Motivated by curiosity and a strong conviction that the tools and methods of design thinking ignite innovative ideas and solutions, a group of Portland-based, like-minded practitioners set out to survey the local landscape. Our goal: to uncover the tactics, challenges, benefits and themes surrounding design thinking in our community.
This is the result.
We found more than a dozen common themes and insights. Some of them speak directly to the benefits of a design thinking approach. Some express deep challenges to making that approach work in the real world. In all cases, we are pleasantly surprised by the conviction, passion, and commitment to overcoming those challenges and sharing the benefits of design thinking. !
2. WHAT IS THE STATE OF
DESIGN THINKING IN PORTLAND?
Motivated by curiosity and a strong conviction that the tools and
methods of design thinking ignite innovative ideas and solutions, a
group of Portland-based, like-minded practitioners set out to survey the
local landscape. Our goal: to uncover the tactics, challenges, benefits
and themes surrounding design thinking in our community. !
!
We found more than a dozen common themes and insights. Some of
them speak directly to the benefits of a design thinking approach. Some
express deep challenges to making that approach work in the real
world. In all cases, we are pleasantly surprised by the conviction,
passion, and commitment to overcoming those challenges and sharing
the benefits of design thinking. !
!
Some of the results align with our existing experience and intuition and
some are brand new. We hope that youʼll use this to invoke energy and
support for using design thinking in your own work, as well as find other
advocates and practitioners to connect and share with. !
One major outcome of this project is a realization that there is a clear
and universal desire for more design thinking events, resources,
workshops, and community activities. To help meet that need, we have
committed to re-energizing a small, existing grass-roots organization
called Design+Strategy. !
!
The goal is to pivot that organization into a broad, community-based
center for design thinking to facilitate events, share learning resources,
build and provide access to a network of practitioners, and promote the
methods and tools of design thinking. !
!
FORWARD!
FORWARD!
3! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
3. TABLE OF CONTENTS!
TOP FIVE THEMES!
METHODS & APPROACH!
• 45+ individual contributors
• More than a dozen organizations
• Multiple disciplines
• Several working sessions
QUALITY!
Collaborative solution development produces better results.!
For more information!
contact Design+Strategy:!
!
Laura Allen!
Kord Davis!
Sada Naegelin!
!
info@designplusstrategy.com!
!
@designplusstrat!
!
www.designplusstrategy.com!
EXPERIENCE!
Design thinking is experiential.!
VALUE!
The value of design thinking is not always apparent (to the uninitiated).!
CULTURE!
A culture of empathy, iteration, and acceptable failure is critical to a successful design
thinking environment.!
CURIOSITY!
Tools, tips, tricks, learning and practice resources.!
4! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
4. QUALITY
01!
State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
Collaborative solution
development produces
better results..
5! THEME 01: QUALITY! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
5. 6! THEME 01: QUALITY!
“Clients are energized by the session; they walk out at the
end looking at the walls saying, ʻwhoa, look what we did!ʼ” !
!
“Creates a shared learning”!
!
“Creates more enjoyable work product and end result AND!
itʼs fun”!
!
“Builds a common ground to grow and move forward”!
!
“Generates a shared vision to guide future action”!
!
“Itʼs a relationship building experience”!
!
“Go deep to go fast—it gets you better results”!
!
“There is a cumulative beneficial effect to this approach: it
might be harder or take more time in the beginning but down
the road that work will pay off in faster and better solutions”!
!
Participants universally acknowledge that design thinking
methods and tools lead to better results. While common
challenges were frequently shared, the overall perspective is
that overcoming those challenges is well worth the effort. A
sense of joy, accomplishment, and pride from generating
elegant solutions and outcomes is a readily apparent trait of
design thinking. Among people who work collaboratively with
other disciplines, a sense of shared vision and deeper
commitment to the overall solution is a common experience
for cross-functional teams -- both internally and with clients.!
Participants passionately believe that design thinking drove
action more effectively than other methods. Given sufficient
time and opportunity, teams experience a “boomerang” effect
as their initial testing of hypotheses and prototypes result in
increasingly powerful results. The cumulative effect of
building on previous learning exponentially improves each
iteration. A design thinking approach is more enjoyable,
results in better work, and improves relationships. !
!
Find and share design thinking output examples widely:
artifacts, captures, final deliverables!
Show your work in progress often and ask for feedback—
people support what they help build!
Drive toward action!
Do whatʼs right for the work!
!
QUALITY!
THEME01!
HEARING! THINKING! DOING!
The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
6. EXPERIENCE
02!
State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
Design thinking is
experiential.
7! THEME 02: EXPERIENCE! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
7. 8! THEME 02: EXPERIENCE!
“Until you see or witness it itʼs very hard to describe in
advance—a full, day-long experience is the best way to ʻshow
the valueʼ” !
!
“There is a “transformation” experience that happens in a
design thinking session”!
!
“Thereʼs a ʻmagicʼ to good collaboration”!
!
“Project kick off meetings are now more like workshops”!
!
“Start with insights directly from user, remove your
assumptions, act with empathy, prototype, fail fast, use
multiple discovery modes and co-create”!
!
“Itʼs a process/methodology, not something you buy”!
!
One common theme is that the value and experience of
participating in a design thinking session is difficult to
describe in advance. !
Creating a space for the experience to happen, in order to
lead to more fruitful collaboration, is a fundamental aspect of
design thinking methods and practice. !
Critical to this capability are participants who are curious,
willing to engage, and be transparent about their success—
and failures.!
Individuals may be willing to “opt-in” and participate fully but
can be locked out of the opportunity by organizational culture,
project approaches, or uncertainty as to how to encourage or
successfully operate in that mode. !
Once experienced, however, nearly all participants described
a design thinking approach in terms such as magical,
transformative, or valuable.!
!
Create opportunities to participate frequently—default to
including, not excluding!
Document and share session activities and results widely:
video, images, visual diagrams, sketch notes, capture
documents!
Everything is practice—planning, creating, exploring,
designing, developing, delivering!
EXPERIENCE!
THEME02!
HEARING! THINKING! DOING!
The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
8. VALUE
03!
State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
The value of design
thinking is not always
apparent (tothe
uninitiated).
9! THEME 03: VALUE! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
9. 10! THEME 03: VALUE!
“A room full of executives all day gets to be a very expensive
meeting”!
!
“There is a cumulative benefit/effect to this approach: it might
be harder/take more time in the beginning but down the road
that work will pay off in faster/better solutions”!
!
“Sometimes you gotta go rogue and “steal” the time to
research or (re)define the problem – and then show the client
what you did”!
!
“If somehow there was a way to demonstrate the value to the
business side (finance, HR, marketing, etc.) perhaps we
could structure projects/approach in a more “design thinking”
way”!
!
“Research is almost always skipped (clients struggle, wants
to see things sooner rather than later)”!
!
“Access to research/knowledge/resources is often limited”!
!
“Finding a balance between managing the process (time,
resources) and giving the team the space to do the work”!
!
“Weʼve never had a single client tell us a design thinking
workshop was a ʻwaste of timeʼ”!
Managing team and client expectations are major challenges
to operationalizing design thinking. Frequently cited is buy-in
from leadership and stakeholders unfamiliar with the
approach. Typically from disciplines tasked with management
including client stakeholders, team leads, accounts, sales,
and project management. !
To generate greater value, some participants admit to
seeking “forgiveness rather than permission” in their
approach.!
To those unfamiliar with it, design thinking can be seen as
risky. They often resist adopting the methods or try to
mitigate the risk by reverting to more familiar approaches. !
For example, the perception is that limiting access to
resources can reduce cost and time risks—while experienced
practitioners know that increasing access to resources such
as research, knowledge, and subject matter expertise is
highly beneficial to generating greater value. !
!
Build a business case file to capture approaches and the
value generated as a result!
Ask for direct testimonials from everyone: participants,
stakeholders, leadership!
Encourage discussion about concerns, constraints, practices,
methods, and tools!
Do a simple-but-explicit “post-mortem” at the end of every
session (what worked? what would you change?)!
People know what they need—give them as much as you can!
VALUE!
THEME03!
HEARING! THINKING! DOING!
The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
10. CULTURE
04!
State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
A culture of empathy,
iteration, and acceptable
failure is critical to a
successful design thinking
environment.
11! THEME 04: CULTURE! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
11. 12! THEME 04: CULTURE!
“Works best when the whole process (from business
development through delivery) is transparent”!
“Corporate America is NOT doing it well (even big
consultancies--they think innovation is something you can
buy. Itʼs not, itʼs a process not an outcome)”!
“It works best with an “all hands on deck” approach”!
“Itʼs very hard to “change modes” – if clients see you as one
thing, itʼs hard to get them to see you as another (the best
way to make that change is through the work itself)”!
“Freedom to fail in the room / “going back to the drawing
board” is acceptable (not being right in the room).”!
“How do you bring design thinking into an organization?”!
“There are different levels of “fail”: in front of peers, in front of
clients, big groups, small groups”!
“Thereʼs a difference between an individual willing to do
design thinking and an organization that is willing to permit it”!
“Clearly defining roles and responsibilities (including the
client) is critical”!
CULTURE!
THEME04!
HEARING! THINKING! DOING!
There is wide acknowledgement of a “spectrum of culture”
from operating in “expert mode” (most common) to operating
in “collaborative” mode (most desired, but least common).!
Cultural challenges are viewed as obstacles to creating a
more collaborative environment. Those obstacles are often
expressed as “things to change” to provide more opportunity
to create elegant and powerful solutions.!
The value of that opportunity is clear and deeply desired by
practitioners. !
There is a strong sense that the root cause of many
obstacles is that people hesitate to operate more
collaboratively as a result of cultural constraints including:!
Seek first to understand, then to be understood!
Model appropriate behavior (for example, be willing to fail)!
Ask as many questions as you answer!
Build the culture you want!
“Yes, and…”!
“How might we…”!
• fear of being perceived as not doing your job!
• poorly understood methods or tools!
• people who donʼt opt-in to the approach!
• lack of understanding of roles and responsibilities!
• projects hijacked for logistics reasons (budget, time, etc.)!
• lack of organizational support for the methods and tools!
The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
12. CURIOSITY
05!
State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
Tools, tips, tricks, learning
and practice resources.
13! THEME 05: CURIOSITY! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
13. THEME 05: CURIOSITY!
“You absolutely must be curious”!
“Creativity is an exploration”!
“Where CAN I learn more?”!
“Iʼm not sure I have a common understanding of what we
mean by ʻdesign thinkingʼ”!
“Please let me know what I can do to help”!
“Why isnʼt there an organization in town focused on this?”!
“I wish there were more events to teach people the tools”!
“I wish I had more time to learn…everythingʼs moving too
fast” !
CURIOSITY!
THEME05!
HEARING! THINKING! DOING!
Share with others!
Actively seek out collaborators!
Curiosity was the most frequently cited characteristic of
people who learn well. Resources for learning, however, are
either unknown or a challenge to find. Participants
consistently expressed a desire for more formal workshops,
events, or organizational support. !
Examples spanned a wide range from more well-known and
formal programs, such as the Institute of Design at Stanford
(d:school) or XPLANEʼs Visual Thinking School to informal
sources, such as design blogs or various threads on the
popular site Reddit (known as “subreddits”).!
The value of being a “T-shaped” person who exhibits a wide
base of knowledge in many areas combined with deep
expertise in one or two disciplines was often cited. !
Nearly all participants described themselves as self-taught
and volunteered to help others learn, contribute to a
community of practice, or participate in workshops and
events. !
!
14! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
14. METHODOLOGY & APPROACH
This report contains actual findings from real people. We collected data
from more than 45 individual contributors representing nearly two
dozen organizations & disciplines through focus interviews, multiple
working sessions and an online survey.!
!
Everyone was given an opportunity to contribute anonymously.
Participants who opted-in to be identified as contributors are listed in
the aggregate.!
!
We recognize that the methodology of our inaugural report influenced
the results. By sourcing participants from our personal and professional
networks, our close colleagues and peers are naturally pre-disposed to
a “pro-design thinking” attitude.!
!
As design thinking becomes more broadly used, we plan to source
client-side input for added diversity in future reports. We look forward to
exploring and sharing more perspectives as the community continues
to grow.!
AFTERWARD!
AFTERWARD!
15! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
15. CONTRIBUTORS & PARTICIPANTS!
Dino Citraro!
Jodi Sweetman!
Dave King!
Roel Ulners!
Sara Mesing!
Stephanie Gioia!
Matt Morasky!
Adam Hoffman!
Laura Allen!
Sada Naegelin!
Christian Bayley!
Amy Santee!
Jeanne Turner!
Heather Penner!
Matt Cannell!
Martha Koenig!
Cary Otto!
Erica Hassinger!
James Macanufo!
Keiran Lyn!
Producers, Project Managers, Recruiters, Business Development, Strategists, Senior Executives, Managers, Directors, CEO/Owners, Creative
Directors, Senior Art Directors, Designers,VP of Client Services, Operations Directors!
Barbara Holmes!
Jason King!
Erica Dillon !
Armando Manalo!
Glenn Scott!
Patrick Ezell!
David Hughes!
Betsy Reed!
David Shaw!
Ash Shepard!
Denise Ransome!
Scott Smith!
Debbie Shaw!
Verne Linder!
Bryan Howarth!
Tim Haskins!
Tom Williams!
Kellee Jackson!
Ben Cerezo!
Khris Soden!
CONTRIBUTORS &
PARTICIPANTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!
CONTRIBUTORS & PARTICIPANTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES INCLUDED:!
16! The State of Design Thinking: Portland Edition!
