almost 80% and rising. Not all of them are that great which means many opportunities for improvement. So why stick to designing products (posters, chairs and vases) while you can use your creative talent to improve services and thereby the life of people?

‘The most important things in life aren’t things.’

Luckily it is not only about service design just because we are in that business. There are great initiatives within social design. And food design. And wearable technology. So there are designers broadening our horizon already which is a very good thing!

It is very little debate on expanding the field of design, especially in the Netherlands. Within service design, talking about the role of design is common good. These discussions often turn out to be extremely valuable for growth. The best we can do, so it seems, is doing academic research on the potential of design within specific fields. Retail, health or the airline industry, to name a few.

Both our business as well as our narrative. ‘Selling’ service design is getting easier every day. In the classic design fields, the focus is, unfortunately, still very much on 1.) the artistic creation (product) of the 2.) designer (the creator). Or in academic research, through 3.) student projects. Something I’ve taken part in too..

The main problem with this is that it nurtures 1.) end results (products) and 2.) the creative ego (the artist within) and the 3.) false notion that creativity is for young people.

And, as you might have figured out by know, I’m not ok with that!

If we as designers want to grow our impact on the world and grow as a discipline we need to understand that there is a growing demand for creativity within existing structures. The conditions for success are shifting from creative skills, like working with wood, paper, bits and bytes, towards creating meaningful impact on the life of people. Something that a designer cannot and should not do alone.

Over the years we at 31Volts have been offered a wide range of challenges. From improving the experience on train stations, to improving museum visits to researching the needs of victims in order to provide them with better services, to designing new services by/while introducing a design approach in Cairo, Egypt.

In Rotterdam I’ve had the honor of working for students that decided they would make it their business to: Designing an alternative for standard school tests, developing empathy among police officers, make classical music concerts more interesting for young people, design a new education model for primary education, jumping on a plane to Africa to help design a hospital, etc. etc. None of these projects have been celebrated. Because they are not aesthetically pleasing enough? Or lacking the expected artistic expression of ‘the genius-designer’?

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of them when teaching in Rotterdam. Little change you know who they are.

The idea of creating new value that benefits society and thereby many many people, is still not a criteria for successful project in the Netherlands. Let’s change that!

There is value in foam models, let’s not downplay on that.

Most forms of the strategic use of design (or any form of design driven innovation) appear to be growing outside of the existing design sector. We have to understand that most design thinking courses at this moment are part of MBA programs leading to the false notion that working with sticky-notes on a [..] canvas in a windowless room is what design is all about. It is not, we need to change that. Secondly we as designers have to build on the narrative of learning by doing, making stuff, experimenting, building prototypes, iterate on ideas and most important of all, creating value for people. Thirdly, design means being part of growth for business by being meaningful for people. Perhaps even being responsible for our clients to be meaningful. Design is an investment with guaranteed positive result. (Go check the Design Council website!) And finally designers should drop their ego’s because it is standing in the way of growth. I know people have a strong need for being recognized, being rewarded for what you do. But can we please move from celebrating the genius-creative to celebrating the impact a project has had? I would love that!

Every £100 a design alert business spends on design increases turnover by £225

So to wrap up a longer article than expected: Don Norman wrote recently:

‘Design started out as a craft, primarily focusing upon the creation of beautiful objects to become a powerful force in industry. Today, design has gone far beyond its simple origins as a craft to develop powerful new ways for people to interact with the world, emphasizing experience, not technology. Moreover, it has evolved into a way of thinking, of problem discovery, and of enhancing the lives of individuals, the experience of the workforce, and even the health of the planet.’

I think we should value the heritage of design as a craft and take these qualities for creating value for people on a much larger scale. For and with organizations, society and politics.

And as far as organizations are concerned. Change will most often start by throwing foam models from control towers.

Let’s go! Game on!

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