WELCOME

This book is for anyone with a passion for innovating. Anyone

who creates new products, services, concepts or interventions
and who wants to effectively apply a different and new approach
of thinking and doing while innovating; a designerly approach.
This book is by innovators for innovators. Innovators are
passionate and claim to have the best and most fun job
there is. That is why innovators love to talk about activities,
experiences and the challenges they come across. The rich stories
of innovators about the application of design thinking in their
innovation practice form the backbone of this book.

To create this book, we interviewed a wide range of innovators;

product designers and R&D-managers, entrepreneurs and
innovation consultants, market researchers and innovation
managers. While making sense of the data, we found out that
the way innovators apply design thinking is inseparable from the
context in which they operate. We found commonalities in how
professionals in comparable practices apply design thinking to
come up with successful innovations. This sense-making process
led us to construct four images of design thinking. An image of
design thinking consists of the innovator’s context, the scope of
the innovation project as well as the innovator’s role, responsibility
and vision.
In short, an image provides a view on the world of innovation, that
helps ‘reading’ the situation. This way of framing the context,
hopefully, provides insights and inspiration to nourish the endless
passion even more by adding clarity to the innovator’s actions.

value-driven innovation 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEMYSTIFYING DESIGN THINKING

8 Design and Design Thinking
11 Images of Design Thinking
14 Outline of the book
16 About us

1 THE IMAGE OF VALUE-DRIVEN INNOVATION

20 Value-driven innovators
23 The challenge in value-driven innovation
24 Using a designerly approach in value-driven innovation
26 Zoom in and out of the problem in context
31 Overcome organisational fixation
36 Visualise and conceptualise
42 Make decisions in spite of incomplete information
49 Overview of the image of value-driven innovation

2 THE IMAGE OF EXPERIENCE-DRIVEN INNOVATION

52 Experience-driven innovators
55 The challenge in experience-driven innovation
56 Using a designerly approach in experience-driven innovation
58 Be sincerely curious about people
65 Engage all stakeholders
71 Create a safe atmosphere
77 Overview of the image of experience-driven innovation

4
3 THE IMAGE OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN INNOVATION

80 Purpose-driven innovators
83 The challenge in purpose-driven innovation
84 Using a designerly approach in purpose-driven innovation
86 Visualise and prototype in early stages
93 Design integration
99 Rely on dreaming and intuition
106 Align user and business value
111 Cultivate end user curiosity
116 Overview of the image of purpose-driven innovation

4 THE IMAGE OF VISION-DRIVEN INNOVATION

120 Vision-driven innovators

123 The challenge in vision-driven innovation
124 Using a designerly approach in vision-driven innovation
126 Create a future vision by using your intuition
132 Challenge the vision through dialogue with people
138 Take people along
144 Overview of the image of vision-driven innovation

DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATION
148 The Landscape of innovation
149 Abilities of design-driven innovators
150 Bias towards creation
152 Using a visual language
154 Orchestrating ambiguity
156 User-centred approach
158 A few final words
159 A special thanks

5
6
DEMYSTIFYING
DESIGN
THINKING

value-driven innovation 7
 DESIGN AND DESIGN
THINKING

Great designers are honoured worldwide and communicating, and as

for their skills. Consider, for instance, Rem powerful as scientific and
Koolhaas, the controversial architect,
scholarly methods of enquiry
Philippe Starck, whose products include
toothbrushes, buildings and interior, Steve when applied to its own kinds
Jobs, the high-impact innovator, and Amesh of problems.’
Kapoor, creator of astonishing artworks. (Bruce Archer, 1979 cited by Nigel Cross in Designerly
These designers seem to have unique skills. Ways of Knowing, 2007)
They are creative powerhouses who can deal
with ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity Archer (1979) argues that design activity
– and create things that did not exist before. operates through modelling. Where natural
Designers are trained, but their unique language is the vehicle for the humanities
talent is also an intuitive process, learned and notation for science, design is
through experience or gained by natural characterised by the language of modelling.
ability. Design researchers have tried to He explains that modelling is found, in
capture this artistry of design for many various forms, as the vehicle for all sorts
years. Still, there is a mystique that of activities, such as navigating, surgery,
surrounds designers’ ability to create dancing, and even crossing a busy road.
something out of nothing. Since then, research has focused on design
cognition, processes and collaboration and
Design thinking – a term that has seen how designers exhibit design expertise and
an increase in popularity in recent years activity.
– originates in the literature of Design
Methodology. Design research emerged as In the last decade, interest in design
a recognisable field in the 1960s. Design thinking has proliferated in fields beyond
thinking refers to Bruce Archer’s concept that: product design and architecture. Earlier
writings were all written with a specific
‘…there exists a designerly goal in mind (simplifying, explaining,
describing) or from a certain perspective
way of thinking and
(design, business, management). We
communicating that is both have seen the boundaries of design being
different from scientific and extended from designing products to
scholarly ways of thinking addressing and solving societal issues.

8
‘Now, however, rather than ‘Design thinking begins with
asking designers to make an skills designers have learned
already developed idea more over many decades in their
attractive to consumers, quest to match human needs
companies are asking them with available technical
to create ideas that better resources within the practical
meet consumers’ needs and constraints of business.
desires. The former role is Design thinking takes the next
tactical, and results in limited step, which is to put these
value creation; the latter tools into the hands of people
is strategic, and leads to who may never have thought
dramatic new forms of value.’ of themselves as designers
(Tim Brown, Change by Design, 2009) and apply them to a vastly
greater range of problems.’
An example of this trend is the popular (Tim Brown, Change by Design, 2009)

book Change by Design by Tim Brown,

designer and CEO of IDEO, the world’s At around the same time, management
largest design agency. In this book, Brown sciences began to take a growing interest in
describes design as a major lever for the topic of design thinking. Business was
change to drive innovation and growth for hindered by an overload of analytical thinking
the world’s leading businesses and the that stemmed from companies’ obsessive
government, education, healthcare and reliance on efficiency and predictability.
social sectors. Brown provides insights Rational and analytical thinking – the main
into the application areas of design paradigm in business management, a
thinking and shows what design tools remnant from our industrial era – is no longer
and techniques can be applied to solve enough to guarantee competitiveness these
abstract and multifaceted problems days. This trend is exemplified by the book
with a user-centred approach. He states The Design of Business by Roger Martin,
that you do not have to be a designer to business consultant, management professor
benefit from design thinking. and dean at Rotman School of Management.
In this book, Martin states that we need to

demystifying design thinking 9

usher in new ways of thinking in boardrooms These two different perspectives, both
in order to come up with breakthrough with a distinct background, describe design
innovations. Martin explains that design thinking in particular ways. Design thinking
thinking is the next competitive advantage burgeoned after the publication of these
for business – a way of thinking that books. Since then, many more writings
introduces integrated views and thinking in have been published on the subject. All
alternative scenarios. However, he also states these books ride the waves of the times, all
that this new way of doing business is too from their own background, experience and
important to be left to designers alone. interpretations. Design has definitely broken
out of design schools and is building on its
‘… even in the bowels of the new potential.
most reliability-oriented
Nowadays, there are many different
company you can work to ideas and views on design thinking.
develop your own design- Although there is no consensus on the
thinking skills and individually actual definition of design thinking in the
produce more valid outcomes. literature, there is agreement on its value
for different fields. The ability to apply
And you can learn how to
a design perspective is being recognised
work more effectively with as increasingly valuable and important
non-design thinkers in your in traditionally non-designerly fields and
organizations, rather than disciplines such as business management,
engaging in counterproductive education, anthropology, psychology, IT and
engineering. Reading the existing body of
battles that result in standoffs,
knowledge, we understand that although
hard feelings, and inaction. Both design thinking involves many elements,
developing your own design- they never seem exclusive, but rather
thinking skills and learning how as pieces of a puzzle. In applying design
to deal more productively with thinking in practice this may result in either
very general principles, such as ‘having
colleagues who are analytical
a user-centred approach’, or very specific
thinkers and intuitive thinkers principles, such as ‘visualise your notes while
will help you be a capable and creating new insights’. For a holistic view on
successful design-thinking design thinking in innovation, other aspects
CEO someday.’ apart from actual design activities have to
(Roger Martin, The Design of Business, 2009)
be considered. We identified and used these
other aspects to frame the ‘images’.

10
 IMAGES OF
DESIGN THINKING
Earlier authors and their writings reveal The images of design thinking presented
different facets of the notion of design in this book are the result of our challenge
thinking. Since their trains of thought do of dealing with the complex role of design
not align, we decided to ask practitioners thinking in innovation. The basic premise
what the value of design thinking is in their of this book is that there are multiple views
innovation practice. Our respondents have – or at least that multiple views can help to
had years of hands-on experience with make abstract notions clear and applicable.
applying a design approach in innovating Looking at the broad field of innovation,
within the companies and organisations spanning from product or service design
they work for and with. We were interested to business and strategy development, we
in finding more practical principles behind tried to grasp the value that design can
using design thinking in addressing and provide in innovation.
handling specific situations characteristic
to innovation. The stories in this book Through the stories of the practitioners
originate from interviews with these 30 we literally want to give a human face to
innovators. For these interviews, we used a design thinking in innovation. We present
card deck for inspiration. The deck consisted our innovators as real people sharing
of 48 design thinking activities derived from practical examples and stories of how they
the literature. We asked the practitioners apply design thinking. Like any product use,
what they thought was unique about design the user experience of design thinking is
thinking and how they applied it in their influenced by the individual combination
daily practice. These parts of the interviews, of the user and the context of interaction.
where innovators explain how they apply a All images of design thinking describe
designerly approach in their daily innovation combinations of the role, responsibility
practice, are a large part of the book. and vision of the innovator, the innovator’s
context, both social and physical, and the
The richness of the stories they shared scope of the innovation project. It is in these
during the interviews and the structures rich combinations that good designing
that emerged when we reread them took can be addressed in a way that will appeal
us by surprise. We were struck by the to those who recognise it and provide
diversity of their challenges and contexts inspiration to those who want to become
and the richness in how they applied design good innovators.
thinking – and this is what inspired us to
write this book. We ourselves slowly learned
the nuances of applying one strategy over
another. In the images, we seek to capture
this logic.

demystifying design thinking 11

VALUE- EXPERIENCE-
DRIVEN DRIVEN
INNOVATION INNOVATION
The first image is value-driven innovation. The second image is experience-driven
When you are practicing value-driven innovation. When you are practicing
innovation you may work in a medium-sized experience-driven innovation you may
or large company and are responsible for be responsible for the creation of mainly
the planning and roadmap of the product intangible experiences. In such cases, your
or service portfolio. In such cases, you job is to design and facilitate a process
work together with the new business where people are invited to co-design
development team to develop a strategy the best user value. Experience-driven
to future-proof the company. Value-driven innovation is about the in-depth involvement
innovation is about balancing different of all the people who together shape an
values as they appear in the context of experience. The innovation can only exist
business. Innovation spans a holistic view, when it is co-created and co-used with
rising above all separate views. users.

12
PURPOSE- VISION-
DRIVEN DRIVEN
INNOVATION INNOVATION
The third image is purpose-driven innovation. The fourth image is vision-driven innovation.
When you are practicing purpose-driven When you are practicing vision-driven
innovation you may be responsible for the innovation you may be responsible for the
development of industrial products within creation of strategic propositions for future
a company. In such cases, you work with directions. In such cases, you partner up
a multidisciplinary design team to design with a diverse group of experts to explore
a product whose main success driver is the world for new insights that will make
providing value for the end user. Purpose- a difference for both the world and the
driven innovation is about the meaningful organisation. Vision-driven innovation
integration of all the knowledge bases, views is about innovation for the future. Such
and interests of different disciplines to serve innovations explore future possibilities and
a single purpose. The resulting innovation is produce sustainable business.
a product with a heart.

demystifying design thinking 13

 OUTLINE OF THE BOOK

The book has started

with the part in which the
authors explain the scope
of the book.

The images of design

driven innovation form
the core of the book.
The four images each
have a different color
code.

In the concluding part of the

book, the authors reflect on the
relations between the images and
the differences and commonalities
between the images.

14
 OUTLINE OF EACH IMAGE
Each image is made up of the following components:

An image chapter starts with a

general description of the innovators’ The innovators are introduced,
role and innovation context. by showing their picture and
biography on the second page.

In each image the

innovators’ view on
the world is described
and the challenge
they are facing.

Each image chapter continues with a description

of distinct innovation activities for which the
innovators use design thinking. The authors
constructed the innovation activities based on the
stories of the innovators.

The description of each

Each activity innovation activity is followed
is explained in by one-pagers in which
general innovators explain why and how
they execute the innovation
activity. By comparing these rich
descriptions one will notice the
diversity as well as the similarity
between the stories of the
innovators.

demystifying design thinking 15

 Rianne C. Valkenburg (1966)
ABOUT US Innovation is my way of life:
I change contexts often,
explore new worlds, and
As professionals in design and initiate for unexpected
encounters to be constantly surprised.
innovation, we share a passion
My work in innovation has evolved along
for the field, the people who two tracks. First, I always balance on
work in it and what moves them. the crossroads of (scientific and applied)
research and business practice. Second, I
We have different levels of always seek to be where innovation itself
experience (5, 15 and 25 years) is changing. In recent years, I’ve focused on
innovations that can make a change; using
and were educated in different
(design) expertise to tackle the wicked
eras (1980s, 90s and 00s). We challenges of society.
work in different roles and our
The biggest insight I gained while writing
perspectives cover the scientific, this book was that I’ve moved around in
educational and practical. different images, intuitively choosing the
best approaches, but most of the time I
haven’t been able to explicitly explain why.
We’re enthusiastic about our The four images help me greatly to realise
field because it’s driven by what I’m doing, but also enable me to
connect better with people in other images.
passionate people who create This was a real “wow” moment.
tomorrow’s world. Interviewing
Currently, I work as a (part-time) professor
these innovators has been a
of Designerly Innovation at The Hague
joyful enterprise. Our innate University of Applied Sciences, where
curiosity about understanding my research team focuses on spurring
innovation by means of a designerly way
the world inspired us to research of thinking and doing. I also co-founded
design thinking. During our LightHouse, affiliated with the Eindhoven
University of Technology. At LightHouse, I
discussions, our views reflected initiate and facilitate knowledge-intensive
our different perspectives and projects to enable municipalities and
ages. These sessions were organisations to apply smart city solutions
and make the most of the contemporary
inspiring, sometimes heavy, but disruptive technological possibilities. I hold
always yielded better insights – a master’s degree in Industrial Design Engi-
neering from Delft University of Technology
and kept us going on the journey (1992), and a PhD on the reflective practice
that resulted in this book. of product design teams (2000).

16
 Janneke Sluijs (1986) Maaike Kleinsmann (1976)
I’ve fallen in love with facili- Passionate people with
tating creative processes in diverse perspectives who
innovation projects because are creating meaningful
they bring passionate products and/or services
people together in a productive way. This together fascinate me. Collaborations have
gives me great joy and satisfaction. I believe always been the core of my work.
we’re living in an exciting era. However, the
world of tomorrow needs crossover innova- As a researcher, I’ve been involved in
tion so that it can be a sustainable home various innovation projects from the
for all the people living in it. I see grand 2000s onwards. These projects vary from
challenges ahead and take pride in preparing the development of a high-speed train to
design students to become innovators. product-service systems for people suffering
from dementia. My role in these projects
The biggest insight I gained while writing has also differed greatly, from a lonely
this book concerns the abilities of design- observer making sense of the effectiveness
driven innovators and the nuances of of collaborations to a team member actively
applying this approach in different contexts. involved in the development of products
I’ll harness this insight in cultivating and services. Designing has always been the
curiosity and sensitivity in innovators in thread that joins all my projects together.
training and in practice. I also hope to
contribute to education (not only in design) One of the biggest insights that I had while
so that students in every discipline can writing this book is that the designerly
become better co-creative active citizens of approach has a huge impact on innovation,
this world. but it certainly needs complementary
approaches to make it happen.
I currently work at The Hague University
of Applied Sciences, where I teach in an Currently I’m an associate professor in
international bachelor Industrial Design design-driven innovation at the faculty
Engineering programme, which I’ve also of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft
helped to set up. I also conduct research in University of Technology. My research team
the field of design thinking. concentrates on the role of design thinking
in digital innovation, aiming to develop and
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Engineering test methods that equip industrial designers
(2009) and an MBA in Imagineering, to innovate within a connected world –
Business Innovation from the Experience a world in which value is created not only
Perspective (2015). by innovators, but also by everyday people
like you and me.

I hold a master’s degree in Industrial

Design Engineering from Delft University of
Technology (2000), and a PhD on collabora-
tive design (2006).

demystifying design thinking 17