It has been over 8 years since I graduated from my BA in Industrial Design; at the time I was ready to take over the design world. Little did I know my professional experience would take me elsewhere and change my narrow and naive view of design as I knew it back then. Blame it on design school for nurturing my (and those of many others) narrow views of design, mainly as a process whose outcomes include tangible products, whether those are three-dimensional or two-dimensional; and while I did start out my career creating two-dimensional outputs as a result of design (and the design process), I can now say I no longer view design this way.
Over the years and with my work experience I have come to view design quite differently. Design was a part of my job and my role as a leader and manager, it was part of the strategies created around learning opportunities, part of the performance management conversations that help develop team members, part of the marketing and implementation strategies, etc.
Design, in the broader sense of the word, is truly all-encompassing and all around us; it is sometimes intentional and sometimes just happenstance. It can also be applied to everything, be it a process, object, culture, service, strategy, environments, brands, etc. Design Management, which incorporates design thinking, service design, and UX uses these disciplines to solve today's complex challenges. Using physical models (design artifacts), rapid prototyping, empathy, continuous iteration, and feedback, it aims to create strategic and innovative solutions to these challenges.
This is the beginning of my journey in the field of Design Management, a journey I am sure will be filled with countless lessons and many stories I hope to share in this space.
#DesignManagement #DesignThinking #MaDE