Design Thinking - Influences and Critiques - Coursework Example

DESIGN THINKING - INFLUENCES AND CRITIQUES: By Design Thinking- Influences and Critiques: Technical feasibility, the appreciation by the end user and the economic viability of design thinking is where its heart lies. Design thinking is a process related to innovation in business. Coming up with items that are of relevant and viable benefits to a business organization and their leadership aspects relates to design thinking. Designs are every manager’s necessary tool. No business can survive in these difficult tides of business without employing design management and innovativeness into their operational aspects. Tim Brenan (1990) the head of Apple Computer’s Creative Services department believes that design thinking is a magic that creates different benefits for a business. He believes that design thinking is all about thinking of how to convert a project into financial returns. In his words, he says “here is how we work, somebody calls up with a project; we do some staff and the money flows” (How do you design, n.d).This is a turf only the daring and brilliant business individuals make a move with courage and stand its impact be it positive or negative. This has grown to become a useful resource in business leadership that is seeing organizations grow due to their different innovative abilities (Jeanne, 2011). The combination of empathy, the generation of ideas through creativity and the analyzing of the problem and fitting various solutions within the context defines design thinking. Tim brown looks at it as the matching of the needs of different people with the technologically possible and viable business strategies. The world cannot ignore this strategic management tool due to its returns in profit terms. It is a fact that by knowing how designers apply their knowledge to solve problems in their world of developments, then the same is applicable to a business problem and see magnanimous results yield that could be used as tools of business advancement through technological advancement. The influences of design thinking are various led by the most common one that is existent of problems in the business sector, architectural needs, the soft ware development needs, mechanical engineering needs, the industrial design needs and the quality management needs. The leadership of a business organization needs to embrace this approach to problem solving if they are to enjoy well be fitted returns and handle their business management needs. The desire to create a different approach or aspect or item in general also influences design thinkers to unearth new developments. This has been the major drive for technologically motivated developments in this field. As strategic management tool, design thinking helps develop strategies that are long lived. With organizations wanting to have an opening in every market around the world, there is dire need for design thinking in the development of the strategies to employ in such developments. This human centered design is also usable in defining design thinking. It looks at the activities of humans in the development of plans in design forms that rise strong though much decorated and thought through structures and viewed as a service design when it involves the development of designs of service centered aspects. Among business, this form of advancement is growing for innovative purposes. The critics of design thinking only view it as an apparent tool that only befits the definition of an architect and do not relate it much to business. With the direction that the business field is taking, design thinking is rather necessary for any business to succeed in this competitive niche. Discussion for design thinking viewed as the tool to innovative management. For innovative outcomes realization, this tool is essential. It widens an organizations competitive advantage margin over its competitors. This is achievable through the design of products and services that are better and satisfy the intended end users appropriately. Companies that have had control of markets for a long time such as Coca Cola are using this management tools to ensure they remain in control of the market and not easily let it over by a different company. The success of other companies especially technology related companies like Apple, Samsung, and others rests much in this aspect. Daily innovation means catching the market first and then working hard to maintain it is what follows. These companies have employed this into their management systems and their leadership structure. This get enhanced by the engagement of the line managers in the development of innovative skills and the encouragement of innovativeness in a company through the training and equipment of employees with the necessary skills for innovation, rewarding innovators to make sure they enjoy a wide range of respects and priorities besides the improved payment. These all encourage other employees to be engaged in innovative activities hence developing a company’s revenues while boosting its competitive respects. Recent market surveys have showed that company leaders and executives to navigate successfully the business field will require a very different approach rather than just the integrity, vision, vigor and successful navigation into the complex world of creativity. The world changes day and night and as it changes everything changes with it. Embracing this change is the only option rather than waiting for change to change you. This exemplified by the introduction of mobile phones. These were only reserved for a certain class of people that had enough money to spare and spend lavishly. This went on for some time until the whole world started beating their way to the same direction. Currently, a huge number of people in the world operate with these gadgets, and have found them quite useful in their daily business management activities. These gadgets were because of a design thinking activity in a way of aiming at improving the then existing communication means of messengers and in house telephones. Other influences of the design thinking development have been the human diversified needs that have driven them to innovation of different apparatus, the increasing challenges that the world keeps facing today, the different work related tasks that require technological employment like the use of computerized files for storing data and processing information. The issue that the research was researching relates to problem solving in a financial institution. This targeted the banking managers and their customers as the audience for the material researched here in with urgency being set to the solving of the problem in the mobile money application in banking. The problem being the management of the mobile money platform and keeping it free form fraudsters and other internet related crimes. This has cost many telecommunication sector players customers with the fear of defrauded on their phones or ATM by making and breaching into their mobile money accounts with the intention of getting money from them. There have arisen a number of financial crimes in resent time with at least a crime having been noted in every country in the world. This has raised great concerns to the whole world leading to a conference that was held by the United Nations development of crime prevention strategies in their twelfth congress in 2010. This also saw the development of the United Kingdom’s cyber strategy in the same year targeting the modern crime that has shifted gears to our internet connections. These actions led by the Financial Action Task force that was formed with an aim of managing financial crimes in the current world of internet money (Clare, 2012). The whole world supports this project as it continues to develop. It requires close attention if the world is to have a safer internet money running affair. This design will help the end user of mobile phones and internet connections attain maximum confidence in their internet quests that involves money transactions and even internet banking. The needs of my end users are dire and need to be addressed urgently if more and more financial transactions and designs by Information Technology experts and financial experts that aim at narrowing down the market to a click away possible. Embracing brainstorming from different team members on the same idea leads to better and well thought ideas overall aspect of design development. Under this, the creation of firewalls for mobile devise users was suggested including the improvement of the PIN system to enhance more technologically advanced systems that only authorize transactions using ones DNA. These suggestions were made with the aim of creating a barrier between the user and the fraudsters. After this process is done, the implementation of the developed ideas then follows with the most viable coming to life. If this solves the problem then the design thinking process will have been a success but if this fails, then the process will have to restart to develop more and better ideas to solve the problem that is at hand. MY OWN DEFINITION: To the researcher, design thinking refers to the development of plans well coordinated in relation to an existing problem in the business context with the aim of providing permanent solution to the problem and providing solutions to the business managers. THE FUTURE OF DESIGN THINKING: The future of design thinking is ripe. There are many and many more developments in the offing and this might come and take over the world in a more technical way than the current one have. This maybe technology based, scientifically engineered or even in the form of architectural structures and products. Design thinking is associated with a number of rules. These rules include the following: the human rule that believes that all design is social in nature. Their social aspect is aimed at end users who gather the benefits of this whole process throughout their day-to-day lives. These end users are asocial sphere that enjoys the results of a well-developed and planned design. The second rule is the ambiguity rule that asserts that all the design thinkers ought to preserve ambiguity. The third rule believes that all designs redesign of an original design. This asserts that this is nothing new in the world. Every item is just a copy of an original that existed. They are like a book written and many other writers derive their writing from it though appearing in their own words. The last rule is the tangibility aspect of ideas. It believes that an idea is only use full once it becomes tangible and its results materialize. The applications of design thinking in businesses are various and widely spread in different departments in an organization based on where they are needed and how they influence the organization. This has continued gathering momentum that there is need to embrace design thinking in the business aspects of life rather than having them housed in fashion, graphics, and products, services into education and even economics and politics (Design Thinking and Sustainability). Many publications have highlighted the impact that design methods are having in the business field. As noted by Nussbaum (2007) notes, “over the past decade, design has evolved to become an articulated formalized method of solving problems that can be widely used in business and in civil society. Designs focus on observing consumer/patient/student human behavior.” He looks at its emphasis on the speed, its ability build and not destroys in the search for new and improved models of items that solve the day-to-day problems facing the business world. In the social perspective, the use of designs to engage in politically motivated affairs is also growing. Much thought designs are developing into this sector and they are bearing fruits in an amazing manner. These have had a tremendous impact on the political front and embraced as good tools for gaining political control. It is believed that the recent thinking development of interest in the design thinking field has been met with mixed reactions with other believing that it only belongs to the scientific sections of study and operation and others believing that it should apply whole round. Innovation is a way of life now and is necessary for improved living. It is associated with resource modification, resource control and employment. The competition aspect of business is an item that has had a tremendous impact in the design-thinking world. Increased competition for the market has led to innovation of different customer retention systems that store their information and provide ease for follow up and identification of the difficulties a client may face with a product or service purchased from a vendor. These have been guided by the development of a well ordinate records system in the system databases of organizations and building firewalls to protect this information. The improvising of real tie record accessibility through internet driven computer soft ware’s that have helped even business men keep a close connection to their business activities even while in the comfort of their homes has been inevitable. The world of innovation is still developing and so still needs close attention and continuous assessment. This will help lead to more developments that will lead the world to other break through including finding medicines for infectious diseases, the provisions of improved devices that support work, improved security to an organization’s or individuals financial and other information. This will be rewarded with valuable returns from the consumers of these facilities developed. Other developments include the changes in the administration structures of companies that are being aimed at accommodating the daily changes that companies are developing. Dave Jarret of Crowe Howarth accounting firm says that the “design thinking integrates people. It almost feels like it is a different skill set than what we normal people can do. When you think of design, your mind goes to fashion, and I cannot even pick out two things that should be worn at the same time. But what we are really trying to do here is make sure we are building something the way a buyer would want to have it”. These were Dave Jarret words that assure that all the innovative efforts that the world is experiencing aims at improving the products and services that people consume on a daily basis. In conclusion, we are in a changing world that changed significantly by innovative aspects and the advancement of technology that keeps changing on a daily basis. We are to embrace the change or let it force us change our leadership styles in business. References Clare, C,. J., 2012. Virtual Economies and Financial Crime: Money Laundering In Cyberspace. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham. Haso, P, Christophe, M. & Larry, L., 2010. Design Thinking: Understand – Improve – Apply. Springer Shop Amazon. Jeanne, L, Tim, O., 2013. Designing For Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers. Columbia University Press, Columbia. How Do You Design. (N.D.). http://www.dubberly.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ddo_designprocess.pdf. Retrieved May 10, 2014, from http://www.dubberly.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ddo_designprocess.pdf Design Thinking and Sustainability. Retrieved May, 08, 2014; http://www.zum.io/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/design-thinking-and-sustainability.pdf Read More