Design Thinking – falling short of the mark?

After brands like Apple and Tesla brought the strategic added value of design into focus in the business world, top managers’ understanding of the fact that design serves a greater purpose than simply "making things pretty" grew.  Out of that emerged a hype around design thinking as an innovation method – one which subsequently disappointed. This is because many of the ideas developed in design thinking workshops end up in the drawers of design or innovation departments; the path from innovative idea to market-ready product is often too long and too rocky. Viewing design as a tool that can be used in the short term and put back into the method box at any time is simply not enough.

Design as a way of working, thinking and living

Only design-oriented leadership that radiates from the design department outward into the company can unleash the added value of design. Its goal must be to embed design as a way of working, thinking and living and as the basis for creative, agile collaboration in the company.

Design leadership implies that CEOs, board members and other influential stakeholders in the company also systematically address the transformation of technology and society. Only from this understanding can innovative application possibilities and growth opportunities be developed.

Design’s added value, reflected in the organization

But how does a corporation the size of Deutsche Telekom manage not only to think in terms of technology and infrastructure, but to also establish design principles throughout the entire company? In order to lay the foundation for successful innovation development as Head of Design, my first task was to consolidate the strategic importance of the design department within the corporation. To do this, the department needed a strong line of argument: What constitutes the added value of design? And how can all aspects be made visible and understandable to the entire company? With this question in mind, the work of the design department was organized anew, creating teams that were dedicated to a significant function that added design value.

In the Design for Differentiation area, we worked on questions aimed at strengthening the Telekom brand through an outstanding user experience and highlighting its unique selling points. Always in focus: the trusting, committed relationship with the customer.

The goal of the Design for Consistence unit was to provide coherent, unified and naturally networked design solutions through systemic design thinking. For a telecommunications provider in particular, a holistic, interdisciplinary management approach is required to optimally coordinate the complex processes of infrastructure and technology and provide a convenient customer experience. As an advocate for users, Telekom's design department took on a key role. The department made design guidelines and assets available Group-wide from an early stage via an experience toolbox in order to ensure a seamless customer experience.

The Design for Innovation area dealt with the design of the future, exploring a thoroughly digitized everyday life. At the heart of the innovation work was the Telekom Design Gallery, which brought visions to life. Located in the Executive Wing, it employed use cases and prototypes to explore the possibilities of a future in which everyday life is digitized. The platform encouraged exchange between designers and other Telekom departments, scientists and universities, partners and customers, thus anchoring strategic design within the Group. Closely interlinked with the operational technology and design work, the innovation work helped visionary concepts for the future become market-ready.

From Design Doing to Design Thinking

Initially tasked with designing products and services, Deutsche Telekom's design department later took on the strategic development future experiences at every touchpoint between customers and the company. The in-house design team, which was around 180 people strong in 2015, grew to become one of the largest design departments within any German company. In 2018, over 100 permanent designers worked together with a network of freelancers, national and international design agencies. With great enthusiasm, the team developed a holistic design language, shaped numerous products and services and implemented a consistent customer experience across a diverse product landscape. Our work, which alternated between visionary strategic planning and precise design implementation, gave rise to the mission statement later adopted by the company: Design Doing. Thinking. Being.

Empathy – A prerequisite for customer-centricity

Between 2016 and 2018, customer-centricity became the central task of the Telekom design department. As a user advocate, it introduced the Telekom Customer Lab, which focused on intensive dialogue with customers. Since 2016, the demographic and everyday characteristics of various types of people have been systematically collected here and are assigned to archetypal "personas," which represent different consumer groups.

This systematic customer segmentation crystallizes the needs and expectations of different target groups. Focus groups were invited to the customer lab to evaluate new product ideas and prototypes and to integrate unfiltered, direct customer feedback into the design and development process.

Design leadership means actively shaping the digital transformation in companies – from work culture and processes to brand, product and corporate vision. Insights into my work as Head of Design at Deutsche Telekom.

In an increasingly complex, hyper-connected world, people are longing for guidance and solutions to simplify their lives. By focusing on human needs, design can make a significant contribution to the digital transformation. It increases the benefits of products and services for customers, makes information more precise, makes brands more distinctive and likeable and ensures innovative strength in work cultures and corporate processes. In this way, design adds a measurable contribution to the value creation of companies.

Design Thinking – falling short of the mark?

After brands like Apple and Tesla brought the strategic added value of design into focus in the business world, top managers’ understanding of the fact that design serves a greater purpose than simply "making things pretty" grew.  Out of that emerged a hype around design thinking as an innovation method – one which subsequently disappointed. This is because many of the ideas developed in design thinking workshops end up in the drawers of design or innovation departments; the path from innovative idea to market-ready product is often too long and too rocky. Viewing design as a tool that can be used in the short term and put back into the method box at any time is simply not enough.

Design as a way of working, thinking and living

Only design-oriented leadership that radiates from the design department outward into the company can unleash the added value of design. Its goal must be to embed design as a way of working, thinking and living and as the basis for creative, agile collaboration in the company.

Design leadership implies that CEOs, board members and other influential stakeholders in the company also systematically address the transformation of technology and society. Only from this understanding can innovative application possibilities and growth opportunities be developed.

Design’s added value, reflected in the organization

But how does a corporation the size of Deutsche Telekom manage not only to think in terms of technology and infrastructure, but to also establish design principles throughout the entire company? In order to lay the foundation for successful innovation development as Head of Design, my first task was to consolidate the strategic importance of the design department within the corporation. To do this, the department needed a strong line of argument: What constitutes the added value of design? And how can all aspects be made visible and understandable to the entire company? With this question in mind, the work of the design department was organized anew, creating teams that were dedicated to a significant function that added design value.

In the Design for Differentiation area, we worked on questions aimed at strengthening the Telekom brand through an outstanding user experience and highlighting its unique selling points. Always in focus: the trusting, committed relationship with the customer.

The goal of the Design for Consistence unit was to provide coherent, unified and naturally networked design solutions through systemic design thinking. For a telecommunications provider in particular, a holistic, interdisciplinary management approach is required to optimally coordinate the complex processes of infrastructure and technology and provide a convenient customer experience. As an advocate for users, Telekom's design department took on a key role. The department made design guidelines and assets available Group-wide from an early stage via an experience toolbox in order to ensure a seamless customer experience.

The Design for Innovation area dealt with the design of the future, exploring a thoroughly digitized everyday life. At the heart of the innovation work was the Telekom Design Gallery, which brought visions to life. Located in the Executive Wing, it employed use cases and prototypes to explore the possibilities of a future in which everyday life is digitized. The platform encouraged exchange between designers and other Telekom departments, scientists and universities, partners and customers, thus anchoring strategic design within the Group. Closely interlinked with the operational technology and design work, the innovation work helped visionary concepts for the future become market-ready.

From Design Doing to Design Thinking

Initially tasked with designing products and services, Deutsche Telekom's design department later took on the strategic development future experiences at every touchpoint between customers and the company. The in-house design team, which was around 180 people strong in 2015, grew to become one of the largest design departments within any German company. In 2018, over 100 permanent designers worked together with a network of freelancers, national and international design agencies. With great enthusiasm, the team developed a holistic design language, shaped numerous products and services and implemented a consistent customer experience across a diverse product landscape. Our work, which alternated between visionary strategic planning and precise design implementation, gave rise to the mission statement later adopted by the company: Design Doing. Thinking. Being.

Empathy – A prerequisite for customer-centricity

Between 2016 and 2018, customer-centricity became the central task of the Telekom design department. As a user advocate, it introduced the Telekom Customer Lab, which focused on intensive dialogue with customers. Since 2016, the demographic and everyday characteristics of various types of people have been systematically collected here and are assigned to archetypal "personas," which represent different consumer groups.

This systematic customer segmentation crystallizes the needs and expectations of different target groups. Focus groups were invited to the customer lab to evaluate new product ideas and prototypes and to integrate unfiltered, direct customer feedback into the design and development process.

AWARDS

LEARNINGS

From Design Thinking to Design Being

Design is not just aesthetics – nor is it a purely intellectual task. To make this specific positioning a reality throughout the company, transdisciplinary, cross-departmental collaboration is required. To enable such a working culture, Telekom's design department developed a strategic framework for the entire organization that consisted of methods, tools and approaches for design thinking. A newly created Design Academy spread design knowledge and thinking throughout the Group.

In this way, a completely new dynamic took hold at Deutsche Telekom, from which the Group profited in the long term. Design became a critical factor for success, as it drove innovation within the company and strengthened the brand. Unlike any classic management consultancy, design leadership brings the empirical tools and creative imagination to realistically sketch the question of how we will live in the future.