Strategic Design Project 1:

Design Thinking + Business Strategy Review

Semester 2 2020, Swinburne University of Technology

This project is worth 25% of the Unit Assessment

Introduction

“Design Thinking” is being increasingly adopted by organisations of all types as a “magic bullet” for the development of business strategy, driving product and service innovation, and for solving their complex or “wicked” problems.

The current context for design thinking is quite phenomenal, almost a form of social movement: design thinking is being adopted by many different organisations from business to government to social enterprise. Design companies offering design thinking-based services are being taken over by global management consulting companies: McKinsey, Boston Consulting, Ernst + Young. Other global management consultants, such as Deloitte, have set up their own design-thinking consulting capacity within their organisations.

Is this just another management fad, or is design thinking a worthy set of conceptual tools for working on wicked problems? Can design thinking deliver what its proponents say it does? Can it really enable change agents to effectively practice in complex contexts and contested space? Is there anything missing from its conceptual frameworks?

To respond to these types of questions, in this Project you will investigate the contemporary applications of Design Thinking in organisational and community development strategy and provide an evidence-based critique of this movement, particularly where the application of design thinking methods is problematic.

This project is meant as a “desktop” research exercise based on case study literature and on-line sources. You will need to go beyond the design literature and search literature from the fields of management, organisational development, strategic planning, human resources, community development, entrepreneurship, innovation and related areas.

Project Scope

You are required to produce a detailed 2000-word, professionally presented report investigating contemporary applications of design thinking to business strategy development and complex problem-solving in organisations.

Your report should:

• Select a case study investigation of the application of design thinking in organisations or communities of any
• Develop a critique of design thinking based on the models you investigate plus the application of design thinking to your case study
• Include a “Gap Analysis” to identify if there is anything missing from the models and case study that may have resulted in better
• Critique and gap analysis should consider the questions as mentioned in the introduction:
• Is this just another management fad, or is design thinking a worthy set of conceptual tools for working on wicked problems?
• Can design thinking deliver what its proponents say it does?
• Can it really enable change agents to effectively practice in complex contexts and contested space?
• Is there anything missing from its conceptual frameworks?
• Based on the Case Study, propose ways to improve design-thinking models to deliver better

You should draw on some of the more recent critical writing on design thinking to assist with your critique and access literature from a variety of disciplines as mentioned in the Introduction above. Avoid using non-critical literature. Please bring your case study proposals to Studio sessions for discussion, and to ensure everyone is doing different case studies.

You will also be required to give a 5-minute presentation of your explorations and analysis in Week 5.

Deliverables: Due Week 4 – midnight Sunday Aug 30 via Canvas

• Report: minimum 2000 words across summary, introduction main body and conclusions and recommendations. A4 PDF format, no zipped files. Submit to Canvas by midnight Sunday Week 4, 30
• Presentation: 5-minute visual presentation during Week 5 studio. Submit PDF copy of the presentation with the report to Canvas. No zipped files. Submit with your report by midnight Sunday Week 4, 30

Format

Reports are a standard communication tool for professionals in most industries. In particular, they are a common format for communication in design and consulting. A document presented in report format has the following features:

• Cover page
• Contents page with page numbers
• Summary page: keep to 1 page if possible, two at most (sometimes called executive summary) which summarises the introduction, main work, conclusions and recommendations and references to information in the appendices)
• Introduction: this introduces the main scope of the report
• Main Body of the Report: with its own descriptive title and sub-sections titled as appropriate; dot points are acceptable in report writing. You determine the headings (and their hierarchy) based on the project scope and the material you are using. For this project your analysis and critiques should be included in the main body of the
• Conclusions and Recommendations: sum up your conclusions based on comments you have made in the main body. If you have any recommendations for how to improve design thinking processes based on your analysis and conclusions, you should include them in this
• Appendices: any supporting information should be included here.
• References: can be one of the Appendices – in
• Footer: document title, who for, author, date and page number in the footer of each page except cover

Assessment

Assessment is based on the Unit Assessment Rubric, which will be posted separately.

You will receive detailed Feedback sheets via the Grades tab on Canvas within 2 weeks of submission. Where appropriate, your PDF files may be marked up with comments. For this reason, do not submit compressed or zip files.

Note that late submissions will be subject to penalties as described in the Unit Outline. If a late penalty is applied, you will see your raw grade and your grade after the penalty has been applied.

Any requests for extensions should be notified to me in advance and are subject to negotiation.

To pass this Unit:

• Attempt and submit all deliverables with required content in the required format as described in this project
• Demonstrate you have achieved the identified Learning Outcomes as identified in the Unit Outline
• Submit work to Canvas on time to avoid late penalties
• Deliver required presentations in Studio as required
• Ensure you deliver in the format required

In addition to the above, to do well in this Unit:

• Attend lectures and studios to maximise your contact with teaching staff and peer learning
• Actively participate in online studios
• Read the resources provided as well as items on the reading list
• Research at depth to support your strategic design direction

During the semester, always check against this Project Brief and the Assessment Rubric and make sure you understand what is needed. If you are not sure, ask me.

Dr Matthew Parnell Unit Convenor