Design thinking

How physical space can reduce pain, lower costs, and save lives.

Graphics aren’t just an alternative to representation in words.

There are still open questions, but the research can provide some answers about what works.

How to get the most value from the investment.

Courtesy of my dear friend Peer Munck (Founder of MunckMix, a music distributor), I just had my first ride in a Tesla Roadster, the $129,000 electric sports car. It blew me away, because I was reminded what can happen when innovators lovingly create something that has design integrity — by which I mean the solution […]

The most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […]

Rules of thumb.

Innovators always want their offspring to be faster, better, and/or cheaper. Successful innovators constantly push novelty to create new value. But the innovators who reap the most rewarding results understand the importance of asking: What does this innovation want you to become? Facebook wants you to become someone who attracts, wins, and manages a social […]

When it comes to making visualizations, time really is on your side.

Drivers can't have too much or too little faith in self-driving cars.

How a rough little visualization won me over.

Consensus is often the enemy of innovation.

If you have a genius in your organization, get out of the way.

Most corporate buildings don’t do a good job of supporting collaboration, brainstorming, and innovative work methods. They tend to be dominated by cubicles or offices which are suited for individual work, or by hard-to-book conference rooms that teams can use but only for short periods of time. What’s needed is a more flexible space that […]

Trevor Ray Hart Marc Newson studied jewelry making in his native Australia but went on to design products for some of the biggest companies in the world. Think Qantas A380 interiors, Riva boats, and Dom Pérignon bottles. A committed nomad, he’s now working part-time at Apple, where his friend Jony Ive will be his boss. […]

Don’t settle for just making your product better. Let your customers make it great.

If they’re to do their job most effectively, designers should be brought into the innovation process at the very earliest stages. Too many companies still make the mistake of keeping business strategy and design activities separate. Typically, marketers conceptualize a new product based on company strategy; the project team gets input from various areas of […]

A history of the user icons on our phones and computers

How the spin we’re accustomed to in the verbal rhetoric of politicians is being mirrored in the visual realm.

Ever get looped into an e-mail thread on the fifth round and tried to figure out which part you’re supposed to read? All you see is a tangle of text chunks indented with strange characters and punctuated with outdated header information and worthless “Thanks!” replies. Whether you know it or not, when you compose an […]

Are you solving the right problems? Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem...

The case describes IDEO, one of the world's leading design firms, and its human-centered innovation culture and processes. It is an example of what managers...

Does your organization support creativity--or squash it? If you read nothing else on cultivating creativity at work, read these 10 articles. We've combed...

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

This abridged case, the third in a series that begins with "Design Thinking in Action (A): South Western Railway" (UVA-S-0377), describes two waves of...

The biggest technology and management ideas of the year, all in one place. This collection of the top ideas, insights, and best practices from the past...

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

Set yourself up for a successful transition. Retirement is perhaps the greatest and most deeply personal career transition you'll ever make. Will you...

In innovation, experimentation is much talked about in the abstract, but poorly understood in practice. It bridges solution generation and implementation,...

This technical note is part of a course module that focuses on teaching design-thinking skills and 10 tools to identify and implement innovation and growth...

Greenturn Idea Factory (GIF) was a start-up based in Kerala, India, that manufactured and marketed green energy products. Greeniee, a wireless device...

GasBuddy is a 15-year-old mobile app-led company, providing gas station and pricing information to drivers and selling ads to fuel stations and convenience...

Supplement to case SM250B. The SAP Design Thinking case follows the path of Sam Yen, Chief Design Officer at SAP, on his quest to infuse design thinking...

Patagonia has set a goal of eliminating all textile waste by 2025. As a leader in the sustainable apparel industry, this includes not only the cut-and-sew...

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

The sales of various drug products for AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical company, have been greatly impacted by the volume-based procurement...

The case explores the possible acquisition by McKinsey &Company of design company LUNAR in response to the new directions management consulting is taking....

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

In May 2019, the founder of SaladStop!, a Singapore-headquartered healthy salad chain with locations across Asia, was looking for innovative ways to improve...

How physical space can reduce pain, lower costs, and save lives.

Graphics aren’t just an alternative to representation in words.

There are still open questions, but the research can provide some answers about what works.

How to get the most value from the investment.

When most people think of the word, 'creativity', their mind immediately leaps to artistic endeavours like sculpture, drawing or music. You may believe...

Courtesy of my dear friend Peer Munck (Founder of MunckMix, a music distributor), I just had my first ride in a Tesla Roadster, the $129,000 electric sports car. It blew me away, because I was reminded what can happen when innovators lovingly create something that has design integrity — by which I mean the solution […]

Are you solving the right problems? Have you or your colleagues ever worked hard on something, only to find out you were focusing on the wrong problem...

The most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […]

Rules of thumb.

Innovators always want their offspring to be faster, better, and/or cheaper. Successful innovators constantly push novelty to create new value. But the innovators who reap the most rewarding results understand the importance of asking: What does this innovation want you to become? Facebook wants you to become someone who attracts, wins, and manages a social […]