Creativity Skills’ Post

The Win/Win Framework: A Product Designer's Strategic Guide to Stakeholder Success In product design, success is not just a matter of individual achievement but the result of collaborative endeavours. Drawing from Stephen Covey's '7 Habits of Highly Effective People', let's dissect the win/win framework and its practical application in fostering effective stakeholder relationships. 🔴 Lose/Lose: Avoid at All Costs When compromise is off the table, everyone stands to lose. An example? Two departments at odds, each blocking the other's proposals, leading to a stalled project and a subpar product. Resolution comes only through a shift toward mutual goals. 🟡 Lose/Win: Temporary Peace, Lasting Issues Sometimes, one party may stand down to keep the peace. Take the designer who accepts excessive revisions without pushback, leading to a diluted final product. It's critical to balance flexibility with advocacy for the product's integrity. 🔵 Win/Lose: One-Sided Victory A designer might bulldoze through to achieve their vision, ignoring stakeholder concerns. Short-term gain, perhaps, but at the expense of trust and future cooperation. The key is not to dominate but to integrate diverse insights. In the end, we ship products that may shine in isolation but fails to resonate with the user's needs. 🟢 Win/Win: The Gold Standard This is the goal: all parties feel heard and valued, and the end product shines for it. It's the designer who leverages user feedback to enhance functionality while meeting business objectives. Collaboration and respect are paramount. Win/Win or No Deal: The Bold Backup Sometimes, if win/win isn't feasible, stepping back is strategic. This isn't giving up—it's about reassessing to find a path that everyone can agree on. It's having the confidence to know when to pause and pivot. How have you applied the win/win principle in your work? Share your stories of negotiation and partnership that have led to product and personal victories. #ProductDesign #Collaboration #WinWin #StakeholderSuccess #StephenCovey

From the first sketch to the final product, our design process is a meticulous path of creation, iteration, and refinement. The result? Products that define markets. #designjourney #productcreation #marketleaders

What is "Design Thinking" and why should you incorporate it in your program strategy? ✅ Design Thinking is a human-centered approach that integrates the needs of people along with requirements for program success. ✅ It's a proven framework that walks you through the key stages of problem-solving (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test). ✅ It let's you see creative solutions to the problems you care about the most. ✅ It transforms the way you develop and deliver programs, services, and products. How have you used Design Thinking? What was your experience? #humancentered #designthinking #workshop

Embarking on a new project? 🚀 Embrace the power of concept design. It's your strategic tool to explore and test ideas with minimal risk. 🧩 Concept design acts as a creative sandbox, where you can experiment, refine, and validate concepts before diving into full-scale production. This approach not only boosts confidence but also ensures a more streamlined and cost-effective development process. Let's start with confidence and innovate smartly. 💡 Interested in tailoring this strategy for your company? Let’s connect and I’ll walk you through the potential it holds for your specific needs. #ConceptDesign #InnovationStrategy #RiskManagement

What is "Design Thinking" and why should you incorporate it in your program strategy? ✅ Design Thinking is a human-centered approach that integrates the needs of people along with requirements for program success. ✅ It's a proven framework that walks you through the key stages of problem-solving (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test). ✅ It let's you see creative solutions to the problems you care about the most. ✅ It transforms the way you develop and deliver programs, services, and products. How have you used Design Thinking? What was your experience? #humancentered #designthinking #workshop

#4 can be difficult yet fruitful. Alternate Worlds is a great activity to get you there! #industrialdesign #creativeproblemsolving #productdevelopment #productinnovation #productmanagement #productdesign https://lnkd.in/g2b5T9hS

🔶 As we near the end of the year, I offer a moment of thanks and reflection. This year, the Design Thinking for All newsletter/substack came to life in its current version. It is a newsletter that spreads the mindsets, tools, and ideas of design thinking and design strategy. Free subscriptions allow the message to spread farther and faster, without discriminating on one’s ability to pay. Paid subscriptions allow us to continue to do this work, valuing the time it takes to research, practice, and write, and to find new and insightful voices to amplify on the platform. I want to thank many of the insights and voices we shared this year, specifically: 〰 Andrew Lebowitz, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Spicebox. Spicebox is a legal innovation consultancy helping law firms and legal professionals develop the skills and tools they need to enhance their creative and strategic capabilities. (Return from Innovation Vacation) 〰 Jason Dehler, innovator, leader, and Vice President at Stronger U Nutrition (Design Thinking - Unwrapped) 〰 Mike Anderson, consultant, entrepreneur, strategist, and co-founder of Upstream Consulting. Upstream Consulting specializes in general management and customer experience consulting, with an emphasis on small and medium-sized businesses in the Richmond, VA, area. They leverage their unique and varied skills to help you solve your most important business problems. (Business Model Magic) 〰 Joe Williams, a Design and Experience leader focused on understanding people problems, fostering partnerships, and delivering cross-channel solutions that make a real difference to consumers. Previously, Joe led the Enterprise Design organization for UnitedHealth Group and helped foster a consumer-centered vision for enterprise healthcare. Recently, Joe founded Lamppost, a solutions company helping drive Design and Transformation for companies of all sizes and domains. (Collaboration) 〰 Mark Hines, the founder of Gray Cardigan, a company that helps studios, agencies, and consultancies solve problems that limit margin and growth. They help their clients design sustainable businesses with cultures that embrace growth. (The (Human-Centered) Growth Imperative) 🔅 I also want to thank all of you. I am grateful for your support, engagement, and amplification. Together, we can spread the message far and wide, making life better for all. If you'd like to get involved in Design Thinking for All or would like to support our efforts at Northome Group, here are some opportunities: - If you are interested in sharing your expertise or point of view in 2024, send us a note at [email protected], and we’ll connect! - You can share this or any posts directly or on Linkedin. Every share allows insights to reach more people - Refer your friends through our referral program! Share more, receive more. - Become a paid subscriber. $8/month or $80/year https://lnkd.in/gC3Y67ts

What's the difference between the Project and Product outcome models? If you work in this space, the conversation between projects and products is vast, with no right or wrong answers. When focusing on the product model, the attention shifts to outcomes-based to provide real value promptly, or as the article calls it, "time-to-money." In the technical world we live in today, speed matters, and outcomes matter. We must find a way to shift the focus from doing x, y, and z to delivering real value in a tangible product for our clients. What do you think? Let me know in the comment below or send me a direct message if you want to chat more about how we design and deliver products at Barrington. http://ow.ly/7O9f104UfUc

Up until today, I considered one of the key distinguishing features between a product and a project, in my opinion, to be that a project is time-limited, while a product has virtually no time constraints. Today, I came across an interesting idea from a video dedicated to defining the cost of design. This made me realize another important aspect: in a project, you pay for resources and time, whereas in a product, you pay for value. The latter is generally evaluated more highly. Although I had heard about the Time&Material model in project-based companies before, today this idea particularly resonated with me, emphasizing the difference between the two approaches in business. Perhaps another intriguing thought is that a product, unlike a project, helps reduce risks immediately after the deal is concluded.