Can Design Thinking clear the fog?

Design. It's a minefield.

We all know what it is - or do we?

We all know that successful businesses talk about it.

And so we all understand that it can bring benefits.

But commissioning any design very often feels like stepping into a thick fog with no clear idea of where we are going or how we will get there and with just a trail of our own ￡10 notes to guide us.

The design industry often doesn't do enough to dispel this fog, preferring to hide in phrases such as 'we know best', 'trust me, it will be brilliant', 'you can't rush creativity' and 'we overran a bit so there's some additional cost'.

But perhaps we as businesses don't help ourselves by being less than crystal clear about the outcomes that we hope for from any design we commission, our own preferences and experiences, and the financial and practical constraints we are under.

Maybe it's time for a wind of change to remove this fog and create better, more collaborative partnerships between ourselves and the designers we use.

At FdK, after many years of following the design consultancy mantra that every project we look at is unique and so each will have its own creative challenges and therefore time required and cost estimated, we have decided to employ some Design Thinking and put ourselves in the shoes of our current and potential customers.

And they are a bit uncomfortable.

From the viewpoint of the SME clients we have and those we would love to work for we, we can look a bit scary. Creative yes, but will we guarantee to produce something that they like, what will the final cost be, and exactly what will they get for that?

This is not just about getting the cheapest solution - clients know that there are plenty of online pitching sites where they can get something produced cheaply (notice I didn't say designed!) but they want to work with a real, live person and preferably someone local - they just want some reassurance that we are not going to spend time and their money on something that they don't like.

We took the shoes off and looked a bit more closely at what we do.

Our conclusion was that although most things we are asked to do are individual, the process that we go though and the deliverables are often very similar. So perhaps we could follow an E-myth template and create packaged offerings that contain all of the good stuff that we do, but with clearly defined stages and deliverables at a fixed cost?

And maybe we could provide a 'Satisfaction Guarantee' to ensure that we are asking the right questions at the outset and delivering design solutions that the client is delighted with?

We are working on what this might look like, but would really welcome any thoughts from you all - is this a good idea or are we just setting off into the fog with the wrong shoes on?