Examples

Design and innovation can spark off each other in different ways, not only directly by designers being involved in the development of a product, but also indirectly through the physical work environment. The following case studies provide examples of both these phenomena

The case studies deliberately focus on particular products or designer-business relationships, as it is essential to understand that the key to success is to put design and innovation at the core of the company's strategy. It is not about bringing in a designer for a new product once every few years, and it is not about a one-day wonder. It is about making design and innovation a way of life, it is about questioning and challenging what is done and how, and where there might be an opportunity to add value. 

Project: Making design centre-stage
Client: Procter & Gamble
Designer: various
Year: ongoing

The fact that Procter & Gamble's A.G. Lafley decided to put design at the centre of his strategy when he became CEO in 2000 caught the attention of the business world. Lafley has created a central design function and Proctor & Gamble is working closely with leading design consultancies.

Lafley's aim is to make design part of every step of the new product development process, particularly the front end. Procter & Gamble uses an internal 'interpreter' to make sure that design and design language is 'translated' in a way that the company's traditional functions, such as sales and finance, can understand. The company also places strong emphasis on bringing-in ideas from outside.

Project: Umpqua's flagship redesign
Client: Umpqua Bank
Designer: Ziba & Thompson, Vaivoda & Associates Architects Inc
Year: 2004

Umpqua is a bank in Oregon, US, known for its innovativeness - it introduced coffee shops into its branches as early as 1996 - and uses design as one way to ensure its distinctiveness and differentiation.

In a recent redesign of the bank's headquarters, designers and architects worked together closely to develop a new environment that would be highly attractive to consumers. They have come up with an environment that is offering an experience, rather than just facilitating a transaction. Announcing the award of a gold medal in the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) Business Week stated, 'Design's role in shaping consumer experiences is represented by ZIBA's gold-winning research for Umpqua Bank of Oregon.' 'We asked people: Why go to a bank when they can go online or to ATMs?' says Sohrab Vossoughi, founder of ZIBA. 'We found that people want peace of mind from financial services.' Umpqua's branches now look and act more like community centres than banks.

Project: Walking with Dinosaurs
Client: BBC
Designer: Framestore
Year: 1998

The BBC television series Walking with Dinosaurs, realised through animation specialist Framestore, was first broadcast in October/November 1999. The award-winning series was a 'David Attenborough for the prehistoric world'. And indeed the degree of sophistication of the animations was such that the dinosaurs could have been mistaken for the real thing.

The success was made possible by two factors: the close collaboration of Tim Haines, the producer, and Mike Milne of Framestore, based on mutual respect and trust; and a dedicated, passionate team of designers and technicians who wanted to achieve the best possible result within the given (cost) constraints.

In this case, design and innovation were used to drive the boundaries of animation. New design solutions had to be found to be able to deliver within the restricted budget, resulting in new ways of designing and creating animated film. Both Framestore and the BBC are organisations in which innovation and design form the core of the company's culture.

Project: Quattro
Client: Black and Decker
Designer: In-house
Year: 1998

Black and Decker realised that there might be a market for a multi-purpose tool. So the company decided to develop a tool that would allow four different operations: sanding, sawing, drilling and screwing.

After an initial design was developed externally, the project champion felt that the concept offered far greater degrees of innovation and differentiation than realised by the initial design and gave it to an in-house designer for review. In-depth understanding of Black and Decker's vision and ambition combined with a passion for improving ease of use and user comfort resulted in a distinctive, innovative design that took the market by storm. When the product was introduced in late 1998 demand was far higher than anticipated.

Instead of starting from the existing design of battery-operated tools, the young designer questioned what had been taken as a 'given' and by doing so was able to create a superior design, in terms of the ergonomics as well as the aesthetics. Here, design and innovation have been used to create a new product category.

Project: Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation
Client: Pitney Bowes
Designer: In-house
Year: 1996

Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation (PBCC) - the financial services division of an office equipment manufacturer - decided that in order to step up its innovation activity, the company would have to change its work environment. The traditional office layout was not conducive to encouraging collaboration and exchange - two aspects that are fundamental building blocks for successful innovation.

So PBCC decided to change the design of the workspace so that 'bumping into each other' and working together happened naturally. The makeover of the physical work environment resulted in something like an indoor theme park with cobblestone look-alike carpet, town square clock, café and diner. This relaxed and inspiring work environment, combined with an inspirational leader, led to the introduction of a number of new products in 1996, including 'Purchase Power' a revolving line of credit that helps companies finance their postage costs and 'Business Rewards', a credit card geared toward small companies.

While accounting for only two per cent of the parent company's workforce, PBCC brings in annual revenues of $800 million - 36% of the parent company's net profits. In this case, design has been used to create an environment stimulating creativity and innovation. But while the work environment was obviously an important stimulant and facilitator, without the corresponding company culture, vision and leadership style, innovation is not likely to have occurred.

Project: New 7 Series
Client: BMW
Designer: In house - Adrian Van Hooydonk
Year: 2001 launch

The car manufacturer BMW has always placed strong emphasis on design and the need to innovate. But with increasing competition, the need for differentiation had become stronger than ever. BMW decided to respond to that and move its designs away from the increasingly similar look of many current car models. While the radical look of the new 7 Series cars initially shocked some critics and buyers, the figures would prove BMW right.

Sales were 17% ahead of those for the previous 7 Series during the same early months of its life (in the mid-1990s). And while the US auto market was down 1.3% in 2001, BMW achieved a 10% sales gain in the United States and a 12% gain worldwide. BMW Group Director of Design Chris Bangle feels that four principles contributed to this success: first, protecting the creative team; second, safeguarding the artistic process; third, being an inventive communicator; and finally, the close collaboration between designers and engineers. BMW has used design to drive innovation and stretch the boundaries of the existing brand.

Project: External collaboration
Client: Philips
Designer: Inhouse and various external designers
Year: To present day

On its website, Philips states: 'At Philips, design is far more than just creating good-looking products. Design at Philips is a key element in the innovation process and is applied throughout the Philips Group companies as a business method.' In other words, the company is innovative not only in terms of product design and development, but also in its business approach.

In recent years Philips has entered a number of cross-industry alliances to create new markets. In 2002 Philips announced a joint venture with Nike to develop products that would integrate technology to stimulate and enhance the athletic experience. A second joint venture was set up with the Italian furniture manufacturer and designer Giulio Cappellini to design, develop, manufacture and market an exclusive range of furniture featuring integrated home-entertainment appliances such as flat screens and DVD home-entertainment systems.

Building on its expertise in design and technology, Philips applies its design and innovation capability to creating entirely new markets. With increased convergence of previously separate industries, the ability to collaborate to allow companies to combine their strength is essential. Designers are likely to work at the interface between the collaborating organisations in such projects.

Project: iMac G4
Client: Apple
Designer: In house - Jonathan Ive
Year: 2003

After Apple's initial success with introducing the Mac in 1984, the company had become complacent. In the mid/late-1990s it became clear that something drastic had to happen if the company was to survive. Remembering its roots - user friendliness and imaginative design - Apple hired Jonathan Ive, a young British designer.

Ive turned the boring, uninspiring grey box that housed the average personal computer into the iMac, launched in 1998. With this example of the benefits of innovation and design, Apple continued to stretch the boundaries of computer design. In early 2003 the company launched its most innovative and imaginative computer yet. The iMac G4 features a 15" or 17" LCD screen and a hard drive that is hidden in the hemispherical base that supports the screen. Here design and innovation were used to revitalise a brand, give it back its credibility, and effectively save a company.

Project: Swatch Watches
Client: Swatch
Designer: Various
Year: Early 1980s to present day

Swatch is an example of what design combined with an innovative concept can achieve. The Swiss watch making industry was very weak in the early 1980s, faced with competition from Japanese digital watches. Swatch's revolutionary business concept reversed the decline by redefining the watch market. It transformed a watch from a time-measuring instrument into a fashion statement and a collector's item.

Nicholas G Hayek, the consultant who had been brought in to wind down the Swiss watch making industry had the idea of marrying Swiss watch making skills with Italian fashion design. To add to the mix he borrowed plastic-engineering skills from Lego to produce watches that were dramatically different from the feature-laden watches offered by the Japanese companies.

As a consequence, people started collecting these relatively cheap watches - choosing a different one, depending on their mood and the occasion. Design and innovation here not only led to the successful establishment of a new company, but to the turnaround for an entire industry.

Project: IDEO
Client: IDEO
Designer: In house
Year: To the present day

For the design and innovation consultancy IDEO, design and innovation are what they sell. They have worked on a diverse range of products, services, spaces and experiences: they have a human-focused methodology that has been used in projects ranging from the significant to the humble, in business as in social contexts. They designed the first ever laptop - the GRiD Compass, the PALM V as well as the patient experience with the Mayo Clinic and the Olivetti My_Way photoprinter.

What underlies the company's success is a strong culture that combines freedom with discipline, and that supports creativity and innovation at all levels. IDEO are pioneers unrestricted by conventions, constantly challenging what they do, and how they do it. They are broadening the responsibilities of designers by applying design thinking to the core issues affecting society as a whole.