Internal Project - Establishing design methodology
Role & Responsibilities
• Role: Key project driver
• Drive and shape the design methodology at our agency: ARK Innovation Consulting.
Project Background & Result
Every consulting agency has their own flavor of the design methodology, although similar in their ideals and process, ultimately it is up to the design practitioners to determine the how, what and why. I had learned and practiced the many facets of design during my professional tenure, of which I’ve filtered and refined into the key driver of ARK’s core design methodology that is applied to the culture, people, and work. The 3 building blocks I am including in my design methodology are:
Mindset - the mindset of being a consultant, from junior to senior.
Process - the general guideline of a project cycle, how to adapt to different industries and project types.
Technique - the specific techniques to use from phase to phase, how to choose from the pool and why.
Here’s a look at the draft structure:
In this manual, I built a book-like structure covering the 3 areas mentioned above, each area includes a series of related topic, seeking to answer the burning questions everyone needs answers to, such as “How do I even begin to form business strategy when I am just a recent graduate?” or “What does NEW RETAIL even mean anyway?”, the goal is to provide thoughts and guidance from experienced designers who had been through the same puzzling phase, and give practical pointers for the audience to take action right away. The format is highly concise by design, so as to make sure everyone gets the message in an effective, light-hearted way, and be inspired to practice independent thinking, one chapter at a time.
This manual is also a proud collaborative work, after the fundamental building pillars is finished, a suitable designer will be chosen based on their strengths and abilities to own the corresponding topic. Topic owners are free to research and do a write-up to answer the key question, provide academic materials or case studies as supporting evidence. Once the manual is in shape, an internal sharing plan can be arranged, content release will be followed by a discussion forum.
Aside from the above internal facing methodology, I created an external facing methodology together with our CEO, the goal is to elaborate the innovation process and important thinking behind it. There are 3 key steps:
Define growth opportunity - based on brand and realistic market needs to define a clear opportunity area, as well as the main goal of collaboration.
Provide the most effective solution- think outside AND inside of the box for solution, specify the criteria for determining how is the solution effective.
Convert solution into execution - create feasible working plans and detail design to be followed and executed.
Another attempt to capture the design process is depicted below, note that variation may apply for different project types (research-oriented, design-oriented, specific industries):
Work done @ ARK Innovation Consulting / 2018-2019