A Strategic Design Approach for Anticipating the Future World

In today’s globalised economy, the search for competitive advantage in developing innovative products, services and systems, has been substituted by organisations’ combined efforts to establish collaborative advantage. This means that the creation of ‘stand-alone’ design solutions would no longer meet the needs for solving complex problems within an environment in which technologies become more advanced and complex and where end-user needs and stakeholders’ interests become more diverse. From an end-user perspective, effective and meaningful interactions are sought after, which are prospective and out of their frame of reference. From an organisational perspective, the growing complexity and pace of technological change are forcing firms to forge new vertical and horizontal network alliances to seek greater speed, flexibility and efficiency in responding to market changes. This book chapter aims to present a strategic design methodology to be implemented in a collaborative studio setting within the context of design education. It can be used as a blueprint for planning strategic activities, collaborative constructs and directions when strategizing for and with different types of organisations. The educational value lies in subjecting master students to situations, where they learn to balance the interests of the client organisation, end users and other stakeholders through deliberate and emergent strategic moves. By acting as consultants and interacting with a real industrial client, established design consultancies and other stakeholders, this proposed strategic design process elucidates an educational philosophy of mentorship and scholarship. Through a construct of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) students contribute to a systemic and processual view on learning, where structured planning and the deliberate use of processes and methods should complement emergent praxis. Furthermore, initiatives to formalise and communicate these processes and methods will also educate the client organisation and their respective stakeholders of “What Strategic Design is about”, and how it complements an inside-out marketing and management view on strategizing, by focusing on and anticipating end-user needs.