Designing Interactions at Work:
Applying Design to Discussions,
Meetings, and Relationships
Roger Martin

Rotman School of Management | [e-mail]

Jennifer Riel

Rotman School of Management | [e-mail] March + April 2010

interactions

Great designers want their ideas to make a difference. The Harmut Esslingers, Jonathan Ives, and Milton Glasers of the world create objects that are meant to be used, services that are meant to be engaged, and experiences that are meant to be lived. As Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, has said, “Success is all about impact. Designers get turned off if their ideas don’t make it out into the world.” An elegant and thoughtful design solution is only a success if it has real resonance and value to human beings.

Great business leaders—like A.G. Lafley, Steve Jobs, and Mike Lazaridis—define success in a remarkably similar way. They too want innovations that have resonance; innovations that are game changers. Successful innovations create new value that can transform a company’s place in the market and its relationship with its customers.

Ultimately, designers and
business leaders want the same
thing: transformative ideas that
can be translated into real value.
Yet, even with this common pur-
pose, the interactions between
design teams and business lead-
ers often represent the biggest
stumbling block to the develop-
ment of breakthrough ideas. How
often has a brilliant design idea
been strangled in its infancy by
a client who could not, or would
not, “get it”? How often is break-
through innovation stopped short
by number crunchers who don’t
understand the process of design
or the insights afforded by it?
And how often do business folks
moan that designers lack even
the most basic understanding of
cost and strategy?