Design is indispensable in a rapidly changing world where organizations compete. This post describes six sorts of knowledge that determine the power of design.
Designers continually develop knowledge with customers, commissioners, users, fellow designers, partners, and other stakeholders. They produce and use knowledge of different sorts. Which sorts of knowledge does a team need to accomplish design work?
Sorts of knowledge
The way a design team is organized rests on the following sorts of knowledge:
- Strategy: plan to accomplish design goals.
- Structure: way of organizing design work.
- Systems: processes and procedures of design.
- Style: way of approaching design work.
- Specialisms: fields of specialization of designers.
- Skills: talents and abilities of designers.
- Shared values: accepted values, norms, and standards for designing.
These sorts almost entirely correspond with the seven internal factors in the McKinsey 7-S Framework. Other points of departure are conceivable, but the McKinsey 7-S Framework applies well in practice. Furthermore, many managers know this model. For a brief introduction to this model, see, for instance, Strategic Management Insight or Investopedia.
In practice, the two sorts Systems and Style can be hard or unnecessary to distinguish. For instance, a design team may consider style as the processes and procedures to which the team members are accustomed. In such cases, you may conveniently combine the two sorts into one sort, System.
Framework
These sorts and their interrelationships form a framework that can be used to: