Design Thinking: A Key Driver of Business Success

Alright, let’s cut through the noise and get straight to the heart of the matter: Design isn’t just some fancy add-on, it’s a game-changer in the business world. Some of you might be scratching your heads, wondering if design really is worth the investment. Can it truly tackle those critical challenges organisations are facing? Well, let us break it down.

As someone who’s spent years in the communication and media industry, I’ve heard these doubts. Because in the eyes of a communication or media executive, it’s the spend behind a campaign or its content that makes the greatest impact on the bottom line and which campaign KPIs are measured upon. Yes, the marketing role of design is important as a well thought through design is key to achieve a memorable brand identity. It enhances the message and affects people’s emotions. Design does not marely create a visual representation of a brand and its values but much more. It’s about crafting experiences that resonate with people on a deep, emotional level.

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs

Let’s dive into it

We refer to design as a powerful tool that teaches us to understand and solve problems, big or small.

• First, there’s understanding. This is where we dig deep into the user’s need. Without this crucial step, any solution we come up with is bound to miss the mark. We put ourselves in the user’s shoes, empathize with their struggles, and get to the heart of the problem. At times, stakeholders may suggest reducing the scope of this stage to save money. However, in such cases, the results are often less impactful and successful. At best, you might end up with fancy theories in a presentation that aren’t anchored in reality.
• Next, we’ve got problem-solving. Once we have a solid grasp of the user’s needs and motivations, we can start the ideation stage, which encourages thinking outside the box and exploring multiple possibilities to find the best solution.
• The chosen idea(s) will be prototyped, tested with the users and evaluated with the team.
• The output from the user tests are gathered and the solution is enhanced for development and potential launched, or scrapped entirely!

Why is design important?

Design thinking puts the customer at the center of problem-solving and enables brands to create services that meet customers’ needs, fostering innovation and differentiation. This is due to the collaborative approach and agility where teams are adaptive by quickly iterating and testing solutions to respond to market changes and solving user needs. Its power stems from involving employees from different roles, fostering cooperation and team spirit.

Given this, it’s no surprise that design thinking is successfully used by giants like Airbnb, Uber Eats, Amazon to name a few. This was also revealed in a McKinsey research where it was concluded that businesses that excel at design grow revenues and shareholder returns nearly twice the rate of their competitors. (Source: McKinsey Quarterly - The business value of design, 2018)

Who is this approach for?

The successful companies in the McKinsey research prioritize design as much as they do revenues and costs. However, in other organizations, design often gets sidelined in middle management and doesn’t get the attention it deserves. To change this, we need to show how design connects to hitting business targets. The most financially successful companies do this by bringing design and business leadership together, making sure a design-centric approach is a key part of top management discussions.

Who are the stakeholders that would advocate and employ this approach and mindset? In this ever evolving tech world where new roles and disciplines re-surface, it’s sometimes hard to imagine who the ‘typical’ stakeholders could be. In our experience, this varies extensively depending on the organisation and its set up. What is key though, is to identify those individuals who look at business challenges holistically, and just like us, are curious enough to find the right problems, brave enough to experiment, and constantly iterate to excel.

Where to start

It’s not easy to implement design thinking within an organization without a strategic approach and management support. Here are key areas that can help you promote and adopt design thinking in your organisation:

• Leadership buy-in: As mentioned above, design thinking is successful when there is a collaborative approach. When the wider organisation sees this as a top priority they will want to get involved.
• Communicate the benefits: Educate stakeholders about the value of design thinking in driving innovation, customer satisfaction, and business success.
• Train and educate: Offer design thinking workshops and sessions to introduce the methodology and foster a better understanding.
• Break silos: Foster collaboration among different departments to promote holistic problem-solving.
• Empathy and user-centricity: Encourage and raise the importance of gaining first hand insights through user research.
• Metrics and Evaluations: Define your key performance indicators (KPIs) related to design thinking outcomes e.g. improved customer satisfaction, faster time to market).
• Learning loops: Encourage learning and adaptation loops to continuously evolve your design thinking practice.

Final words

By embracing design thinking, you are not just investing in a process, but in a mindset that prioritizes collaboration, agility, and constant iteration. And let’s not forget the opportunity of growing the revenue twice the rate of competitors.

So whether you are a brand guru, media executive, or tech leader, I hope this has inspired you to embrace and introduce design thinking to your organisation.

By Salomeh Persson

Client Partner & Operations Lead @ BBH Stockholm

Get in touch to find out how BBH Stockholm can guide you into the right direction. Contact andreas.bjork@bbh-stockholm.se