Teaching new product development to design led innovation

Recently many international tertiary educational programs have capitalised on the value design and business can have upon their interception (Martin, 2009; Brown, 2008; Bruce and Bessant, 2002; Manzini, 2009). This paper discusses the role that two teaching units – New Product Development and Design Led Innovation – play in forming an understanding of commercialisation needed in today’s Industrial Design education. These units are taught consecutively in the later years of the Bachelor of Industrial Design program at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. In this paper, each teaching unit is discussed in detail and then as a conglomerate, in order to form a basis of knowledge students need in order to fully capitalise on the value design has in business, and to produce a more capable Industrial Design graduate of the future.

A methodological approach to modelling design led innovation across secondary education : an Australian case study

Incorporating design thinking as a generic capability at a school level is needed to ensure future generations are empowered for business innovation and active citizenship. This paper describes the methodology of an investigation into modelling design led innovation approaches from the business sector to secondary education, as part of a larger study. It builds on a previously discussed research agenda by outlining the scope, significance and limitations of currently available research in this area, examining an action research methodology utilising an Australian design immersion program case study, and discussing implications and future work. It employs a triangulated approach encompassing thematic analysis of qualitative data collection from student focus groups, semi-structured convergent interviews with teachers and facilitators, and student journals. Eventual outcomes will be reviewed and analysed within the framework of a proposed innovation matrix model for educational growth, synthesising principles responding to 21st century student outcomes. It is anticipated this research will inform a successful design led secondary education innovation model, facilitating new engagement frameworks between tertiary and secondary education sectors, as well as providing new insight into the suitability of action research in prototyping social innovation in Australia.

Digital soapboxes : towards an interaction design agenda for situated civic innovation

We argue that there are at least two significant issues for interaction designers to consider when creating the next generation of human interfaces for civic and urban engagement: (1) The disconnect between citizens participating in either digital or physical realms has resulted in a neglect of the hybrid role that public place and situated technology can play in contributing to civic innovation. (2) Under the veneer of many social media tools, hardly any meaningful strategies or approaches are found that go beyond awareness raising and allow citizens to do more than clicking a ‘Like’ button. We call for an agenda to design the next generation of ‘digital soapboxes’ that contributes towards a new form of polity helping citizens not only to have a voice but also to appropriate their city in order to take action for change.

Empower me : social innovation design for homeless families : collective design creativity

Design Creativity has largely been explored as an individual expression of design cognition rather than as the collective manifestation of interaction in context. Recent approaches to design with an emphasis on co-design suggest that the problem-solution space co-evolves through social interaction. Socially Responsive Design for Social Innovation constitutes the most recent and perhaps the most promising domain of application for design thinking practices that emphasize collaborative innovation. In this paper, we describe the ideation of a service design solution for homeless families (Em.power.me), developed through consultation with a range of stakeholders over a three month period. This service design innovation aimed to visualise how such a service would operate and identify the potential benefits for all stakeholders. We focus here on the phases leading to the ideation of the service design.

A design led innovation approach to gathering deep customer insights in the aviation industry

Research has long documented the value that design brings to the innovation of products and services. The research landscape has transformed in the last decade and now reflects the value of design as a different way thinking that can be applied to the innovation of business models and catalyst for strategic growth. This paper presents a case study of gathering deep customer insights through a design led innovation approach and reveals industry perspectives and attitudes towards the value of deep customer insights within the context of a leading Australian airport corporation. The findings highlight that the process of gathering deep customer insights encourages a design led approach to testing assumptions and developing stronger customer engagement. The richness of the deep customer insights also provided a bridge to future thought by provoking possible product, service and business innovations which aligned to the airport corporation’s vision. The implications of the study reveal how quantitative market data, which reveals broad sociocultural trends into ‘how’ and ‘what’ customers interact with within an airport, can be strongly validated and built upon through qualitative deep customer insights that explore ‘why’ those choices to interact are made. Future research is then presented which aims to widely disseminate a design led approach to innovation within internal stakeholders of the airport corporation through the development of a digital strategy.

Design LED innovation to rejuvenate local food systems and healthy communities : an emerging research agenda

Food Sovereignty (food freedom) is about empowering people to develop their own local food system. Food Sovereignty challenges designers to enable people to innovate the local food system, rather than having a food system which is dictated by corporate interests and failed business ethics. Communities are realising the potential for design to assist in the innovation process, and add strategic value to potentially localise the food system. Design Led Innovation (DLI) offers a strategic framework to address large-scale cultural, systemic and economic changes. The DLI approach empowers communities to take organised action to achieve a healthy, prosperous and happy way of life. DLI can assist with business models in the business world and it is evident this approach can assist with creating social change too. This paper presents on an emerging research agenda aimed to assist designer’s focus from individuals and systems to communities and urban problems. This paper also presents the research proposition that DLI and service design coupled with social entrepreneurial ventures such as local food projects and creative community inventions, have the potential to enable social innovation for healthy and happy communities.

Teaching design thinking and design led innovation to non-designers : a tertiary facilitator multidisciplinary study

This paper aims to address the knowledge gap in regards to the potential intermediary role tertiary institutions can play in developing generic design thinking/design led innovation capabilities in non-designers. Specifically, it investigates the value derived from the contribution of postgraduate design students as facilitators/educators for undergraduate non-design student cohorts. It examines a design immersion workshop designed to encourage the use of design thinking capabilities for project brief development for undergraduate multi-disciplinary student teams involved in a community service learning project for a social enterprise. The workshop was facilitated by design led innovation masters students embedded in industry organisations to research the integration of design led innovation capabilities in business. Data was collected from participating non-design students and postgraduate facilitators’ in the form of reflective journals and semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis provided insight into the value of design thinking/design led innovation immersion programs for both the postgraduate facilitators and the undergraduate non-design students. The research results will inform a tentative foundation prototype framework to allow for ongoing program developments and research in design thinking/design led innovation integration in higher education, facilitating the development of generic capabilities required to empower future generations for business innovation and active citizenship in the 21st century knowledge economy.

From production to purpose : using design led innovation to Build Strategic Potential in a Family-Owned SME

There is an evident need to develop the strategic capabilities of companies from within, to ensure competitive competence in a time where strategy is a necessity. This paper is based on the first 4 months of a longitudinal embedded case study of a family-owned Australian small to medium enterprise, in their journey towards design integration. The first author was embedded as a ‘Design Innovation Catalyst’ to collaborate on overcoming early barriers of strategic development, using design led innovation. Action research methodology, semi-structured interviews with seven out of eight employees and a reflective journal revealed the absence of a shared vision, conflicting drivers and a focus on operational efficiency rather than strategy. Through the Catalyst’s facilitation, a company vision, general awareness, practice and knowledge in strategic development have emerged as the first steps to generating strategic design competence within the firm.

Design led innovation : shifting from smart follower to digital strategy leader in the Australian airport sector

This paper presents and discusses organisational barriers and opportunities arising from the dissemination of design led innovation within a leading Australian airport corporation. This research is part of a greater action research program which aims to integrate design as a strategic capability through design led innovation within Australian businesses. Findings reveal that there is an opportunity to employ the theoretical framework and tools of design led innovation in practice to build collaborative idea generation by involving customers and stakeholders within the proposal of new to world propositions. The iterative gathering of deep customer insights also provided an opportunity to leverage a greater understanding of stakeholders and customers in strengthening continuing business partnerships through co-design. Challenges to the design led approach include resistance to the exploratory nature of gathering deep customer insights, the testing of long held assumptions and market data, and the disruption of an organisational mindset geared toward risk aversion instilled within the aviation industry. The implication from these findings is that design led innovation can provide the critical platform to allow for a business to grow and sustain internal design capabilities necessary to challenge prevailing assumptions about how its business model operates to deliver value to customers and stakeholders alike. The platform of design led innovation also provides an avenue to support a cultural transformation towards anticipating future needs necessary for establishing a position of leadership within the broader economic environment.

Making sense of purpose, direction and innovation : an embedded design led innovation case study in the Australian mining industry

The mining equipment technology services sector is driven by a reactive and user-centered design approach, with a technological focus on incremental new product development. As Australia moves out of its sustained mining boom, companies need to rethink their strategic position, to become agile to stay relevant in an enigmatic market. This paper reports on the first five months on an embedded case study within an Australian, family-owned mining manufacturer. The first author is currently engaged in a longitudinal design led innovation project, as a catalyst to guide the company’s journey to design integration. The results find that design led innovation could act as a channel for highlighting and exploring company disconnections with the marketplace and offer a customer-centric catalyst for internal change. Data collected for this study is from 12 analysed semistructured interviews, a focus group and a reflective journal, over a five-month period. This paper explores limitations to design integration, and highlights opportunities to explore and leverage entrepreneurial characteristics to stay agile, broaden innovation and future-proof through the next commodity cycle in the mining industry.

Design-led innovation : Overcoming challenges to designing competitiveness to succeed in high cost environments

This chapter focuses on demonstrating the role of Design-Led Innovation (DLI) as an enabler for the success of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within high growth environments. This chapter is targeted toward businesses that may have been exposed to the concept of design previously at a product level and now seek to better understand its value through implementation at a strategic level offering. The decision to engage in the DLI process is made by firms who want to remain competitive as they struggle to compete in high cost environments, such as the state of the Australian economy at present. The results presented in this chapter outline the challenges in the adoption of the DLI process and the implications it can have. An understanding of the value of DLI in practice—as an enabler of business transformation in Australia—is of benefit to government and the broader design community.

A digital airport experience : design-led innovation in support of airport strategy

The digital era is proving to be one of disruption, where new technologies matched with innovative business models can be harnessed to attack even the most established of companies. For businesses with the relative certainty of captive customer bases, such as airports, the ability to digitally diversify offers the opportunity to venture into new modes of operation. For an airport, this opportunity can also be leveraged to sustain superior customer support regardless of a customer’s location in the world. This research paper presents a case study of the development of an Australian Airport Corporation’s mobile application as part of a greater digital strategy initiative using a design-led approach to innovate. An action research method provides the platform for an intensive embedded practice and study of design-led innovation within the major Australian Airport Corporation. The findings reveal design-led innovation to be a crucial in-house idea generation and concept development capability enabling the bridging of distinct corporate domains associated with commercialisation, operations and customer experience. A Digital Innovation Checklist is presented as an output of this research which structures an organizational approach toward digital channel innovation. The practitioner’s checklist is designed to aid in the future development of digital channels within the broader spectrum of strategy by addressing business assumptions.

Design research for the real world : a design-led innovation model for action research

The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in undertaking action research within industry with a particular focus on the study of design-led innovation. This paper presents the research design of a case study shaped to solve real world problems concerning a major Australian Airport Corporation by bridging the chasm between academia and industry. The researcher’s role is one of design-innovation catalyst, facilitating the integration of design as a new strategic capability and innovation approach within an organisation’s fabric. A discussion of the researcher experience within industry will provide evidence on the challenges facing such a research role, with strategies for overcoming these barriers presented. Based on the authors’ experience as a researcher within industry and reflection within practice, a project progression model for action research is presented to enable the improved management of industry based research.

A non-profit design-led innovation journey

Non-profit organisations in the aged care sector are currently under pressure from more than just a sheer increase of customers. A need to respond to changing legislative requirements, increased expectations from customers and increasing likelihood of shortage in appropriate experienced staff are also contributing to instability within the sector. This paper will present a longitudinal action research study of a non-profit organisation revisiting its core purpose of providing relevant services and attempting to build a customer-centric method for addressing the current and upcoming change drivers in an Australian aged care context. The study found Design- Led Innovation to be an effective methodology for capturing deep customer insights and conceptualising new business models which address the prevalent change drivers. This paper details a design-led approach to innovation, tailored to a non-profit organisation seeking to better understand its stakeholders and redefine its value offering.