Seminar given at Boras University, 22 November 2012 and Linkoping University, 29 November 2012. This seminar content is based on my phd research & preliminary findings. (Note: special thanks to Kate Davis for allowing me to adapt her slide template).

1. developing design thinking practice
in complex organisations
zaana howard
queensland university of technology

2. background
research question
methodology
cases
design thinking practice
developing design thinking capability
integrating design thinking in organisatons
outline

3. background

4. design thinking is…
a human centred and collaborative approach
to problem solving using a designerly mindset
to solve complex problems
background

5. design thinking practice in
complex organisations
§ for driving innovation and organisational
transformation
§ little empirical research, much bias
background

6. design thinking practice
and capability
§ how to build design thinking capability?
§ how to integrate design thinking practice?
background

7. research question

8. how is design thinking practiced in
complex organisations?
research
question

9. in complex organisations:
what constitutes the meanings and practices
of design thinking?
how is design thinking capability developed?
what is the role of the design thinking
professional in leading complex design
projects?
research
question

10. methodology

11. a pragmatic approach
case study methodology
ethnographic methods
constant comparative method for analysis
methodology

12. cases

13. three cases:
retrospective case study of Second Road
participatory case study of Deloitte Australia
expert interview study
cases

14. case: Second Road
§ practicing design thinking for more than a
decade
§ 12 semi structured interviews + retrospective
project audit
cases

15. case: Deloitte Australia
§ introduced design thinking in early 2011
§ 250 hours of participant observation +
30 semi structured interviews
cases

16. study: expert interviews
§ academics and practitioners who identify
themselves with design thinking
§ 13 semi structured interviews spread across
Australia, USA, UK and Europe
cases

17. design thinking practice

18. design thinking
practice =
design led
professional
process &
environment
methods
design thinking
practice

19. culture
environment
‘safe’
physical
space
design thinking
practice

20. breadth &
depth of
toolkit
process &
methods
conversation
structure &
&
sequence
visualisation
design thinking
practice

21. skills &
knowledge
design led
professional
personal experiences
attributes
& worldview
design thinking
practice

22. design lead
composer &
educator
director
design led
facilitator
professional ‘cool kid’
as role taker
design thinking
practice

23. developing design thinking
capability

24. design thinking is…
easily understood
yet complex in execution
design thinking
capability

25. design thinking capability
requires mentoring, experience and skill
training alone is insufficient
design thinking
capability

26. developing design thinking requires
a sustained learning program supported by
design led professionals
design thinking
capability

27. integrating design thinking
in organisations

28. levels of capability
aware
participant
capable
specialist
integrating
design thinking

29. integrating design thinking
individual to organisational
design thinking
professional
design thinking
professional
process &
environment
methods
process &
environment
methods
integrating
design thinking

30. integrating design thinking requires
long term commitment
integrating
design thinking

31. zaana howard
associate lecturer | information systems school
queensland university of technology
phd candidate | faculty of design
swinburne university of technology
zaanahoward@gmail.com | zaanahoward.com | @zaana