TEI 047: Lessons from Design Thinking for Using Design in the FFE – with Giulia Calabretta, PhD.

Summary: I am doing another interview in my Design Thinking series and the topic of this episode is the impact of moving design principles into what is commonly called the Fuzzy Front End (FFE). I personally prefer the term Managed Front End, because, while it is fuzzy, full of unknowns and chaotic at times, it is also manageable. I spoke with Design and Design Thinking researcher and practitioner, Giulia Calabretta. She is an assistant professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. She contributed a chapter with a coauthor to the Design Thinking: New Product Development Essentials from the PDMA book titled, “Integrating Design into the Fuzzy Front End of the Innovation Process.”<br> Practices and Ideas for Product Managers, Developers, and Innovators<br> Summary of questions discussed:<br> <br> * What drew you into the field of design? Giulia’s background is in business and management and she has always been interested in innovation. She believes Designers have the best tools for helping companies with innovation. Designers are human centered and should be part of the innovation plans of companies. When they are, the innovations are much more successful.<br> * We need a common understanding of the FFE. How do you describe this early stage of product innovation? It is a messy moment in the innovation process. It begins when people in the company wish to do something new, recognizing a customer need or problem they can take action on to solve. This involves searching for opportunities, idea generation, and idea selection aligned with what is best for the company.<br> * What challenges exist in the FFE? Uncertainty is a key challenge. Companies don’t know exactly what course of action to take and if they will be successful with the course taken. To deal with the uncertainty, some companies will attempt to collect too much information and then have the challenge of knowing what to do with it. They may also involve numerous people throughout the organization in an effort to limit risk but this greatly complicates the decision-making process.<br> * What design practices help with problem definition? One way designers help is to broaden the perspective on innovation. They are good at reformulating specific objectives to consider the broader reasons behind them. An example is public transportation company 9292 in the Netherlands. They provide services to help people understand their best options for public transportation to get from one place to another. When Google maps became popular, 9292 found their service was being used less. They enlisted designers, asking them to create a new website to bring customers back. Instead, the designers asked the company what they really wanted to achieve and after a series of creative workshops (generative sessions) determined that the larger goal was creating deeper relationships with customers. After reformulating the problem, they determined that a new website was not the best solution. Instead, they created a series of personalized mobile services for smart phones, elevating 9292 to be the preferred public transportation planner in the Netherlands.<br> * How does design help us manage information in the FFE? In dealing with uncertainty in the FFE, an overwhelming amount of information can be collected while still not necessarily having the information actually needed. Designers have creative ways of doing user research as opposed to traditional market research to determine what customers really want and consider valuable. An example is Context Mapping, which is a visual journaling process consumers can do without a researcher present to map their behavior over a period of time. An example is applying Context Mapping to understand the relationships between a consumer’s shopping behavior and their eating behavior. The consumer takes pictures over the course of a few days of him or her cooking, eating, shopping, etc.