What is business design?
Business design is a relatively new theme and it can be hard to find good references about it online. I gathered some content about the topic for me and decided to publish in the blog. Business design connects design thinking frameworks, methodologies and practices with business viability. It was born from the necessity of sustainable financial returns from design thinking sessions. This is a rich topic with several definitions. I will share some in this post.
The Board of Innovation blog states that business design
“… incorporates design thinking and similar approaches that put the customer at the center of the design process, but business design goes further by focusing on profitable business models.”
Alen Faljic has a great and lengthy blog post with topics related to business design. His definition is
“Business design is an activity that uses design methodologies, design mindset [and] business tools to solve business challenges.” I find this definition very broad.
This is Heather M.A. Fraser's definition in her book Design Works:
“Business Design is a learnable innovation discipline that can transform the way enterprise teams create new value, shape strategies, and mobilize support; has the potential to bring out the creative side of everyone without compromising the rigour required to make a meaningful market impact; helps get to bigger ideas faster by engaging teams in a common ambition, with the buy-in and know-how required to make important things happen; and brings a valuable balance to conventional business planning by expanding opportunities and devising breakthrough business strategies.”
Among all the definitions I could find, I prefer Angèle M. Beausoleil's one in her book Business Design Thinking and Doing:
“… business design implies the integration of business (as organization) with design (as to make or mark), or the act of designing or redesigning an organization. (…) Business Design is an approach that integrates management frameworks, anthropological methods and design principles to solve organizational challenges. (…) The idea behind Business Design: to integrate the best practices of business with design-inspired mindsets and methods to help organizations tackle their innovation challenges.”
I see business design as an orderly way to reach innovation, from minor to big endeavours. It can be useful to change a whole company's perspective, but it can also help with the development of a creative project or product. It is always useful to interact with clients and prospects to understand their needs and pains. I also find it productive to structure information in orderly ways - besides the traditional Word document - to understand problems and communicate ideas.
I like to think of it as a puzzle that is being assembled as the pieces are being constructed. It may sound chaotic but it’s the opposite of that. The discovery/creative process that leads to innovation makes sense when we are dealing with unknowns. These are the pieces in the making. On the other side, the questions and hypotheses we create and the stakeholders’ feedback help to mould them while the design frameworks work to provide the connections. And it's such a fun process that a game like a puzzle seems appropriate as a metaphor.
Sources: Business Design Thinking and Doing, Angèle M. Beausoleil; Design Works, Heather M.A. Fraser; Board of Innovation blog, d.MBA.