Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2009

Let's face it: Business is changing, our world is changing, and so too is the role of design in business in developing new products, services, and solutions. There are more business activities today relying on design thinking than ever before. Indeed, in many applications design is understood as essential to getting the job done. Design 3.0 requires new ways of thinking, new ways of working, and new leadership skills. This issue looks directly into these changes, and gives fresh insight about design's role as integral to decision-making and business outcomes. 

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Design Brings Innovation to the Base of the Pyramid
Aguinaldo dos Santos, Head of the Sustainable Design Research Center, Federal University of Paraná, Brazil; Aline Krämer, PhD Candidate, TUM School of Management (Munich, Germany); Co-founder, Emergia Institute; Carlo Vezzoli, Director, Design and System Innovation for Sustainability, Politecnico di Milano University, INDACO Dept.
In Brazil, nearly half the population earns less than $325 a month and lives in rural areas or urban shantytowns. Despite this reality, Brazilian companies tend to ignore the poor as consumers, focusing their efforts on the haves. One company...

Design Thinking and Design Management: A Research and Practice Perspective
Rachel Cooper, Professor, Lancaster University; Sabine Junginger, Lecturer, Lancaster University; Thomas Lockwood, President, DMI
Over the past few years, the idea of "design thinking" has enjoyed increasing popularity. But what does design thinking contribute to the ways in which we address theories, problems, and practices of design? Is design thinking an activity limited...

Designing Business: New Models for Success
Heather M.A. Fraser, Director of Rotman Designworks, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
The greatest benefit of "design thinking" comes when it is used to design the very business it serves-to craft its strategies and business models. This author introduces "three gears of business design," a methodology that incorporates user...

Homepage Redesign: A Collaborative and Creative Journey
Felix Blanco, Senior Manager of Design, AutoTrader.com
In Brazil, nearly half the population earns less than $325 a month and lives in rural areas or urban shantytowns. Despite this reality, Brazilian companies tend to ignore the poor as consumers, focusing their efforts on the haves. One company...

Managing Design as a Core Competency: Lessons from Korea
Brigitte Borja de Mozota, Director of Research, Parsons Paris School of Art and Design; Bo Young Kim, Assistant Professor, Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies
Considering design as an intangible asset (which, given new international accounting standards, is more and more often the case) leads to an examination of how successful companies tend to move from the use of design as a means of differentiation...

Notes on the Evolution of Design Thinking: A Work in Progress
Craig M. Vogel, Associate Dean, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, University of Cincinnati
From the late nineteenth century onward, the nexus between design and business is a story of ever-new challenges met with vision, creativity, and innovation. Now, as design enters a new era, that nexus continues to evolve. Craig M. Vogel is an...

The Age of Knowledge Design: A View from Japan
Noboru Konno, President, KIRO (Knowledge Innovation Research Organization)
Everyone talks about innovation; but these days, even that concept has changed. Essentially, companies need to make a shift from an analytical to a creative model-from the pursuit of innovation as basically a product-driven concept, to the idea of...