Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy?

Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

By Travis J. Brown It’s hard to argue that designers don’t provide a distinct
value as strategists. But the results of this paper speak to the
St ra te eg ic D es sig n
continued relevance of designers doing as well as thinking.
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es ig n S tra t eg y? ?
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38 DMI Vol.30, Issue 1 | DMI.ORG

 Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

Notes
1. T. L. Stone, “Understanding Design
Strategy,” HOW Magazine, March
2013, p. 2.

F
es ig n St ra te g y?
es ig n St ra te g y?
si gn S tr at eg y ? y
gn S tr a e y ?
?
g

or the past four years, I have been working with designers rather than business
teaching a course called “Design Strategy” at professionals on a project focused on strategic
St ra te g y?

Indiana University’s School of Informatics, considerations for their organization.

Computing, and Engineering. I developed that The reflections from the students proved
course—which was aimed at graduate design consistent with those of the clients, in that
ra te gy y?

students—based on the existing literature on the both groups concluded that designers provide a
g

subject of strategic design, and then reflecting distinct value as strategists relative to business
t

on students’ feedback on the course, revising professionals. That value, according to both the
te gy ?

the course based on that feedback, reflecting students and the clients, is that designers invest
on students’ reactions to those revisions, and the upfront time to develop an understanding
e

then bringing real-world clients into the class of those for which they are designing prior to
gy ?

with projects requiring a strategic analysis of endeavoring to design a solution, which I argue
t
r

their respective organization. As part of this speaks to the continued relevance of designers
reflection, I asked my students to consider the doing as well as thinking. The results also reinforce
?

distinction between strategic design and design the importance of designers emphasizing the
strategy. My objective in doing this, given that I return on investing in user research and developing
a

had not explicitly defined strategic design and user understanding, even when aspiring to attain
design strategy through the course, was to see strategic decision-making authority.
S

how fledgling professional designers would draw

a distinction between the two as well as how they Introduction
would interpret and make a case for the value of a Teaching a design strategy course proved to be an
professional designer as a strategist. interesting challenge largely because there really
t

I also challenged the students to develop a plan is no one definition of design strategy, but, as
n

for how they would go about positioning themselves Stone 2013 has said, “The goal is to merge business
as design strategists upon graduation, including and creative objectives in a meaningful way that
articulating the unique value that a designer could moves design beyond just an aesthetic exercise.”1
provide as a strategist, as well as how they would go In order to take a deep dive into the pedagogical
about delivering that value. In addition, I solicited considerations inherent in effectively teaching
feedback from the clients regarding their experience design strategy to fledgling professional design
DMI Vol.30, Issue 1 | DMI.ORG 39
i
Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists
Notes
2. P. Reason and H. Bradbury (Eds.),
Handbook of Action Research:
Participative Inquiry and Practice
(London: Sage Publications,
2001), p. 1.
3. M. Brydon-Miller, D. Greenwood,
and P. Maguire, “Why Action
Research?” Action Research, vol. 1,
no. 1 (2003), pp. 9-28.

Figure 1
This represents a process of
analyzing strategic decisions
that results in a “failed”
strategic design. Strategic
ss Design
cce
Su

Ideal Strategic
Design De-balancing

Fai
lu re

Strategic
Design

students, I chose to use action research, which is considering the marketing of their designs, my
“a participatory, democratic process concerned students had to manipulate the variables of product
with developing practical knowing in the pursuit design, price, public relations and distribution, all
of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a of which comprised their final design proposal.
participatory worldview […] It seeks to bring Although I have taught design thinking to
together action and reflection, theory and practice, business students and explored how it can inform
in participation with others, in the pursuit of teaching creativity, the fact that design thinking
practical solutions to issues of pressing concern has been widely accepted as a process worthy
to people, and more generally the flourishing of being learned certainly facilitated students’
of individual persons and their communities.”2 acceptance of the concept. Strategic design, on the
In addition, there has been a call for “adopting other hand, has not been widely accepted, and as
conscious pedagogies of action research.”3 It is with demonstrated through my interviews of strategic
this call in mind that I set out to develop my course. designers, has yet to achieve a generally accepted
definition. In response to the field’s general
Some reflections ambiguity and my own uncertainty regarding the
The risk of merging design with business distinction between design thinking, strategic
strategy is that students can equate business design, and design strategy, I decided that I
with profit maximization. In order to avoid such would develop a foundational understanding of
an association, I focused the course on goal the concepts with my students during my first
achievement in the context of the competitive semester of teaching the course by juxtaposing
landscape by applying SWOT analysis, strategic two of the seminal works in the practical and
analysis using the marketing 4P’s, and success educational spaces shared by design thinking,
metrics establishment using the Triple Bottom strategic design, and design strategy.
Line, which enabled the students to define success The two books I used were Hartmut Esslinger’s
metrics outside of profit-maximization. In A Fine Line: How Design Strategies are Shaping the
40 DMI Vol.30, Issue 1 | DMI.ORG
 Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

4. H. Esslinger, H., A Fine Line: How

Design Strategies are Shaping the
Future of Business (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2009), p. 19.
5. Roger Martin, The Design of
Business: Why Design Thinking is
the Next Competitive Advantage
(Boston: Harvard Business Press,
2009), p. 6.

Figure 2
This represents the process of
strategic-balancing a design
you had deemed ideal as a
designer—but which, as a Strategic
strategic designer, you realize
ess Design
requires strategic balancing to Succ
improve its chances for success.

Ideal Strategic
Design Balancing

Fai
lure

Strategic
Design

Future of Business and The Design of Business: Why and advertising strategy”; and I define design
Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage strategy as “the process of designing for the purpose
by Roger Martin (2009). Hartmut Esslinger is a of strategic analysis and formulation.”
world-famous designer who espouses the view Once I had established these definitions with
that “[d]esigners become masters of their own fate my students, I determined that I needed to draw
when they master the workings of business and a distinction between the design process and the
learn to appreciate the rational thinking, vision, strategic design process. Bringing in real-world
ethics, and creativity it takes to run a successful clients at the stage I was at in the development of
organization,”4 while Roger Martin is a renowned the course would have been premature, so I opted
business strategy scholar who suggests that “[t] to instead focus on case studies and created a set
he most successful businesses in the years to of figures to visualize the steps in the strategic
come will balance analytical mastery and intuitive design process. I developed the figures to convey
originality in a dynamic interplay that [he] call[s] the compromises which are typically required from
design thinking.”5 Although I had originally the time the design leaves the designer’s hands
imagined taking the entire semester to develop and is placed in the hands of the end user. Within
a consensus amongst my students regarding the an organization, this process involves a myriad of
definitions of and the relationships among design strategic decisions, many of which are based on
thinking, strategic design, and design strategy, I was the organization’s brand identity in the minds of
surprised to discover that my students adopted my its constituents, the organization’s competitive
presentation of the concepts—which, at the time, landscape, and the organization’s culture, history,
treated strategic design and design strategy as being and existing strategy. The “Ideal Design” in figures
one and the same. The definition I now use for 1 and 2 represents the design with its full nuance
strategic design is “a design process that includes as envisioned by the designer and true to the
business considerations such as competitive designer’s intent. “Strategic Balancing” represents
positioning, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, the strategic considerations (current strategy and
DMI Vol.30, Issue 1 | DMI.ORG 41
Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

Notes
6. J . Hamblin, J., “A Brewing 8. D. Holston, The Strategic Designer:
Problem,” The Atlantic, Tools & Techniques for Managing
March 2, 2015. the Design Process (Cincinnati,
OH: How Books, 2011), p. 5.
7. D. Smith, “Microsoft Zune
Discontinued (2006-2011),”
International Business
Times, Oct. 4, 2011.

competitive positioning) that need to be taken into poor strategic decisions being made in respect
account by a strategic designer when transitioning to how it was promoted as well as the product’s
the design to its final “Strategic Design” form. aesthetics, which I believe to be a direct reflection
The paths to “Success” or “Failure” are subjective of Microsoft’s attempt to mimic iPod’s design.
and determined by the success metrics defined Through this analysis, my objective was never
by the strategic designer, which may or may not to convince students that my proposed “successful”
include profit maximization. I represented the strategic design would have fared better in the
“failed” strategic design with a triangle over the market than the “failed” strategic design; instead,
“ideal design” cloud to symbolize a greater loss. In it was to demonstrate to the students that the
order to emphasize that more effective “Strategic “goodness” of a design, meaning that it reflects a
Balancing” can result in a successful strategic thoughtful design process which is considerate of the
design, I symbolized “success” with a circle over problem space as well as the users’ needs, does not
the Ideal Design cloud, which indicated keeping necessarily translate into the “success” of a design.
more of the designer’s intent. Forces external and internal to an organization play
As previously mentioned, I empowered my a significant role in determining success, and the
students to define success based on the impact “strategic balancing” process involves accounting
of the design in respect to a balance between the for those forces when designing—which is, in fact,
impact on people, profit, and the planet, which is part of strategic design. Although I only intended to
commonly referred to as the Triple Bottom Line. use the figures when teaching, the students reported
As an example, the Keurig® Coffee Maker has finding the figures particularly helpful when thinking
been quite successful in respect to its positive through the strategic design process, and I witnessed
generation of profit; yet, it has been significantly them not only recreating the figures in their
less successful considering its negative impact on assignments but also using the framework when
the planet due to the level of waste produced by its presenting their solutions.
disposable K-Cup® Pods.6 Therefore, in my class, The definitions I use for strategic design and
I enabled students to declare the Keurig® Coffee for design strategy actually suggest that my course
Maker a “failed” strategic design—in spite of its would be more appropriately titled “Strategic
commercial success. Design” rather than “Design Strategy.” I do not,
In order to illustrate the process that I used in however, present that distinction to the students
the class, I also used the example of Microsoft’s until the end of the semester to avoid imposing my
Zune digital media line of products. While the sense of the concepts on them and, in turn, biasing
failure of the Zune has been attributed to its their opinion. When revamping the course for
lackluster design,7 at least relative to the Apple the second year, I decided that it was appropriate,
iPod, I suggest that it was a “failed” strategic having determined that I was actually teaching a
design, which resulted in its failure in the market. strategic design course, to find a book which would
Although the design of the Zune resembled introduce students to more business strategy in
the design of the iPod, I asked my students to the context of design. The book that I discovered
consider why Microsoft, best known for its office and opted to use for this purpose was The Strategic
productivity software, would endeavor to produce Designer: Tools & Techniques for Managing the
a digital music player that resembled one being Design Process, by Dave Holston. Holston makes
produced by Apple, best known for its aesthetic the case that “[b]usiness tools, like competitive
sensibility and appeal to creative professionals. and situational analysis, help designers understand
In the case of the Zune, I consider a “successful” the business environment, allowing them to
strategic design to be one which is successful in develop design solutions that are strategic,”8
the market and true to Microsoft’s existing brand which is consistent with my understanding
identity, and I believe the Zune “failed” due to of strategic design as a marriage of design and
42 DMI Vol.30, Issue 1 | DMI.ORG
 Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

Although strategic designers could arguably provide as much,

if not more, value when practicing strategic design or design
thinking for business, without a theoretical approach to being
a strategist as a designer, there appears to be increasing pressure
on designers to distance themselves from design doing.

business tools, methods, and theories. The specific them attempting to complete a strategic analysis
methods I applied in the class were the SWOT through the use of design, as they interpreted
analysis, which required students to consider the that process. In order to determine whether I
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats could identify themes which would inform my
of the organization in question when strategically understanding of my students’ perspectives
balancing their strategic design, and the marketing regarding the relationship between strategic
4P’s, which required students to define the “failed” design and design strategy, as well as the role of
strategic design relative to their “successful” the designer as a strategist in general, I completed
strategic design in respect to pricing, promotion, a qualitative content analysis on my students’
placement, and product decisions made. reflections. Following are the themes which I
While I found this approach to teaching generated through my analysis:
strategic design effective, I became increasingly • There is a distinction between strategic design
convinced by the end of the semester that strategic and design strategy, in that one is about
design as a profession would be untenable for considering business goals when designing, and
strategic designers, given that the same methods the other is about applying design methods when
were being taught to design thinking business constructing strategy, as well as developing a
strategists. Although strategic designers could strategy for a design.
arguably provide as much, if not more, value when • The unique value that designers bring to an
practicing strategic design or design thinking organization relative to business professionals
for business, without a theoretical approach to is that they are broader thinkers, they are more
being a strategist as a designer, there appears to empathetic and user-centered, they are inclined
be increasing pressure on designers to distance to iterate their solutions, they are trained
themselves from design doing (i.e., being concerned problem-framers, and they are able to present
with aesthetic considerations, visual articulation, their solutions visually as prototypes.
and artifact creation). At the end of the second year • The essence of design is developing insightful
teaching my “Design Strategy” course, I challenged questions and visual solutions based on a deep
my students to distinguish strategic design and understanding of the problem space achieved
design strategy as well as to reflect on what a through user research.
designer would offer as a strategist that would be • A design strategy method relative to a business
unique relative to what a business strategist would strategy method should visualize data for easier
offer. The next section presents my analysis of my digestion and interpretation, be more qualitative,
students’ reflections. require iteration, be focused on user experience, and
be holistic in the consideration of all constituents.
Student reflections Following are the insights I gleaned through
The graduate design students in my class were this process:
beginning their second and final year of their • Students did come to draw a distinction between
studies, generally following an internship during the process of considering business objectives
which they were able to apply the design tools, and competitive constraints when designing and
methods, and theories they had learned during applying design-related methods for strategic
their first year in their graduate Human-Computer analysis and formulation; however, they varied
Interaction Design program. I challenged my in how they used the terms strategic design and
students to first use Porter Five Forces analysis to design strategy as they relate to those processes.
complete a strategic analysis of an industry of their • Some students came to define design strategy
choosing. I then asked them to translate at least solely as a strategy for a design, meaning the plan
one element of the Porter Five Forces model into a that a designer would follow in order to achieve
design strategy method/framework, which entailed her design goals.
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Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

• Students are able to articulate what what differences they witnessed when working with
distinguishes a professional designer from a designers relative to business professionals:
business professional, and the distinguishing • From a startup founder reflecting on students’
characteristics of a designer that they cite are proposals for the restructuring of his launch
empathy, visual articulation, user-centeredness, strategy: Yeah, I think there is a difference. It’s hard
iteration, broad thinking, and problem-framing. to quantify, I suppose, but business students do
• According to students, design strategy methods an outstanding job of thinking like a business and
should require the visual articulation of considering revenue and target market and market
data gathered and insights gleaned, as well strategy and rollout phases and all that. I think your
as be qualitative. students in particular did better than most design
While the design strategy methods my students I’ve talked to. […] [C]ircling back to my
students constructed ranged from placing a greater other point, it’s understanding what we could do. If
emphasis on the visualization of the data generated there is a list of ten things we could do to improve
through the application of the Porter Five Forces a piece of software or a design of something, what
method to more directly engaging members of the takes the least amount of effort and has the biggest
industry being analyzed using design thinking, return and how can we prioritize things around
none of them proposed that design could generate that, and that’s something your students could do
novel concepts, visually articulate them, and really well.
even prototype them for the purpose of keeping • From a UX researcher in established company
design doing at the core of design strategy. In all reflecting on students’ proposals for a new
cases, their projects reflected a strategic designer’s onboarding process: I think there were certainly
approach to their strategic analysis of their teams of yours which really did impress me
industry as a designer, and the majority of their with the way they thought through the user’s
arguments had at their core that the distinct value experience going through something. From what
that a designer as a strategist offers relative to that I know working with people that are more on
of a business professional is primarily that she the MBA side of things, that user concern might
is a designer. However, without design doing, the not be as much in the forefront when developing
professional designer has become a design thinker, products and thinking up solutions. I honestly
which would not be problematic if not for the fact can’t say for sure though. But working with your
that non-designers are being trained as design teams and having them present things, there were
thinkers. In my opinion, that is why design doing some teams that talked about push notifications
is so important for a designer, particularly when and the way they need to be used. There needs
aspiring to take on a more strategic role. to be information, have a call to action, and there
was just a lot of thought put into the way that
Reflections from project clients users react to different methodologies. It wasn’t
I had three project clients join my class—a startup just “Oh, we will send them a push notification
founder considering a restructuring of his launch because it’s on their phone.” No, it was, “Here’s
strategy, a UX researcher in an established company what you actually need to say and how you
planning a new onboarding process, and a university engage to convert a behavior,” so there was some
administrator contemplating the allocation of thoughtfulness on that front, I think.
resources to various initiatives being considered • From a university administrator reflecting
in his department. All of them had worked with on students’ proposals for the allocation of
business strategists prior to working with my resources to initiatives in his department: Well,
design students on their strategy projects. Following it’s not uniform, but both classes had multiple
are their reflections on their relative experiences groups tackling a challenge. I would say the
working with each group, specifically in respect to percentage of solutions of ideas that came from
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 Feature Strategic Design or Design Strategy? Effectively Positioning Designers as Strategists

Notes Travis J. Brown is the senior

9. Norman, D.A. (2005). Emotional 11. Ibid, p. 102. executive assistant dean at Indiana
design: Why we love (or hate) University’s School of Informatics,
12. Ibid, p. 96.
everyday things. Basic books., Computing & Engineering. He
epilogue. holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship
& Corporate Innovation as well as
10. Buxton, B. (2007). Sketching
a B.S. in Computer Information
user experiences: Getting the
Systems and a PhD in human-
design right and the right design.
computer interaction/design, all
Morgan Kaufmann, p. 95.
from Indiana University.

your class that are actually feasible and make our change at the grocery store makes us all
some sense within our context is actually much mathematicians. Of course there is a way that both
higher than in the business school. Students are true, but only in the most banal sense. Reducing
in business, I came in later in the semester, and things to such a level trivializes the hard-won and
they weren’t emailing me and asking questions, highly developed skills of the professional designer
and they weren’t emailing our staff and asking (and mathematician).” 10
questions to understand things, whereas some Buxton notes later in the book, “Or, more
of your groups really did that and you could see succinctly, “We are NOT all designers.”11 Of course,
it reflected in their final projects. this declaration begs the question: What makes a
designer a designer? Here to I concur with Buxton.
Summary He proposes, citing Henryk Gedenryd’s work in
Based on my experiences as an educator asked cognitive science, that, in addition to concept
to teach a course titled “Design Strategy” as well generation, “sketching is fundamental to the design
as the reflections of my students taking that process.”12 It is this ability to visually articulate
course, I have gained an appreciation for the value concepts as well as create artifacts based on those
of teaching both strategic design and design concepts while being considerate of aesthetics in
strategy, as I have defined them herein. While a manner which effectively serves a defined goal
there still is not consensus regarding how to teach that distinguishes designers from non-designers
strategic design, or practice it, for that matter, (i.e., design doing). Of course, in order to do that,
being able to select methods from business and designers need to be able to empathize in order to
design for the purpose of constructing strategic ascertain what they need to visually articulate for
design curriculum is relatively simple compared the purpose of addressing their intended audience
to doing the same for design strategy. The fact (i.e., design thinking).
that my students struggled to draw a distinction As reflected in the responses from the project
between strategic design and design strategy is clients with whom I worked through my course,
not surprising to me given that I did not arrive at empathy, both with the client as well as with the
my current theoretical approach to design strategy intended recipient of the designed solution, is
and my definitional distinction between strategic what sets the designer apart from the business
design and design strategy until I was teaching the professional as a strategist. While the doing
course for the second time. of design is frequently cited as being at risk of
What my research has suggested to me is commoditization, design doing grounded in an
that there is room for the development of tools, empathic understanding of the intended recipient
methods, and theories which would enable of the design continues to be the core value
designers to analyze and formulate strategy proposition of the designer, and, as demonstrated,
through design doing, which I think is best the design strategist.
captured through the visual articulation of
concepts, as suggested by Bill Buxton in his Acknowledgement
Sketching User Experiences, as well as the creation I would like to acknowledge the assistance of my research assistant
Zachary Chambers, without whose support I could not have
of artifacts. In response to Don Norman’s 2005 completed this study.
declaration that “[w]e’re all designers,”9 Buxton
responded with the following:
“I have the highest degree of respect for Don,
but in my opinion, this is nonsense! Yes, we all
choose colours for our walls, or the layout of the
furniture in our living rooms. But this no more
makes us all designers than our ability to count
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