09 February 2008

Charles Owen and design thinking

Unless you have been under a rock lately you know that the collaboration between IIT/ID and the Rotman school of business has created a dynamic and ground breaking partnership that has aggressively advanced the worth and recognition of what we do as designers. In the latest issues of the Rotman magazine (Winter 2008) Charles writes a thoughtful piece and uses design thinking as the construct for processes and methods differentiating professional design work from the greater world-view of design.

One of the important facets of this piece is how Charles posits design thinking in contrast and as a complement to all things scientific. He goes on to call out the significant traits that make designers not only different but valuable. What I appreciate about how Charles has outlined these traits is how they cross the different design industries – an important perspective in consideration given our silo-ing of specific practices.

This article, along with Chris Connely’s Leveraging Design’s Core Competencies are must reads for anyone looking to hire designers to make a difference.

The entire issue (as usual) is really great stuff. If you are a design manager, this magazine is a must read.

http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/news/magazine.htm