Designers in Innovation - Time to practice what we preach
Designers in Innovation - Time to practice what we preach
The Alloy team developed the BT Whole Home app and device in parallel with packaging to achieve a fully-coordinated end to end User experience.
Gus Desbarats, our founder and former chair of BIDA has provided his own perspective on BIDA’s Designers in Innovation webinar
‘Great to see so many designers of all ages at the recent BIDA webinar listening to an excellent speaker line up. Phil Gray and Mat Hunter need no introduction; Ben Griffin (an Alloy design alumnus) has been doing a great job at Innovate UK promoting design investment in a very rigorous intellectual environment, Professor Peter Childs reminded us that we can also be contributing to designing businesses and ventures at scale, citing the success of the UK chip and games industries and Jo Barnard did an excellent job highlighting the strategic value Industrial Designers bring to start-ups.
I was especially relieved to hear Bettina Von Stamm, who shares my longer term-perspective on this sort of event, express, in the nicest possible way, how much we still seem to be talking about the same old topics in the same old way. I share her pain, and might not have been as polite about it.
While the Design Council, DBA and DMI have done excellent work promoting the value and effectiveness of design, their data only provides ‘correlation’; evidence that ‘better than trend’ business results and strategic design investment often happen to together. However, as any scientist will tell you, correlation doesn’t prove ‘causation’. To quote a timely example, user trials of a vaccine will tell you when they do or don’t work but they don’t provide all the knowledge needed to create a vaccine in the first place. For that you need to drill into the detail of WHY things work.
Design Thinking has done a great job explaining HOW we do things, although at a fairly trivial ‘paint by numbers’ level, but it doesn’t do much to explain WHY our methods are so effective.
As a professional qualified in both Engineering and Human-Centred Design, in my 4 decades of practice, I’ve seen 1st hand how the absence of a ‘WHY our stuff works’ knowledge foundation has held back everything from the salary prospects of Human-Centred designers in industry to the effectiveness of budget pitches. Old habits like positioning us on the basis of attributes like creativity or practices like rapid-prototyping also just add to the confusion and get in the way of better routine collaboration between the Human-Centred design sector and the more technical/scientific/commercial sectors that are the backbone of business and innovation.
Now, more than ever, youth entering the profession needs better guidance on WHY design works to ensure they reach their full potential. As a profession we need to step up collectively in 2 areas:
1) Practice what we preach 1: listen to our audience I support BIDA’s call to action for an event in which we bring in business people to share their feedback on WHY they think Human-Centred design has worked for their organisations.
2) Practice what we preach 2: share insights from our collective experience In her blog about the event, Jo Barnard made the point that we don’t share enough about our experiences. I agree. Looking at the Zoom screen on the BIDA call I saw a group of colleagues with, many many hundred years of collective innovation experience. As a rough estimate, in the course of my career I’ve led teams that have converted well over £50M direct investment in us into commercial returns amounting to many hundreds of millions. Others on the call have achieved even more. Before we disappear into our sheds, it might be a good idea to find a way to capture our stories about what has and hasn’t worked, and WHY. In the meantime, I recommend mentoring. I’ve found it very rewarding, although, sadly, also quite alarming.’
Check out the full reaction to Gus’ article on the BIDA website:
“Time to start a conversation about WHY Industrial Design works”
Frequently Asked Questions:
What role do designers play in innovation today?
Designers play a critical role in innovation by translating human needs into commercially viable solutions. Beyond aesthetics, human-centred designers help organisations reduce risk, improve adoption, and align technology with real user behaviour.
Why is human-centred design important for business innovation?
Human-centred design helps businesses innovate more effectively by focusing on why people behave the way they do. This leads to better product decisions, stronger user adoption, and clearer return on investment from innovation programmes.
How does a design consultancy contribute to innovation strategy?
A design consultancy contributes to innovation strategy by combining user insight, design expertise, and commercial awareness. This helps organisations define the right problems, validate opportunities early, and turn innovation investment into measurable outcomes.
What’s the difference between design thinking and human-centred design in practice?
Design thinking often explains how to follow a process, while human-centred design focuses on why those methods work. In practice, experienced design consultancies go beyond frameworks to apply deep behavioural insight and real-world experience.
Why do businesses struggle to understand the value of design?
Many businesses see design as a creative or aesthetic function rather than a strategic capability. Without clear explanations of how design influences behaviour, risk, and outcomes, its value can be misunderstood or underutilised.
How can design teams work better with engineering and commercial teams?
Design teams work best when they collaborate closely with engineering and commercial stakeholders. Shared language, evidence-based decisions, and early involvement help align human-centred design with technical and business objectives.
Why should companies hire an experienced design consultancy for innovation projects?
An experienced design consultancy brings proven methods, cross-sector insight, and real-world evidence of what works. This helps organisations avoid repeating mistakes and increases the likelihood that innovation investment leads to commercial success.
How does explaining the ‘why’ behind design improve outcomes?
Explaining why design decisions work builds trust with business leaders and technical teams. It improves collaboration, supports better decision-making, and strengthens the strategic impact of human-centred design.
What should young designers understand about innovation and business?
Young designers should understand not just how to apply design methods, but why those methods influence behaviour and outcomes. This knowledge helps them collaborate effectively, communicate value, and progress within organisations.
How can organisations build a stronger culture of design-led innovation?
Organisations can build a stronger design-led innovation culture by listening to stakeholders, sharing real project experience, encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration, and involving design early in strategic decision-making.
