ID Strategy Conference 2007

Ryan Jacoby

How does creativity play a role in "design strategy"?
Design thinking is a people-first, option-creating, iteration-driven approach that manifests itself in options, prototypes, and stories. Because the approach creates options born of people’s needs, using creativity to be generative is critical. And disciplined practice of a design-thinking approach makes creativity feel more natural and regular than a big, light-bulb moment feels.

Collaboration across disciplines, frequent low-resolution prototyping, and debate about ideas -- rather than people or processes -- make it safer to take risks emotionally and mitigates them financially and organizationally. And working on hard problems that benefit real people keeps you challenged and inspired which, in turn, leads to creativity.

So maybe creativity is both a symptom and a cause?

— Ryan Jacoby, Business Factors Consultant, IDEO

 

Josephine Green

How does creativity play a role in "design strategy"?
It's always interesting to turn a question on its head and ask: what happens when creativity does not play a role in design strategy?

Design strategy would then become overwhelmed by shorter-term business expectations, overprocessed, and overdosed on more of the same. Put bluntly, design would end up too often giving the business what it wants rather than sometimes giving it what it needs.

Of course the business of design has become increasingly important in the last decade, as companies move towards a more human focus and as they add value through aesthetics, experience and service. But we need more ... In an era when we have to reinvent most of our social industries from health to education to care and our lifestyles, creativity becomes the sense maker.

— Josephine Green, Senior Director of Trends and Strategy, Philips Design

 

Rob Forbes

How does creativity play a role in "design strategy"? Creativity is the counter to purely logical reasoning. It is the "what if?" dimension. So the role of creativity in design strategy is to avoid the limits of strict linear thinking. Creativity in everyday design should never be used to make things just look good. The creativity best belongs in the function and not in the appearance. Here are my favorite examples of creative "what if" thinking approaches to design:

• Sony Walkman  A home electronics business going into portable and personal music.
• Aeron Chair  A traditional hunky office chair becoming modern and ergonomic design.
• FedEx  Getting packages anywhere in the US overnight.
• Google  A home page without graphic clutter.

— Rob Forbes, Founder of Design Within Reach

 

Start Here

Blogs are odd resources that sprout up around conferences. They usually take a back seat to the main activities, but they can sometimes provide a good place for more conversation.

In order to get this blog going, we have surveyed the illustrious list of speakers  — and a variety of other favorite creative leaders — on a simple question: "What role does creativity play in design strategy?"

We present our findings here in this space, and hope that we might all think together about these 3 words: creativity, design, strategy.

—John Maeda + Becky Bermont
Associate Director of Research + Co-Head of Research Strategy
MIT Media Lab