Design | Sprint
Design sprints are created for technical systems, not human ones. We need better research and attention to human-centred principles if we are to achieve the aims of rapid innovation in a responsible manner.
service design
Seeing Systems & Services
Coffee is everywhere, but did you ever consider how many ways we can serve it? Looking at it from a #servicedesign and #systemsthinking perspective can change everything.
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The Empathy Gap
Empathy is considered to be at the bedrock of good design. But what if how we’re thinking about empathy is wrong? Empathy is certainly having its moment. Anywhere you look for writing on design and innovation and you’ll likely find a big role for empathy. Designers are encouraged to empathize with their potential customers and
Design Thinking for the Planet
Circular thinking — from economics to design – is reshaping our world. By changing our thinking we change our relationship with consumption. Circular thinking is a way of approaching problems of design and consumption that view what we create, use, and dispose of in ways that are harmonious with nature, not against it. A growing
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Strangling Innovation
Not even the best innovation team can escape bad systems. Without looking at your systems, innovation might just get suffocated. Halloween is full of frightful costumes, decorations, and performances but few things are more terrifying for innovators than systems that strangle our best efforts. What’s even scarier is that these systems might be living among
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Simple System Mapping
System maps pack a lot of information on a page. A simple, cost-effective approach can make this resource accessible. System maps can be daunting. After all, they are maps of the entire system, right? Well, yes and no. A simple technique called sketch mapping — which is literally about sketching your system as you see
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Riding the waves of resilience
Big shakeups happen in work, life, and the economy regularly. Navigating these waves of change well requires forethought and foresight. How do we prepare ourselves to meet the future in a way that accounts for all the changes that are underway without us giving up our agency and purpose? Strategic foresight is an approach that
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The Mindset for Design-Driven Evaluation
What distinguishes design-driven evaluation from other types of utilization-focused evaluation or innovation development is that it views the evaluative act as part of a service offering. It’s not a shift in method, but in mindset. Evaluation is the innovator’s secret advantage. Any sustained attempt to innovate is driven by good data and systems to make
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Understanding Value in Evaluation and Innovation
Value is literally at the root of the word evaluation yet is scarcely mentioned in the conversation about innovation and evaluation. It’s time to consider what value really means for innovation and how evaluation provides answers. Design can be thought of as the discipline — the theory, science, and practice — of innovation. Thus, understanding
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