Strategic Design is about applying design principles, methods, tools, and approaches to shaping an enterprise. How might we use this to connect our purpose with our actions? Strategic Design is a newer area of practice within the field of design. It’s basically taking what we know about Design and applying it to ourselves: our organizations, …
Design has its own distinct language, which is tied to how it’s organized. What does it mean to talk about design, do design, and speak about design products? In today’s post, we speak to the language of design. Every field of practice has its own language. Within the field are disciplines and sub-disciplines, and they …
Design is a field that brings together creation, imagination, and thinking about people and situations. When we learn how this field is organized, we’re better prepared for making things better. Design’s a funny word. As a verb, it describes an action of planning and creation. As a noun, it points to an entire field of …
The word design is all over the place; what does it mean? In this new series, I walk you through what design is, how it works, how to do it, and explain why you’re already a designer and how to become better at it. My mother recently told me that every time she hears the …
If you design or evaluate things, why not share what you know with people who design and evaluate things for a living? I believe designers and evaluators need to talk more. I’ve argued that the conversation between design and evaluation is worth having. As both a professional designer and evaluator, my work is a reflection …
Designing for living systems is an approach to creating things for a world in flux and generating benefit for it. In my last post, I used the term design for living systems to reflect a changing position in my design practice and one that I see reflected in the design challenges I see around me. …
The focus on human qualities in understanding design can come at the cost of disconnecting people from the world they inhabit. Don Norman, one of the most widely known designers, recently attracted a flurry of attention with his call for something called Humanity-Centred Design. The idea is central to his latest book. The argument that …
Humanity-Centred Design or Designing for Living Systems? Read More »
In this final installment on Principles Focused Evaluation, we look at how to connect our data with our designs. If I have principles and don’t follow them, do I have them at all? This question is something that Principles Focused Evaluation can help us to answer. It’s at the core of our work. The vehicle …
Strategic Foresight can do more than help us to see what might come, it can help us to live better lives today. Using the example of well-being we look at how design with foresight can help us create a better present while shaping our preferred future. What if we could live in the future today? …
In this final series on designing for well-being, we look at the application of a design framework to achieving the core aspects of health and care for people. We’ve outlined the role of well-being in supporting a healthy organization and the core aspects of well-being itself in the workplace. Now, we turn to asking: what …
