Design's Chapter N(ext)
Frontiers of Design is a topic we chose a year ago as a way
of avoiding design thinking as a
theme, but also to address members' stated desire for content on this topic.
Why avoid it? Many designers dislike labels or brands being
applied to the work they have been doing for decades. This dissatisfaction was
not always easy to understand because the journalistic story of design thinking
brought a lot of positive attention to this profession. Yet, the articles,
books and blogs often skimmed over what designers know is the hard part:
Getting great design out the door is a hell of a lot more messy, complex and
nuanced. Design thinking often appeared to be an elixir that if adopted would
lead to good design. It did not account for softer things like brilliance,
taste or luck, not to mention painful realities, like personalities that can
derail a project while schooled executives, drunk with design-thinking bliss,
are unaware of the irreversible damage being done in the middle of the
organization.
Design thinking became a very interesting and educational
conversation about what the design process can do to help business, but I'm not
sure it changed what we did.
It provided a compelling story about what a designer, when
confronted with a problem or opportunity, does to make something better. And it,
therefore, gave lots of business leaders, product marketing professionals,
engineers and others greater awareness of what it was we did. It was a better
story than designers could come up with themselves. Thanks to brilliant
authors, we learned more about ourselves than we could see on our own—and we
latched on.
So with all that, Innovation
decided to avoid the popular title and focused instead on the frontiers that
design (thinkers) were forging in their work. Frontiers gave us the surface
area to cover applied design that was remarkable. Chris Hosmer stepped up as
guest editor, and from his frontier outpost in Shanghai has pulled together a
collection of inspiring work from equally pioneering contributors.
And as it turns out, this year has possibly marked the end
of design thinking's journalistic luster, turning the page on design's story.
Bruce Nussbaum, design's storyteller-in-chief, has declared it a failed experiment,
with many others piling on the criticism. But it really was a story that
advanced the profession of design significantly—if not in substance, then
certainly in application. During the scramble to write the next chapter of the
story and lay claim to terms* and isms, it is business as usual for most of us
until the new language emerges to help us think, talk and promote what we do.
I am looking forward to seeing how it can again help extend
the frontiers and impact of design—and many other professions.
Alistair Hamilton, IDSA
Innovation Executive Editor
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