3.0 The Project
Chapter 3 of Remote Design Thinking
3.1 Areas of focus
Design thinking
The first part of this project unveils the origins of design thinking and its application in the creative industry and beyond.
Remote work
This part focuses on understanding the causes that lead companies to build location independent teams. It explains the structures and best practices used by distributed teams and analyses how internal and external factors can influence their productivity and their success.
Design thinking in remote teams
This section incorporates primary and secondary research to give a better understanding of how remote workers can deliver innovative solutions using design thinking. It includes:
- Research and observations of Hanno’s work practice
- A case study of Hanno’s experience using design thinking remotely
- Reflections and feedback on the case study
- Recommendations for using design thinking remotely
3.2 Industry experience
As part of this project, it was recommended to engage with experts in the creative industry in order to ground our investigations in a practical context and create an original and innovative deliverable that could be applied in a professional environment.
Hanno was the ideal company for this project since its team was highly experienced with remote working. I became a member of the team for the duration of my research to assist them in client projects and help facilitate the design thinking process.
3.3 Research methodology
The information provided in this project was obtained by reviewing data and insights gathered from primary and secondary research over the course of 13 weeks. In order to gain a thorough understanding of design thinking and remote work, a selection of academic articles and literary sources written by industry experts were analysed and compared.
The study includes qualitative research in the field to obtain an insider’s perspective. Working with Hanno allowed me to understand a remote team’s practices, behaviours, organisation and workflow by being personally involved and having direct access to the company’s tools and human resources. As a new member of the team, I experienced the onboarding process in a remote team and used my own learnings, as well as the team’s, to critically assess the way we collaborated despite being geographically apart for the majority of my internship.
Data was collected using ethnographic methods such as field notes, photographs, screen captures and interviews. Several modes of communication, such as videoconference calls, instant messaging, face-to-face conversations and group discussions were observed and recorded with the permission of the participants. In-depth interviews with the following people were also recorded and transcribed to gain insights about design thinking and remote working:
- Founder and Designers at Hanno (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; London, UK; Valencia, Spain)
- Design thinking coach at The Dot Connect (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
- CEO and COO at Transcense (San Francisco, USA)
- Facilitator/Digital Strategist at MURAL (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- Design Strategist at SAP/former Project Manager at Hasso Plattner Institute (Berlin, Germany)
- Founders/Designers at Kennedy/Turner (Valencia, Spain)
The activities undertaken during the project were documented in my blog, HI Nomad, which aims to quantify the research through the underpinning of researched ideas and the process of collecting live data used in the case study. For example, it evaluates information from internal design thinking workshops as well as reflections on the main challenges and key learnings.
