Summary
Recent market reports make the business case for design. Yet, each falls short in defining the steps required to scale design for maximum impact within organizations. Demystifying how to scale the impact of design was the intent behind a recently completed user research initiative, called “Pathways.” This research sponsored by the IIT Institute of Design and in partnership with Capital One, Ford, Google, Phillips Healthcare, Salesforce, and VMLY&R establishes how to scale design operations within organizations and how future roles of design, inclusive of user research, will need to evolve to yield maximum impact.
Key Insights
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The 'flywheel of design' framework consists of design leadership, problem-driven pathways, generalized design competency, and specialized design competency.
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Effective design leadership involves CEOs promoting design as a strategic competency and Chief Design Officers backed by the CEO advocating enterprise-wide design.
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Tying design funding to business units creates accountability and encourages practical use of design rather than treating it as a consultative expense.
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Researchers can amplify design's influence by surfacing strategic insights from multiple projects and connecting those to organizational priorities.
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Problem-driven organizations define the problem upfront without preset solutions, allowing research and design to innovate freely.
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Most organizations operate in solution-first modes that limit the scope for research to challenge or reshape intended solutions.
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Building generalized design competency requires giving non-designers immersive experiences in design, focusing on problems they care about.
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Specialized design competency involves mastering storytelling, prototyping, foresight, facilitation, collaboration, and systems thinking.
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Designers must also build business acumen and technical skills to gain a seat at the table and drive impact beyond design functions.
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Researchers have the responsibility to help their organizations move toward embracing purposeful, problem-driven design approaches.
Notable Quotes
"I work in an organization where its leaders don't understand design and don't value it. It just doesn't get resourced."
"We typically come up with an idea before the project starts, seek approval, and then confuse that solution with what clients actually want."
"If you take design leadership seriously, it looks like a CEO promoting design as strategy and a Chief Design Officer with the CEO's ear."
"When business units pay for design, there's more accountability and faster surfacing of value breaks if design isn't used."
"Designers need to regularly surface the strategic implications of their work and connect them to organizational priorities."
"A problem-driven organization says, 'We don’t know the best solution yet, but here is the problem we must solve.'"
"Most organizations are still solution focused, putting forward business cases for solutions they haven’t validated as right."
"Non-designers won’t understand design until they have immersive experiences around problems they truly care about."
"Designers are most valuable when they embody storytelling, prototyping, foresight, facilitation, collaboration, and systems thinking."
"It’s not enough to be a great designer or researcher—you must build business acumen and technical skills to up-level your value."
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