This document discusses why design is important for companies and how to approach design thinking. It argues that companies should be inspired by cool design rather than simply chasing coolness. Design thinking is a process, not an event, and should be integrated throughout a company. A company's goals, culture, and vision should drive innovation rather than just metrics or common practices. Telling meaningful stories about a brand's values and solving human needs, rather than technical problems, are also emphasized.

1. REBIRTH OF SLICK
Why Design is Cool, and Why It Will Make
People Love Your Company
KELSEY RUGER | @themoleskin
2nd Edition
#bigd10

3. START WITH WHY

4. A LOVE
SUPREME
Acknowledgement
“I never even thought about whether
or not they understand what I'm
doing . . . the emotional reaction is all
that matters as long as there's some
feeling of communication, it isn't
necessary that it be understood.”

5. In the early 1990s, while hard-core
rap artists like Dr. Dre and Tupac
dominated the charts, Digable
Planets chose a road that ignored
gangsta culture.

6. DIGABLE PLANETS
DIDN’T SET OUT TO
CREATE
SOMETHING THAT WAS
COOL

7. THINK ABOUT WHAT WE
MEAN
WHEN WE LABEL SOMETHING
COOL

8. rs have that
ese ch aracte
tics do th erican cool?
racteris t of Am
What cha embo dimen
de them the
ma

9. BEYOND THE OBVIOUS
THREE IDEAS
are inspired by cool subjec
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10. FOLLOW YOUR OWN PATH
when they zig you should zag

11. BE UNIQUE
run from the pack

12. TAKE CALCULATED RISKS
innovation happens in the dragon gap

13. OK, BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Design thinking and design copying aren’t the same
Don’t fear jumping into the dragon gap.
What you believe matters more than w
hat you do.
Design is very much entrepreneurial
Learn, Act & Do like a designer.
Favor frameworks over rules & process
Don’t chase cool. Be inspired by cool.

14. A Love
Supreme
Resolution
“All a musician can do is to get
closer to the sources of nature, and
so feel that he is in communion
with the natural laws.”
1965

17. WHICH COMPANIES HAVE A COOL FACTOR?
Dell Toyota CVS Pharmacy
Apple BMW MTV
HEB Amazon Costco
Microsoft Proctor & Gamble Zappos
Sears Nike Corning Industries
Disney Converse Target
General Mills J.C. Penney Dow Chemical
Starbucks Walmart Equifax
Office Depot Haliburton Estee Lauder
Grey Goose Continental IKEA
American Airlines Virgin Airlines General Electric
Panasonic Boeing Google

18. WHICH COMPANIES HAVE A COOL FACTOR?
Dell Toyota CVS Pharmacy
Apple BMW MTV
HEB Amazon Costco
Microsoft Proctor & Gamble Zappos
Sears Nike Corning Industries
Disney Converse Target
General Mills J.C. Penney Dow Chemical
Starbucks Walmart Equifax
Office Depot Haliburton Estee Lauder
Grey Goose Continental IKEA
American Airlines Virgin Airlines General Electric
Panasonic Boeing Google

19. TS?
UL
ES
R

20. WE OFTEN CONFUSE THE PROCESS OF
DESIGN THINKING
WITH THE ACT OF
DESIGN DOING

22. ARE YOUR GOALS TOO
REASONABLE?
sounds
mediocre
ugh?
what if
it’s new? r n ee
ds
me
t cus to
1. Mee marke
t
to
uce t im e how about
2 . Re d es eliminating
re so urc
timize rs them?
3. Op l bar rie
n ctiona
uce fu
5. Re d cultur
e
ate
cor por
uh... yeah 6. C hange
right

23. WD D
WHAT DID APPLE DO?

24. WW D
WHAT WOULD APPLE DO?

25. These companies don’t have enduring relevant bands
because of short sighted, gimmicky campaigns, a
dash of bling or a viral web site.

26. Relevance creates long
term value.

27. RELEVANCE
IS COOL
* *
*

28. You can’t buy or borrow cool from a brand
it has to be designed in. Don’t look for it on
the outside. Be authentic.
WHERE IS THAT MAGIC WHICH WILL MAKE YOUR
PRODUCT THE “IPOD” OF YOUR INDUSTRY?

29. BRAND IS DESIGNED WHEN YOU TAKE
SUBSTANTIAL RISK
AND FACE THE POSSIBILITY OF
REAL FAILURE

30. A LOVE
SUPREME
Pursuance
“Sometimes I wish I could
walk up to my music for the
first time, as if I had never
heard it before. Being so
inescapably a part of it, I’ll
never know what the listener
gets, what the listener feels,
and that’s too bad.”

31. WHEN YOU SPEND TIME
CHASING COOL
YOU DON’T DO THE THINGS THAT
MAKE YOU COOL

32. DESIGN IS THE
FUNDAMENTAL SOUL
OF THE COMPANY
THAT EXPRESSES
ITSELF THROUGH AN
END RESULT - THE
PRODUCT
- Steve Jobs

33. inspired
by cool

34. Chasing
Cool

35. ar too na rrowly.
define design f
Mos t people

36. THE TRANSITION FROM CHASING
DESIGN DOING
TO BEING INSPIRED BY SOLID
DESIGN THINKING

38. EAUT
WHAT YOU SEE
IS NOT WHAT YOU GET

39. DESIGN IS THE
entire experience
not just
this

40. DESIGN IS THE
entire experience
Usefulness +
Operability x
Meaning =
Significance

41. THE AESTHETICS OF MANAGEMENT
CONTRAST How can we differentiate ourselves?
DEPTH How can we succeed on many levels?
FOCUS What should we not do?
HARMONY How can we achieve synergy?
INTEGRITY How can we forge the parts into a whole?
LINE What is our trajectory over time?
MOTION What advantages can we gain from speed?
NOVELTY How can we use the element of surprise?
ORDER How should we structure our organization?
PATTERN Where have we seen this before?
REPETITION Where are the economies of scale?
RHYTHM How can we optimize time?
PROPORTION How can we keep our strategy balanced?
SCALE How big should our business be?
SHAPE Where should we draw the edges?
TEXTURE How do the details enliven our culture?
UNITY Where is the highest order solution?
VARIETY How can diversity drive innovation.

42. Simply Chasing cool is a really
bad idea; inspired by cool is a
great idea. Don’t do it because
you research it, do it because
you breathe it.
- Russell Simmons
KING LO OK LIKE?
OES DES IGN THIN
WHAT D

43. Simply Chasing design is a
really bad idea; inspired by
design is a great idea. Don’t do
it because you research it, do it
because you breathe it.

44. A LOVE
SUPREME
Psalm
To be a musician is really
something. It goes very, very
deep. My music is the spiritual
expression of what I am - my
faith, my knowledge, my being."

45. THEY ALWAYS TREAT
DESIGN AS A PROCESS
NOT AS AN EVENT

46. DESIGN THINKING
IS NOT AN EVENT
IT’S A PROCESS

47. DESIGN HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE
CREATIVE PROCESS
here
INSPIRATION IDEATION ACTION INNOVATION
1 2 3
and here

48. DON’T FAVOR PRODUCTION
OVER DESIGN

49. SHIFT FROM INDUSTRIAL TO
CREATIVE MINDSET

50. People talk about their functions in the
organization. Human organizations are not
at all like mechanisms. I mean they have
hierarchies, responsibilities and different
roles - but a human organization is much
more like an organism.
PROCESS TELLS US HOW TO
BUILD. IT DOESN’T HELP WITH
WHAT TO BUILD.

51. DON’T DEPEND HEAVILY ON METRICS OR
COMMON WISDOM

52. BECOME OVERLY
CONSERVATIVE
OBSESSED
WITH MEETING THE NUMBERS
EMOTIONALLY AND ANALYTICALLY
DETACHED
WOULD RATHER
BUY SUCCESS
INSTEAD OF EARNING IT
EMPHASIZE THE
WRONG HEROES

53. YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO
FLIP THE VALUE CHAIN
AKA DESIGN EXPERIENCE CHAIN
VISION? IT’S OUR PEOPLE WE MIGHT WE DIDN’T
WHAT’S HOT
ON THE ARE LAZY/ NEED A NEW MEET OUR
RIGHT NOW?
WEBSITE. UNSKILLED PRODUCT NUMBERS
COMPANIES FOCUSED ON TRAILING INDICATORS
VISION CULTURE INNOVATION GROWTH VALUE
COMPANIES FOCUSED ON LEADING INDICATORS
HOW DO WE
PEOPLE FIND
WHY DO WE HOW DO WE INTEGRATE HOW DO WE
VALUE IN
DO THIS SHARE THE OUR VISION DESIGN THE
WHAT WE
ANYWAY? MESSAGE? IN THE EXPERIENCE?
OFFER
WORK?

54. DON’T LEAD WITH EFFICIENCY AND
CUT COSTS LATER

55. DON’T
SPEND ALOT
JUST DO
WHAT ACME DID
THAT DOESN’T
FIT OUR PROCESS
DON’T
SCREW THIS UP

56. BAKE DESIGN INTO THE CORE & BUILD
EXPERIENCE OUT

57. WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF AN
APPLE PIE?

58. BE CAPABLE OF TELLING A
MEANINGFUL STORY
ABOUT YOUR BRAND OR COMPANY

59. Make It
Meaningful
Tell me a
engaging story
I like
experiences
Looks matter
but how I
feel matters
more
CONSUMER MINDSET:
THE PLAN

60. WE JUST “GET IT” A GOOD STORY
ILLUSTRATES HUMAN
EMOTION

61. The “values in action”
The “vision”
stories
stories
The “why am I here” T he “teaching”
stories stories
Th e “who am I”
”
The “I k now what yo
u are thinking
Stories
stories
CAN YOU
TELL THESE STORIES?

62. DON’T TRY TO MIMIC THE
ACTION TAKEN
LOOK TO BE INSPIRED BY THE
INTENDED MOTIVE

63. Treating
design as a
veneer
You create
“objects”
instead of IT’S USUALLY A
experience VICIOUS CYCLE Design isn’t a
THAT IGNORES DESIGN part of every
role
The
experience
isn’t designed

64. DON’T OUTSOURCE
VISION
DON’T BE A SLAVE TO
TODAY’S TRENDS

65. DON’T
FOLLOW
YOUR CUSTOMERS
LEAD THEM

66. YOU MAY NOT GET YOUR ANSWER
FROM ASKING BUT YOU CAN GET
IT FROM OBSERVING

67. FOCUS ON SOLVING
HUMAN NEEDS
INSTEAD OF
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

68. TEACH
CENTER DRIVEN
AUTHENTICITY

69. DON’T END WITH THE
INSIGHTS
GREAT IDEAS LEAD TO
ANSWERS

71. Thanks A
gain!
KELSEY RUGER
http://www.themoleskin.com
http://www.twitter.com/themoleskin
http://www.slideshare.net/themoleskin