University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Design a Better Business
Book

Design a Better Business

New Tools, Skills, and Mindset for Strategy and Innovation

Patrick Van Der Pijl, Justin Lokitz and Lisa Kay Solomon
Wiley, 2016
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

This quirky ode to product and process design offers pages of illustrations and sketches that enliven the text. Design experts Patrick van der Pijl, Justin Lokitz and Lisa Kay Solomon use their book’s layout to underscore their thesis about the flexibility of product and process design. Patient readers will find case vignettes, examples, advice, and a seven-step design progression through product and process development. getAbstract recommends this lively compendium to experienced product and process designers and to anyone seeking a design system reference tool.

Summary

The “Design Journey”

Design means strategizing and taking deliberate steps to engineer change in your organization and position it for success in an unpredictable world. The design approach offers a way of addressing the increasing uncertainty organizations face worldwide and preparing for the future. Your company can build a better business and a better organization by working through the steps and stages of design.

As you go through the steps of the design journey, assert your organization’s unique point of view about the opportunity or challenge at hand. Envision your central hypothesis as the center of a “double loop.” This figure eight represents your perspective. The upper loop emphasizes ideas and the acquisition of a deep understanding of your customers and your business. The lower loop requires you to test and validate your assumptions. Scale your product or process idea, and execute it only after you complete the loop – refining and improving your perspective along the way.

Prepare

The first step in the design process involves careful preparation for the journey. You may need to begin with a catalyst for change...

About the Authors

Patrick van der Pijl and Justin Lokitz lead organizations focused on helping firms in their design process. Lisa Kay Solomon teaches design at two universities in California.

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