Strategic use of Design-Thinking - Essay Example

? Strategic use of Design-Thinking This paper aims at examining how the design-thinking process can be used to foster innovation and create solutions for Apple Inc as the business grows in to the future. Apple Inc is one of the leading multinationals in the technology industry, known for its computer brands such as Macintosh Computers or simply the Mac and mobile phone brands including the iPhone among a host of other technological brands. The design thinking process entails the use of practical strategies that combine various elements such as empathy, rationality and creativity in order to match to requirements of customers. This paper will therefore identify the various ways in which Apple Inc can create and sustain competitive advantage by using the strategic design thinking process to create business solutions that lead the organization in to the future. Strategic use of Design-Thinking Introduction Design thinking can be described as a cognitive process of developing practical improvements to organizational performance by combining rationality, empathy and creativity (Jones, 2008). Empathy refers to the process of understanding the context of a particular problem, creativity entails generating solutions and insights that can be useful in solving the problems while the element of rationality helps in analyzing the identified solutions and insights to determine if the fit the contexts of the problems. Design thinking is quickly emerging as the best method for strategizing on developing the future of a business or an organization and is gradually replacing the scientific method or analytical thinking or as a strategic method (Jones, 2008). Strategic design thinking as a method is emerging as one of the most influential techniques in the management and design of several programs that are geared towards improving the management operations. It is one of the most powerful tools for transforming the current operations of an organizations and creating strategies for future improvements in designs, programs, projects and business operations (Jones, 2008). Design thinking is solution focused or solution based and aims at producing practical and creative resolutions to emerging problems and improving future results of the organization’s operations (Kelly, 2006). Strategic design thinking starts with the goals or the objectives as opposed to starting with the problems. By focusing on both the present and the future aspects of the problem, all parameters of the issues at hand are explores simultaneously. Strategic design thin king mostly occurs in artificial or in the built environments such as in the artefact industry. The concept of design thinking is however also very important in management of large corporations that seek to maintain their market share and create new designs if their products as a way of maintain and attracting more customers as the companies move in to the future. One company that has benefited a great deal over the years from strategic design thinking is Apple Inc. Apple Inc is one of the leading multinationals in the technology industry, known for its computer brands such as Macintosh Computers or simply the Mac and mobile phone brands including the iPhone among a host of other technological brands (Fisher, 2008). Apple is the second largest technology firm in the world by revenue and is the world’s third largest manufacturer of mobile phones (Fisher, 2008). This places the company among the biggest firms in the world of technology amid immense competition from other established multinationals in the industry. In 2012, Apple was ranked by Fortune magazine as the most valuable brand in the world today (Fisher, 2008). The company’s position in the market requires a lot of innovation as it moves forward in to the future. The company has to keep producing the best designs for mobile phones and computers as well as coming up with other creative solutions that will keep the company alive in to the future. This paper aims at examining how the design-thinking process can be used to foster innovation and create solutions for Apple Inc as the business grows in to the future. Apple Inc is one of the leading multinationals in the technology industry, known for its computer brands such as Macintosh Computers or simply the Mac and mobile phone brands including the iPhone among a host of other technological brands (Fisher, 2008). This essay will therefore identify the various ways in which Apple Inc can create and sustain competitive advantage by using the strategic design thinking process to create business solutions that lead the organization in to the future. Design-thinking within future of Apple Company Since the company was founded in 1976, Apple Inc has always been regarded as a leading company in terms of its innovation and design and integration on computer software and hardware. By the year 2010, the company’s innovative designs had already had a huge impact in music, retail operations, and mobile telecommunication through its creative and ideas and business models. The Apple store for instance recorded very high revenues in the first year of its launch as well as the iPhone achieving over a billion sales within the first month of launching the product. These innovations of the company have also come in with a lot of consistency such that the newer designs and models still maintain some elements of the older versions. This is very useful for the customers in that an individual who for instance used Apple II in 1978 can still find the iPhone a very familiar gadget despite being invented almost three decades later. The success of the company has not only come from its clever and strategic moves to study the market but also from a greater understanding of consumer needs and responding to them. The design thinking process has about four main stages that help the company to incorporate the three main elements of empathy, creativity and rationality in the design process (Lockwood, 2010). The stages of the strategic design thinking process include understanding, observing, defining, creating the idea, the prototype stage and the testing phase. The first two stages, understanding and observing, call for the company to apply empathy to the current situation in order to entirely apprehend the current trends in the market and the needs of the consumer (Lockwood, 2010). The understanding stage entails a lot of research about the specific designs that can be used by the company. The next stage, observing requires the company’s designers to observe how the people interact in their day to day business activities in order to determine how the new designs will improve the functioning of the business operations (Lockwood, 2010). The third phase, defining involves a creative approach where the designers come up with creative insights and solutions that can be used to fit in to the operations of businesses and improve their functioning a well as meet consumer demands (Lockwood, 2010). The next stage of creating the idea involves analyzing the various solutions and insights identified in the defining stage. This employs a lot of rationality to determine which solutions are the best for the current needs of the market. The process then moves to the next stage of prototyping where the identified solutions and designs are put together in a sketch to create one design. This is where the element of creativity is brought to use. The designers use creative approaches to come up with suitable designs for the new types of technology. The final stage in the design thinking process is the testing phase where the developed designs are released for beta testing among the consumers to determine if the designs meet the intended objectives. The problem The company has in the recent times changed its strategies to venture in to other areas of the technology industry. This has introduced new challenges for the company and threatens its existence in to the future, despite being one of the most coveted companies in the world. Apple Inc has in the recent times shown signs of struggling to fit in to these newer markets as a result of immense competition from other firms that seemingly have a greater competitive advantage. This has led to speculations over the future of the company as a dominant t force in the technology industry. The company has struggled to compete with other established firms in the mobile telephone industry with stiff competition coming from Samsung Electronics and Nokia. The Solution The approach that can be used to help the company uphold its status in the market as a dominant force and remain a market leader into the future is the use of the design thinking method (Cross, 2011). The strategic design thinking approach ensures the company maintains its innovation and creativity throughout its products and it can use this as a competitive advantage over the other firms in the industry (Pink, 2006). The company’s product development, innovation and execution as well as its history and the influence of its co-founder Steve Jobs can all be intertwined through the strategic design thinking process to help the Apple Inc maintain its dominance in the market and remain a viable force in the future. Cultural selection Strategic design thinking entails understanding the cultural aspects of the market and the target consumers in order to create innovative products and designs that fit in to their cultures. Culture is a very important aspect of marketing as it reflects the ability of the people to accept the products. In order for Apple Inc to expand its market share and grow in to the future as a leader in terms of innovation, it is important for the company to incorporate a cultural aspect of its target consumers in its current and future designs. This will ensure that the target market still remains attracted to the company’s products for a very long time. The company should also aim at maintain a strong organizational culture that is likely to influence the market through its product designs. Apple’s culture selection process to determine the appropriate culture should be based on its history, consistency, vision, and work ethics. Idea Apple Inc can make use of strategic design to come up with appropriate ideas and strategies for its designs that will revolutionize the whole industry as the company moves in to the future. Since the company is already highly regarded for its innovation in the market, this can be the sole focus of the company as the path in to the future. All solutions of the company should be tied to ground breaking innovations and designs that reflect the current and future consumer needs. This can be done through research t identify what the consumers want and how the company can use its creativity and rationality to create solutions for these customer needs (Martin, 2007). Apple Inc’s strategy in to the future should be to base its designs for the iPhone, iPod, iPad, as well as the Mac computers on the design thinking method. This will help the company to know the needs of the consumers, and employ a creative approach coupled up with rationality in order to develop great and highly innovative designs in to the future. Conclusion The design thinking approach is emerging as the best method for helping companies and businesses to meet the needs of their target markets through relevant research aimed at creating an understanding of the consumer needs and using creativity and rationality to come up with appropriate designs that reflect the needs of the consumers. Apple Inc can make use of the design thinking method to make it use its high innovation techniques as a competitive edge over its competitors in the electronics market as the company expands in to the future. References Cross, N. 2011. "Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work." Oxford UK and New York: Berg. Fisher, A. 2008. "America's Most Admired Companies". Fortune. 157 (5): 65–67 Jones, A. 2008. The Innovation Acid Test. Axminster: Triarchy Press Kelly, T. 2006. Ten Faces of Innovation. London: Profile. Lockwood, T. 2010. Design Thinking: Integrating Innovation, Customer Experience and Brand Value. New York, NY: Allworth. Martin, R. L. 2007. The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win through Integrative Thinking. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School. Pink, D.H. 2006. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers Will Rule the Future. New York: Riverhead. Read More