STRATEGIC DESIGN
THE IF, WHAT, AND, BUT OF STRATEGIC DESIGN.
IT IS BEING TOUTED AS A NEW mindset to utilise design services in an aim to meet business goals/objectives. REALLY? According to THE STUPID PARROTS in order to practice this new (not) approach they go beyond creative outputs such as websites, marketing collateral and that other stuff.
WE ARE NOT MAKING THIS UP.
This is one of those sales pitches where the uninitiated has discovered something that has been around since neanderthal man picked up a rock to crack a nut. To a STUPID PARROT this is an amazing new thing. Oh my giddy aunt.
They cobble together some statement that sums up their wizardry, spouting on about consideration, context, process, validation, consensus, alignment, blah, blah, blah!
NEXT THEY believe strategic design is the best method for helping embed their clients brand promise. Now they want to position the business’s interactions and experiences with customers and employees to build a happy place. WE KID YOU NOT.
How does strategic design work?
To be truthful (as you know we are) we do not give a flying one. Thankfully though the STUPID PARROTS have explained it. This is just a bullet list as we really cannot repeat this waffle in a paragraph. It makes us want to cry.
- Gather internal information
- Ask consumers
- Ask employees
- Look at the market
But, wait there is an ultimate aim to this! It unlocks hidden insights. These things have not been hidden. HAVE THEY? If any business is not actively doing the above at an absolute minimum they are sure to be on the brink or just about to go pop. On reading one STUPID PARROT’S website we find a statement that about sums up these idiots. Here it is in all of its glory.
“For example, getting input from internal stakeholders as to what a company’s key differentiation is can provide a diversity of opinions, which is a great place to start the process of alignment and consensus building.”
BASICALLY then, get a load of strangers to ask your staff lots of questions. Possibly the majority of which they will not answer in truth. You see people who are not used to public speaking are cautious of being seen as well, NOT A TEAM MEMBER or a stuttering fool or a combination. Hey but everybody will have now met Doris and Dave from accounts. Nice people Doris and Dave.
PREPARE TO EMBARK.
By all accounts there are dozens of amazing design tools out there. They range from (oh please stop) empathy maps, user journey templates, customer experience maps and many other buzz word-friendly tools.
THINGS ARE LOOKING UP because none of them are made to be rigidly used for any one scenario. By all accounts this is why the most important thing you can do is work with an experienced partner. Let us guess… A STUPID PARROT?
AN EXPERIENCED STUPID PARROT understands the best use of these tools (yep that makes sense). THIS DOES NOT… they identify and understand the main barriers to finding good solutions.
RIGHT THAT IS IT… NO MORE! To write this article we did some research (well a little bit, not much really). Using the available tools we ascertained the correct one, used it and were presented with lots of useful info. Yep we did a quick Google Search!
You too can do this. GO ON… search “Strategic Design” and see these STUPID PARROTS in abundance. Dare you to call one!
For our friends the search engines.
Yep, you may be questioning this or by now understand that the search engines like external (outbound links) to other informative websites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_design
http://strategicdesignbook.com/
Almost everything BLOG.
Our blog is good for almost everything marketing. If you have a spare few days take a look. The link helps with our internal links for our good friends the search engines. Oh and it might be of interest too.
PLEASE IGNORE THE KNIGHT. It has been left here for search engines as they like at least one picture to be on a page. Go figure!