Hey Dan, what’s innovation for you?

Design Thinking, UI/UX, Product Management, Design Sprints?!

Hugo de Sousa
Sep 1, 2018 · 6 min read

My new guest, Dan, is an experienced #innovator from the UK but currently living and delivering his magic in Australia! Dan Levy has more than 10 years of experience working in several areas related with innovation from UI/UX to the overall Digital Strategy and more recently as a Design Sprint evangelist and facilitator. Yes, I also love the Design Sprint approach! Jake Knapp FYI! :D

Meet my innovative guest, Dan Levy!

I’m really happy to have Dan here with me. He is my first guest from Australia!

“Innovation for me is not necessarily tied to technology, or something new. Putting my business hat on, I feel it is tied to outcomes and results. Which are a result of process and a healthy and happy working culture. People produce great things when they are given the space to play and collaborate” — Dan Levy

I’ve created “The Innovation Pub” to learn how innovation is perceived to be able to be more strong talking, advising and working on this topic. There’s nothing better than talking and sharing with people with different backgrounds and different opinions. These different perspectives will certainly help all of us to become stronger on the innovation field. Because innovation is not optional, even for us, individuals, like Professor Miguel Mira da Silva explained in a previous post.

I came to Australia 13 years ago with a backpack and a few hundred dollars. I fell in love with the country, the people and the lifestyle.

Within the first few days I cashed in my return ticket and made the decision that I was going to stay. I soon after met my wife. Since then we have made a life for ourselves with 2 gorgeous boys, and built a strong support network with our wonderful family and friends.

In regards to work (or play!) I run a User Experience and Strategy consultancy called More Space For Light. We are also the AUNZ partner for the Design Sprint Academy. Who we regard as our extended family based in Berlin.

My ambition for More Space For Light from a business perspective is to grow it to a small consultancy that blends the elements of design, strategy and technology, underpinned by a mature understanding of business. Our ambition for the direction of the company is to specialise in Design Thinking and Human-Centered Design.

I believe that by taking a step back from the application of technology (i.e. not be solution oriented) to focus on people and problems it opens the doors to more interesting opportunities.

‘More Space For Light’ isn’t just a company name. It is a mantra. It is inspired by my now eldest who in his desire to stay up longer at bedtime told us he wished to play and read by stating that he wanted ‘More Space For Light’. This was the final straw or spark that inspired me to make the leap from full-time employment.

The same simplicity and wonder of our mantra is applied to how we help organisations fulfill their ambition for growth and success. It is also about doing the right thing, and doing things properly for our clients.

Innovation for me is not necessarily tied to technology, or something new. Putting my business hat on, I feel it is tied to outcomes and results. Which are a result of process and a healthy and happy working culture. People produce great things when they are given the space to play and collaborate.

I see innovation everyday, watching my 2 boys grow up and solve problems through play and experimentation. I see innovation at work when we put a team together to solve a problem. For example in a Design Sprint, watching a team collaborate and push themselves to get to a result that they wouldn’t have thought achievable.

This is an expansive question. There are so many factors. There isn’t a playbook on how to be innovative. I think that most people that use the term innovation don’t actually have a grasp of what it means or what they are trying to achieve.

Being innovative is a means to an end.

Organisations don’t like risk. They rely on budget sheets and P&L reports. Innovation conjures images of uncertainty, or being forced to embrace a technology that will fade as soon as it gets to a beta stage!

Add to the mix complacency and/or fear then you have many organisation that are like rabbits trapped in headlights not knowing which direction to move. They would rather refer back to past success or examples of ‘industry best practice’ to tread the same trusted path as before in order to play catch up.

‘Cash cow’ is a term that doesn’t sit well with me. I believe that the purpose of a company is to serve the people who they provide their products and services for. They should start by understanding and learning from the people they are trying to serve. To understand their pains from today, but also the future. Then organise and orientate their offering around this. However, I can’t stress enough that any investment should be aligned with business objectives and an overall business strategy. Otherwise as Henry Ford once said ‘you’d be making faster horses!

Are UX guys innovators or just a bunch of people worried with a fancy UI? :)

I worry about the UX community. I believe they often paint themselves into a corner. Without an understanding of the context of the business they can become a necessary evil that can cause more disruption than good. They are not an end point, their purpose is to ensure that there is a flow of intent from business, through to production to end user.

It was once a premium product embraced by bigger organisations. It has since been commoditized into systems and programs that can now be applied by anyone, eg. Design Sprints. There is a tremendous amount of literature and learning courses easily accessible today that can support people in the application of Design Thinking. This is a result of people looking for more effective ways to work.

I also believe that the popularity of user experience has been a catalyst to its adoption in the business world.

The intent of user experience is breaking down complexity.

This has forced a need for a stronger layer of communication and understanding.The Design Thinking methodology became a suitable framework for this.

A good pal said to me once, running a business is a hard way to make an easy living! :)

‘He who dares …’ — Derek Trotter, Only Fools and Horses, BBC TV Show.

By Hugo de Sousa for #TheInnovationPub

Opinions are my own :)



Good news for Australia:

More Space For Light are hosting a 1-Day workshop teaching the concepts of Design Sprints in November with their global partner Design Sprint Academy. Dates of the event are Nov 7, Sydney and Nov 9, Melbourne. For more info click here.

InnovationDaily

The Place Where We Share Everything About Corporate Innovation

Hugo de Sousa

Written by

Living in Dublin. Born in Lisbon. From the World. Focused on helping organisations on their Innovation journey. And you?

InnovationDaily

The Place Where We Share Everything About Corporate Innovation

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