Marketing Review — Fall 2008 - (Page 8)

›› ONLINE MARKETER Design Thinking: A New Tool for Business & Marketing Innovation How can your organization become more innovative in today’s increasingly competitive global travel marketplace? Design thinking may hold the answer. As its name implies, Design Thinking is the methodology used by designers to create new and original products and services. By applying the same creative thinking methods designers use, you can help your organization supercharge its innovation process and help to ensure its continued success in the future. [DONALD E. BENDER] esign Thinking is an effective and proven methodology used by designers to generate and test ideas for new products and services. Today, more and more companies and organizations are turning to Design Thinking to enhance their capacity for innovation. How does Design Thinking differ from more traditional business thinking? Traditional business thinking is based on a combination of inductive or deductive reasoning and on observation and analysis. Design Thinking, in contrast, is considered to be “abductive.” It is oriented to synthesizing or combining information to produce original and potentially profitable business concepts. Design Thinking and traditional business thinking also differ in their focus. Most business thinking is focused on ongoing processes such as management, finance, marketing, sales, or human resources. Design Thinking, in contrast, is project-oriented and relatively short-term in its approach. It focuses on solving a distinct problem or challenge. When a solution is developed, the process ends, and the focus is directed to other projects. D Design Thinking is an adaptable process that can be used by almost any type of organization, large or small. It can be employed to generate original new ideas and approaches not only for products, but for services, customer experiences. or business and marketing strategies. Proponents of Design Thinking believe that organizations can benefit by adopting its techniques across all functional areas, rather than limiting it to design-related functions alone, in order to generate more creative and more fully integrated solutions to business and marketing challenges and opportunities. Following are ten essential characteristics of Design Thinking. CREATIVE: It generates high-quality ideas, then tests and refines them to produce new and original solutions. STRATEGIC: It considers economic conditions and trends, business assets and liabilities, allies and competitors, and other strategic factors as part of its methodology. FORWARD-LOOKING: By generating unique and original solutions, Design Thinking not only anticipates but helps to create the future. INTEGRATIVE: It integrates information, ideas, and research from a broad cross-section of functional areas to generate superior solutions. CUSTOMER CENTERED: It begins with observations of customer behavior and utilizes key insights derived from those observations. RESEARCH-BASED: It utilizes existing research and initiates original research as required to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenge it must solve. ADAPTABLE: Its methodology can be adapted to enhance innovation across a variety of companies and organizations, large and small. EXPERIMENTAL: Through a process of developing and refining prototypes Design Thinking goes beyond other creative thinking processes to help generate more effective solutions. LEADING EDGE: It incorporates the latest trends in technology, business, and market conditions into its methodology to help advance the leading edge of product and service innovation. SUSTAINABLE: It embraces sustainability and seeks to develop comprehensive solutions that benefit customers, businesses, and the environment. HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • FALL 2008 8

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review — Fall 2008

Marketing Review – Fall 2008 Contents The Online Marketer Success Stories Forecasting Trends Ian Schrager: The Revolutionary Man Leaving No Stone Unturned: The Quest for Ancillary Revenue Gaga Gadgets for Execs on the Go: Functional New Portable Technology to Make Life and Work on the Road More Hospitable Effectively Weathering the Ups and Downs of the Economic Cycle Experiments in Podcasting Higher Transportation Costs and a Slowing Economy Shift Hotel Room Demand

Marketing Review — Fall 2008

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