Five tips for agencies and companies that aim to develop their competencies in strategic design.
STRATEGIC DESIGN AGENCIES MUST BE
PREPARED TO:
- Separate content from process. WHAT and HOW are two different questions.
- Develop a habit of evaluating design processes and learn from the conclusions. Make the learning your intellectual property.
- Recruit people with different competencies and backgrounds and learn from them.
- Encourage curiosity and collaboration. Have your employees stretch beyond their own discipline specific boundaries.
- Develop the ability to teach and transferskills to the clients.
COMPANIES HIRING STRATEGIC DESIGN
AGENCIES MUST BE PREPARED TO:
- Separate content from process. WHAT and HOW are two different questions.
- Ask the agency to walk you through their approach – HOW they work.
- Be ready to invest the human resources necessary to be part in the design process.
- Expect design processes to be learning journeys.
- Changes, new insights and opportunities will occur. Be ready to act on them.
I think I need to have a chat with Silje Kamille Friis 
- she is doing a Ph.D. on the new understanding of design methods and processes at the forefront of strategic design agencies. The article is part of her Ph.D.-project.
Got it from Mark
2 comments so far
This is a nice segue - for the almost-ready-to-be-launched Core77 article that Niti and I put together (I guess I’m just teasing here - but you’ll see it soon)
I was going to say when I saw the post, Steve :)) [teaser #2]