The Stage-Gate Process helps teams manage new product development through structured stages, from idea generation to launch. Each stage is separated by gates where progress is reviewed, risks are assessed, and decisions are made to continue, revise, pause, or stop the project. Its main advantages include scalability, flexibility, customer focus, and integration with agile and lean practices. However, it can be criticised for being too linear and restrictive, which may limit creativity, prototyping, and deeper iteration.
What is this Thing Called Design Management?
Managing the design process is always a challenging task. Have you ever wondered the reason behind the lack of designers' ability to understand how to manage the creative process and the similar lack of managers' knowledge of the creative process presents one of the significant barriers that stand against driving innovation and building design culture […]
What is Strategic Design and its Role inside the Organisation?
While teaching design classes at several universities, I got to explore the design thinking process with the students and highlight the role of design and creativity during the different process stages. For example, the Double Diamond design thinking process helps us to explore the problem/solution space of the problem to identify innovative solutions (check Why […]
The Ergonomics Principles and Their Applications
The user experience is the core of the design process, and we, as designers, apply existing design processes such as the Double Diamond Design Thinking to improve our user's experience and achieve the so-called empathic design. But the process is not that straightforward as we need to consider several human and non-human factors during the […]
Types of Innovation: The Complete Guide with Examples
Innovation is widely acknowledged as important for companies seeking market success in various industries or accessing new markets. This perception is supported by case studies and by observation of companies and their implementation of the different types of innovation as part of their organizational strategy to gain competitive advantage. In the middle of aggressive competition […]
The Blue Ocean Strategy: Guide and Examples
One of the biggest challenges that face today's companies is market competency. The challenge factor is magnified for new companies as they try to find a value proposition that allows them to have a place in the market. As such companies have limited financial and human resources, these conditions leave them a limited window to […]
Open Innovation: Comprehensive Guide and Examples
Innovation and creativity are essential factors to achieve competitive advantages in the market. Innovative companies adopt strategies that aim to improve both the input and output sides of the innovation equation by reducing the input costs or increasing the production volume. All types of innovation, including both open innovation and closed innovation, can be applied […]
What is Kano Model Analysis? And How to Conduct it.
Designing a product can be challenging. The array of features and designs to select and eliminate is daunting, especially when stepping out into the field with customer satisfaction and delight in mind. There are endless questions and possibilities at the early stage of the design thinking process. How will the product perform, or is this service […]
What is Social Design? And How it Can Change the World.
In this rapidly changing world, future generations will face increasingly challenging obstacles like climate change, pollution, poverty, lack of resources and other difficulties that have yet to manifest. Problems predicted years ago have become a reality we can now observe on daily newscasts. Amongst these challenges, can social design save the world? Many scholars and […]
What is Inclusive Design? And How to Apply It?
In our diverse world full of different cultures, designing products and services has become more and more challenging, especially when the aim is to meet the needs of various consumers and achieve innovation. Our world's diversity indicates the increasing importance of inclusive design, sometimes called universal design. In response to current and future design challenges, […]
How to Use the Action Priority Matrix in Time Management?
Unlike regular jobs. Designers are required to handle various tasks on different levels. This challenge increases when working as a freelancer or working in your own start-up. Most designers complain about the lack of time to achieve their tasks within the required deadlines. While many believe they can re-organize tasks in order to gain more […]
What is Strategic Thinking? And How to Improve It
The ability to take strategic decisions can lead the organisation to achieve business success, as firms can't preserve their existence without a strategy that maintains their long-term growth. Having the ability to take such decisions is one of the most favourable skills in almost all types of business, including the design business. Even for employees […]
What is Open Innovation? And How it Fuels Creativity
Scholars, practitioners and business leaders have agreed that innovation and creativity are essential to sustain success and achieve competitive advantage in the present market. While our main focus here is on the creative industries, top companies in different niches have understood that they should “innovate or die.” Many strategies have been adopted to achieve innovation […]
What is Circular Design? And How to Apply It.
The role of design is now extending the form and function of the product or service to more contributions to building innovative solutions that emphasise the wise consumption of natural resources. The designer is responsible for building a strategic plan considering the product’s environmental impact and responsible integration with the planet's ecosystem. The role that […]
IKEA’s Sustainable Design Strategy (Part 2)
In the first part of this article, we explored the design sustainable strategy's key role in achieving the organization's business targets, and its creativity places it ahead of competitors in the market. The design role has a more holistic approach than just product design. Design strategy and management are essential in forming the company's whole vision […]
Stage Gate Process: The Complete Practice Guide
When it comes to the process of new product development, the stakes are high to achieve the target goals and introduce to the market a product that can satisfy both consumers and investors. The management process should consider a high level of iteration and validation while developing new products. Before jumping from one StageStage to […]
Exploring IKEA’s Sustainable Design Strategy: Part One
The design adds various values inside any company. At the top of these values is building a company-wide strategy such as IKEA sustainable design strategy. Strategic design and good design management are essential for any organization to achieve innovation, which subsequently leads to a more exceptional ability to compete in the market. “Tomorrow’s business must […]
My Advice to Innovators From Years in Cambodia Designing New Solutions to Poverty
For the last decade, I've been designing solutions that improve human well-being in the developing world. For those who want to apply design thinking to situations of extreme constraints, like rural Cambodia, my iDE collaborator, Jose Mena, and I have some advice. Use Innovation to Design Experiences, not Just Things Don’t let your team settle […]
Unpacking Design Thinking Futures: GK VanPatter in conversation with Rafiq Elmansy Part 2
Last week, we got the chance to discuss with GK VanPatter, co-founder of Humantific, his vision about design thinking futures as part of this series of interviews with design leaders. Our purpose is to gain a better understanding of the present and future of the design industry. In the previous interview, Unpacking Design Thinking Futures […]
Unpacking Design Thinking Futures: GK VanPatter in conversation with Rafiq Elmansy Part 1
Design is now taking broader perspective than before. It's now used by large companies such as Google, Apple, IKEA, Nike, and others as a strategic and business tool to lead business to a new innovative level. Design thinking is widely used by various companies to achieve business advantages such as innovation, market competitiveness, and profitability. […]