User-centred design (UCD) practitioners complain that the
approach has never really been taken seriously by the business school
establishment and business in general. UCD has at best been seen as a nice to
have, a nod to creativity and ‘soft’ approaches to doing business that added a
bit of excitement to an otherwise uneventful day at work.
UCD and ROI have always had an uncomfortable
relationship. Managers who have
been used to backing every decision on hard numbers found it – and still find
it - difficult to make decisions based on an approach that depends on
qualitative research, observation, and intuition. Their decisions demand faith,
and an ability to envision a different future, skills that management schools
tend not to focus on.
Despair not, because we’ve been discovered! UCD in the form
of Design Thinking is becoming part of the business school curriculum and yes;
it is becoming the thing managers in the know start to explore.
Recent articles in the Business Week, The New York Times,
and podcasts from the Harvard Business School are treating Design Thinking as a
legitimate approach to innovation.
Still in its infancy, even though the approach has been
around for decades and introduced to the Rotman Business School in the 90s ,
Design Thinking attempts to combine analytical and intuitive thinking in producing business systems for
future innovation.
Though some may feel that the Management School establishment and the business world are hijacking the approach we have all been working on for quite some time, I’d like to see it as an opportunity to help them first understand the approach and also be part of its future direction. Getting business leaders to see a customer centred approach as a way to maintain their competitive advantage is definitely a great starting point