The discipline of design
What if we taught the principles of good design to every back-shed engineer, budding entrepreneur and whiz-kid IT graduate in the country?
Wednesday, September 28 2011 || Design || BY Dorenda Britten and Fraser Scott
Surely this notion is anything but controversial but New Zealand thrives on the allure of the big idea in and of itself.
When a wise luminary comes up with the Next Big Idea, be it commercial, political or environmental, the media scurry to report on its implications and, if said luminary is well regarded, to outdo each other with predictions of the idea’s potential impact on the future of New Zealand, if not the world.
There tends to be less attention paid when the idea is not realised, or fails in the marketplace because of the apparent ‘lack of imagination’ of the average punter. Not all do, of course, but big ideas certainly do not always lead to big successes.
So what is missing? What is missing when a great idea smashes onto the rocks of reality? We would argue that the missing ingredient is often the 'Discipline of Design'.
Let’s first establish that design is not all about sexy, clean lines and well-coordinated colour palettes. With respect to the design community such considerations are way, way down the end of the design process.
Design is about empathy with, and understanding, of the end user and other stakeholders in the value chain. It is about a disciplined process of evaluation against objective criteria. It is about understanding the problem or opportunity thoroughly before leaping into solution territory. It is as much perspiration as it is inspiration. It is the domain of the accountant and the engineer every bit as much as it is the designer. Design is best understood as all those creative and analytical tasks that are required to turn a great idea into a great market success. Design is the connecting tissue between the brain and the back pocket.
But here is the problem: in New Zealand design tends to be viewed as more or less a creative endeavour. Efforts to systemise, enact objective ‘filtering’ criteria or otherwise introduce rigour, repeatability or accountability into the process of design are often vehemently opposed by ‘designers’ as an affront to their creativity; to the very core of their identity and profession. Alarmist outbursts will warn of ‘sucking the life’ out of the design process or trying to turn design into a ‘paint by numbers’ activity.
We absolutely disagree with this notion. A successful design process - one that can systematically and effectively evaluate an idea, determine the path to realisation and bring together the resources to follow that path – must balance both creativity and analytical rigour. The absence of consistent ‘touch-points’ that can measure the worth of an idea or the functionality of the solution or the sustainability of its implementation both reduces the chances of market success, and denies the organisation the ability to learn from its previous endeavours.
We do not deny that creativity is an essential component of successful design, but seek to establish a space for real multi-disciplined creativity.
Beauty and riches lie in the delicate balance between creative smarts and analytical rigour. Sometimes big ideas in New Zealand get through this kind of robust design process based on consistent principles. More often they don’t. Talk to the heroes of New Zealand business and you will frequently hear stories of ‘flying by the seat of the pants’; of a swashbuckling adventure of equal parts savvy, luck, timing and intuition. It makes for a great story, but is this the recipe for a prosperous future for a smart little country?
Instead, what if we taught the principles of good design to every back-shed engineer, budding entrepreneur and whiz-kid IT graduate in the country? What if we could introduce the discipline of design into minds awash with the creativity of design?
Creativity may give rise to the big ideas, but it will be rigour, discipline, principles and process that will help improve our track record of converting the big ideas into products and services that have a big impact and set us on the road to creating the New Zealand we so like to portray.
Dorenda Britten is founder and managing director at designindustry
Fraser Scott is senior strategist at designindustry
