In a recent evening focused on Design in Herziliya sponsored by Sears Israel, one area of focus was on the idea of "Disruption." There was an impressive movie on Design with interviews of the Design Chiefs from Google, Facebook and a variety of other companies. The movie used the term "disruption" a lot, but I was convinced by only a few of the examples. The i-phone was a disruption. That was the best example. Design has the potential to disrupt. However, disrupting only makes the marketing of a new product idea more difficult unless you are Steven Jobs which no one else is. Uber is another disrupting idea. Is Design just about disruption?
I am more impacted by the idea which is part of the approach of Design Labs of being able to experience the product or the service as the customer or potential customer does. This was also reflected in the movie. This requires a change in perspective to be able to see the world from the perspective of the customer in the context in which the customer exists. This is a giant step beyond Focus Groups. In this new world of User Journeys, one needs to experience the product or service as the customer or client does at each point where the customer or client has contact with it. There are some new tools to support doing this. This requires a change in attitude, an openness, a willingness to experience that goes beyond the tools.
There are many businesses - old and new, and many NGO's and governmental units around the world making use of design approaches. It was easy to get the impression from the movie that Design is almost a religion. People everywhere are approaching the world from the vantage point of Design. This is not necessarily bad.
Design requires collaboration among people which in turn requires building relationships and trust. It offers a practical way to respect and relish our diverse approaches to the world. Design requires questioning old assumptions about how things are done, how people are served or not served. It involves the use of new tools which strive when well-used to enable people to reach further along the path of their potential and to make a better or at least a more interesting world. Design is a legitimate response to a world that moves so quickly that fast-paced, effective responses are required. Design seems to be a manifestation of our ability to socially construct our reality. It offers the prospect that we can be more deliberate about doing so. Certainly, we do this by engaging with each other in the activity of design.
We seem to all be enthusiastically jumping on the bandwagon of Design. And, many good things are coming out of this. I do wonder how this will develop over the next ten years. Will there be a Design 2.0 or 3.0? Will Design morph into something else? (Of course it will.) What comes after this focus on Design and Design Labs? We can be better at designing in the present. We are still unable to design the future.
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