Maximize Your Innovation with Design Thinking
Don’t just design a great product, design a great innovation business.
Whenever I work with a client that looks at design as a singular function for packaging, I bring up IKEA to exemplify the far-reaching magnitude of great design thinking and how it can dramatically change a business to set it apart from competition.
It’s easy to see IKEA as nothing more than a hip retailer with cheap chic furniture that are admittedly well designed to maximize space with a simple, clean look. But that would really be scrapping the surface.
IKEA designers go way beyond the esthetics of the furniture. They design every detail of the supply chain:
- Which raw materials to use for sustainability, esthetics, durability, ease of conversion, stable supply availability
- How to keep products simple for plants and co-manufacturers to develop and put together
- How to maximize the efficiency of the logistics of goods to reduce energy usage while still delivering products without damages
- Developing components that are interchangeable into a myriad of products, simplifying manufacturing and reducing costs
From the get-go, the key brand pillars of simple design, sustainability and ease of use are built into the products they design, rather than optimized over decades like many businesses.
Beyond this, IKEA takes design thinking to the next level by designing the consumer experience. Every piece of IKEA furniture is easy to put together with few components, requiring only one person and in most cases, no special tools are required (other than what they provide). And by inspiring consumers with the immense possibilities of their furniture and involving them in the making of the product (building at home), IKEA brilliantly coalesces a brand experience like no other and ensures brand evangelists that promote its brand at every opportunity.
That’s the impact of great design thinking. So don’t just design a great product, design a great innovation business.
Not sure how to begin? Contact me so I can help you take your business from nicely packaged to well designed!