Design alone doesn't cut it...

In the recent months we have done plenty of work with clients in the financial services industry - mainly around the design mindset and design thinking initiatives.

What a powerful tool it is to:

• discover unmet needs,
• come up with multiple ideas,
• iterate,
• produce concepts & prototypes
• and then put them into the hands of prospect clients to continue learning

in a very short time.

Before I start talking about the key point of this short post, let me set the scene:

Quite commonly (as an introduction to the design mindset) we run a 90minute session that gets the core features of design thinking across to participants. It's fun and we conclude with everyone sharing their prototype work with the group of attendees.

Often I would buy materials for the prototyping ahead of the event (original list inspired by d.school): foam sheets, felt, transparency film, construction paper, card stock, foil and saran wrap, pipe cleaners, twist ties, popsicle sticks, straws, balsa wood, tape, glue sticks, staplers and staples, rubber bands, binder clips, pens and pencils, sharpies, scissors, rulers.

Sometimes I do not get the full list of items for the exercise. Sometimes I add different materials that are handy (chopsticks for example... I live in Asia after all). Now here's what I recently realized:

The type of materials influence the quality of the prototype!

Sounds obvious but we still might be able to learn from this insight. Of course these prototypes are of very low fidelity. But still: Design alone does not cut it.

To create a real meaningful Innovation we need design AND the right materials or technology.

One prominent example in the history of Innovation is South West airlines that successfully re-designed the flying experience (low cost airline model). Their business only became a real success when they added the turbo boosting technology. In their case it was the Boeing 737s plane that allowed them to standardize and reap benefits of this technology.

There is also academic research about this topic by Verganti, published in 2008. Have a look if you want to dig a little deeper.

The key diagram that shows that the combination of design and technology creates the most meaningful Innovations is this one:

What does this mean in today's Financial Services environment where we can see Innovation labs singing the design thinking gospel?

Design is not enough and while we want to stay away from "solutioning" too early we have to understand and make use of new technologies as they become available to us.

It is the variety of technologies that makes a difference. So let's not only think about mobile apps, blockchain, big data - there is so much more.

A good publication to keep abreast of latest developments and what is there to come is produced by the Citi Research team in their annual publication "Disruptive Innovation". Please have a look if you want to create a full list of possible turbo boosters for your design projects... regularly...

I have thought about this topic for a while now but it was not until I sat down with Mr. Chopra at Visa Labs in Singapore today when I was able to articulate it properly - so thanks for that Akshay!