Design: beauty, strategy and innovation

Design: beauty, strategy and innovation. How to combine creativity and business?

Beauty by its definition is a combination of qualities like color, shape that pleases our senses. Strategy involves a plan of action to achieve a desired result, which may lead to innovation.

Creativity is born in chaos, to apply it, you need structure. To create structure, you need to decide, and choose what’s important, and what to ignore. You need to know where you’re going.

Even painting a picture is a set of decisions. What colors to use, what kind of medium, technique, atmosphere, topic, composition, etc.  All together creates a masterpiece or a trash.

It’s similar to design. However, you have to take into account more factors.

• A myth about design
• A holistic approach
• A system shift

A myth about design

Many people think about design in terms of aesthetics. They see beautiful objects and spaces, or even luxury products like fancy cars. Their view is shaped by mainstream narrative and what they see in social media, magazines, ads, and TV. 

Usually, there are 2 scenarios:

1. They care about beauty and experience.
2. They think that design is an obsolete luxury for chosen ones. They focus on function, numbers (also money), and technical solutions.

When you think about design this way, you miss the essence of it.

So what is the truth, if design is not limited to colorful photos on social media and marketing materials?

Design is not only beautiful pictures. It is a complex and strategic approach to solving problems. It’s like an iceberg. The most important is hidden under the surface. What you see is the result of the entire process. You don’t need to be a chosen one to use and enjoy design.

A holistic approach

The design approach evolves in many ways. When we look at the problems, we can zoom in or zoom out our perspective. 

Design Thinking method is not enough. 

It is a human-centered design.

It doesn’t take into account the broader system and peripheral vision of the problem. We need a shift to system-centered design. Human beings don’t live in a vacuum. They are always placed in the ecosystem of their life, environment, circumstances, etc. They don’t exist in detachment from it.

By studying the system to gain a wider perspective, we can be even more empathetic to the users. We understand not only their real needs, we see all the factors and conditions that affect them.

A holistic approach means that you focus on the user and business. It allows you to connect their needs. You also consider the context of the culture and the impact on the environment.

It goes much deeper under the surface of what seems visible. When you focus on the visual aspects, you float on the surface. When creating, you need to take all these factors into account. It will impact the product or space and business metrics.

A system shift

If you would like to go even deeper, then you need a system shift. This means that you’re changing the system, not just adapting the solution to it. In this way, you can create a revolution in a positive sense.

You don’t need to turn everything upside down. You can start with small steps, which will create a domino effect. And that will lead to a bigger change.

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