Strategic design

A surprisingly frequent lament among C-level executives at global companies goes something like, "My company knows how to make anything; we just don't know what to make." As businesses have become more sophisticated with technology and management processes, they have indeed become able to make almost anything - toasters that connect to the Internet, cell phones with 101 different features.

But as daily life becomes saturated with technology, which of these things do customers actually want? This is the strength of strategic design: bridging the "what to make" gap by discovering users' needs and translating them effectively into new offerings.

Our work in this area investigates the successful application of design methods, skills, and thinking to business problems related to competitiveness and organic growth. Topics include the design planning skill set; connecting shareholder value and user value; how design can mitigate strategic risk in corporations; the role of design planning in early stage ventures; and tools that can increase collaboration between generative and analytical thinkers.