You’re a senior designer at IDEO, a world known design company, and soon you´ll be visiting Gothenburg. What will your talk in Gothenburg the 20th of May be about?

- My topic is the emerging field of service design. The proposed title of the lunchtime talk is, Can Designers Help Create Better Service?

At IDEO you work with a “human centered design process” . What does it mean and how is it different from other methods?

- Thinking humanistically like a designer can transform the way organizations develop products, services, processes, and strategy. This approach, which IDEO calls Design Thinking, starts with what is desirable from a human point of view and then combines that perspective with what is technologically achievable and economically beneficial. It also opens the door to people who aren’t trained as designers to contribute to solving a vast range of challenges.

Design thinking is a process that taps into abilities that we all have but are overlooked by more conventional problem-solving practices. It relies on our ability to be intuitive, to recognize patterns, to construct ideas that are emotionally meaningful as well as functional, and to express ourselves through means beyond words and numbers. It adds feeling, intuition, and inspiration to rational and analytical methods, to provide an integrated third way.

What kind of customer does IDEO work with?

- IDEO works with a wide range of organizations in the private and public sector. Recent clients include Ford Motor Company, The US Government Center for Disease Control, Air New Zealand and Havaianas in Brazil.

What would you say is the most important role for design in the future?

- Ah - saving the easiest question for last! Personally, I believe the design industry can inject positive social impact into commercial enterprise - expanding the role of design beyond our clients' immediate needs to build longer term growth for them, and greater benefits for communities.

 

 

Thank you!

Johan Stoddard talar på HDK den 20 maj klockan 12.00 - 13.00. Ett intiativ och samarbete mellan ADA, HDK och Busineess&Design Lab.