Change by design and Design Thinking

So this semester I chose to read Change by Design written by Tim Brown. I chose it for two reasons, the first reason is because I figured it would be very closely related to our class (they shared a similar title) so I thought it would be cool to compare. The second reason why I chose this book was because one of the readings we completed in class was written by the same author. It’s a Harvard Business Review article named design thinking. I knew of Tim Brown because of his impressive work as CEO of IDEO but I also really like the tone in his writing. It’s like he tries to teach individuals on design thinking as a skill that can be learned but needs to be applied dynamically instead of just telling the reader what to do in a “fits all” kind of way. Since I really enjoyed the article I decided to choose his book. On the theme of design thinking I thought his take on the process was very interesting, he explains that he sees it as a “system of overlapping spaces” instead of an ordered sequence of events. These are (1) inspiration; the problem, (2) ideation; generate & develop and finally (3) implementation; path of project to market. These “steps” must be part of a fundamentally exploratory process, where assumptions are always reconsidered and revisited. The second part of this is the idea of constraints, he describes them as the overlapping criteria for successful ideas. Feasibility, viability & desirability and how to bring them to a harmonious balance, I remember practicing this in a class exercise, so it was quite interesting to read about it after seeing it in practice. Another section that I quite enjoyed because of the closeness to our coursework was his description of the ideas around convergent and divergent thinking. I remember an in class exercise where we were all given a sheet of paper to draw on, with the goal to multiply and create choices (divergent thinking) for our project. We then came together to see how our ideas overlapped and could be built on each other making choices as we advanced (convergent thinking), we repeated this cycle twice and we ended up in the correct path towards our final prototype. Because this classroom experience I understood what he meant by design thinking being a “rhythmic exchange between the convergent and divergent phases”. Another section I particularly enjoyed was the one on observation, in short he explains that for it to be successful and useful two things must happen. First, it is important to be willing to learn something new and to connect with the observed at a fundamental level. It was cool to notice that the company I work for used this as a guiding principle in the creation of their product. They worked with and observed restaurant wait staff to try and understand what were their largest areas of struggle. They quickly discovered that there were a lot of issues surrounding the procedures around paying for checks. From awkwardly splitting checks to the different country dependent requirements on how bank card transactions can be handled. In the USA wait staff can take cards away, meanwhile in France they must by law have handheld tableside scanners, errors in what was updated or uploaded etc. This is not even thinking of the complications that have been added by the Covid19 crisis. Through observation and what Tim Brown calls a “culture of optimism” ( a belief that things could be better than they are), sunday the payment method was created giving back time to waiters and diners. The last few pages of the book are dedicated to the author’s thoughts on our planet, the future and the importance of us altering our behaviors. The recurring theme of balance is brought up again here, he explains that “holding the economic sustainability of society and biological sustainability of the planet in balance require the most ‘opposable’ of minds.” His ending thoughts explain that in the future there is going to be an evolution from manufactured goods to a preference for services and experiences. He also explains that consumers will have to take more responsibility in this two way process between producers and consumers, everyone will have to commit to design thinking.