D E S I G N - T H I N K I N G

The design-thinking emerges from innovation process which emphasizes on human observation, collaboration, fast learning, visualization of ideas, rapid concept proto typing, and concurrent business analysis. It encourages closely collaborative and integrative thinking across every function within an organization; designers, merchandisers including businesspeople and consumers. The design thinking reflects the launching of future product, service, and business model (Lockwood, 2009).

The design-thinking process allows designers and marketers to explore what their clients want with regards to their product and service. In addition to this, company can play safe and exploit design-thinking strategy once launching a new product and service and be able to improve towards radical innovation and maximize their company values. Since the actual users really involves in an early stage to evaluate a particular concept offered, it is likely that the final product/ service will be accepted by their target group. Conversely, if the users do not satisfy with the concept then it is a high possibility that the idea will be abandoned.  According to what was mentioned previously, having actual users involves in the research stage helps company safe cost of oversupplying unwanted demand, a waste of marketing costs as well as carefully improve and work closely more on product/service that creates the new solutions to serve clients’ needs.

In lights of service design, it is physically untouchable, complex, different touch point (new technologies, new relationships with customers, and new revenue models); hence, it is advisable to marketers to make intangible become tangible especially in a visualized way (Lockwood, 2009)

“Design management is primarily the ongoing management and leadership of design organizations, processes, and designed outputs- products, services, communications, environments, and interactions.  Design leadership and design strategy may be viewed as outputs of effective design thinking and design management” (p.xii Lockwood, 2009).

The design-thinking is very important to luxury brands because it can develop customers’ emotional connection during the design process which finally added values to the brand itself.

2008 Survey of Wicked Problems sponsored by Neutron and Stanford University indicated as following;
1. Balancing long-term goals with short-term demands
2. Predicting returns on innovation concepts
3. Innovating at the increasing speed of change
4. Winning the war for world-class talent
5. Combining profitability with social responsibility
6. Protecting margins in a commoditizing industry
7. Multiplying success by collaborating across silos
8. Finding unclaimed yet profitable market space
9. Address the challenge if eco-sustainability
10. Aligning strategy with customer experience


Design-thinking is created to respond with today’s tremendous wicked problems because it cannot be solved by a traditional linear fashion. “Wicked problems always occurs in a social context – the wickedness of the problem reflects the diversity among the stakeholders in the problem” (CogNexus Institute, 2000).

Bibliographies:

Lockwood, T. (ed.) (2009).  Design Thinking: integrating innovation, customer experience, and brand value, New York: Allworth Press.

Blum, A. (2006). ‘Thinking Design’ Dwell, Feb 2006, p.96-98.

CogNexus Institute (2000). Wicked Problems. Available at: cognexus.org/id42.htm (Accessed 22 March 2011).

Rowe, G.P. (). Design Thinking Cambridge: MIT Press.


Bloomberge Businessweek (2008). Neutron and Stanford's Survey of Wicked Problems. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/next/archives/2008/04/neutron_and_stanfords_survey_of_wicked_problems.html (Accessed 22 March 2011)