On my first day of college, my Tutor asks me what is Design Innovation? I think to myself, ‘hey what do you know, I never ever thought about it. I don’t think I know the exact words in which I can describe it.’
Come to think of it, I feel that I have always tried to achieve it in my work. When I see a problem, I try to solve it. Its just the way I’m wired. You give me a piece of puzzle and I will not sit idle until I’ve finished solving it. I may not be good with solving some kind of problems, but I will definitely go out of that item’s domain to find a solution for it. Some times I have to use what we call in Hindi ‘Jugaard’ or ‘Joogaad’. It means a make-shift solution.
Once my sister asked me to solve her Rubik’s cube. She was 9 years old at that time. I struggled with it for quite some time and could only get one colour cubes to align on one side. So, now was the time for creative thinking. “If only I could take our all the cubes out and re-attach them to the correct spaces.” That was Eureka! The problem itself presents a solution. Why not? That day my sister got a ‘solved’ Rubik’s Cube so she could scramble it again.
So, I can say, Innovation essentially means to introduce a change into a system, that essentially solves a problem. For it to be called ‘Innovation’ it has to solve a problem otherwise it would just be a change.
Having that said, we’re left with the term ‘Design’. It is rather difficult to explain for me, because, just about anything can be called a design. The way a Product Packaging looks, a new kind of dress, or a new kind of product made from ground-up can be called design. But design is also hidden into things like what material that product is made of, so as to its user can re-use it or not, or does that dress saves you from cold while looking sleek, or does the servicing of the new product can be done using the existing systems or does it require a new system.
So, Design can be how a product, or brand looks like, but more importantly it has to do with the impact it creates in the minds of its target audience. How easily the target user adopts it. How well can the product, service, or brand can connect with it.
My Tutor Brian says that ‘Design Innovation’ is the same for Product, Service and Brand. I do agree with him that initially if we have a design problem in any of these, we do approach them similarly. But often the problem solving process leads to different directions for all three. You may not approach the same problem faced by a Product as you do for Service.
‘Design Innovation’ for me can be defined as a change in a system, or process, or looks, which also solves a problem. I know I’m not covering the whole topic here in just 1 post. Which is why I’ve created a category in this blog called Understanding Design Innovation. I shall keep posting under this category whenever I reach a breakthrough point. So, keep checking this space regularly. Literally.. 🙂
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