Interactions - May/June 2012

Individual
Individual
Goals

Goals
Means
Means

sales guy not much interested in design.” Seven CEOs after Watson and Noyes, design at IBM is still well managed, but without the level of conversation that took place between those two, design is no longer a strategic advantage for IBM.

Reflecting: Individual considers possible goals.

Reflection in action: Individual considers possible means while executing.

Manager Designer

Goals Goals

Manager Designer

Goals Goals

Means Means

Controlling: Manager tells designer what to do + how to do it; designer executes.

Mentoring: Manager sets goals but discusses means with designer.

as communications design. These conversations are the essence of product management and brand management. This legacy is easy to overlook. It’s easy to imagine a special magic, and in a way it is a special magic. Why else would it be so rare?

What other magic did Steve Jobs learn? He guarded Apple’s development process closely. Now that he’s gone, I hope we will come to understand his process better. That would be a truly world-changing legacy.

I’ve outlined three principles,
putting special emphasis on the
last:
• Whole systems thinking
• Deep, broad teams
• Design conversations
What have I missed?

Manager Designer Manager Designer

Goals Goals

Means Means

Delegating: Manager sets goal but leaves means to the designer.

Collaborating:
Manager and
designer
set goals together.

• Figure 2. Six types of conversation.

though the change took much longer. The design management structure that Watson and Noyes put in place served the company well for many years. And even now, IBM has a remarkable system for coordinating internal and external conversations between design resources. But the design conversations are several levels below the CEO, mainly within Jon Iwata’s marketing organization. One IBM insider remarked that the last CEO, Sam Palmisano, “was a

Models of Design Conversations

A conversation between a CEO and his or her design director may cover many topics, but the conversations take only a few forms (see Figure 2).

The possible forms are the same for any manager-designer conversation. An individual may have a conversation with himself or herself about goals (reflecting) or about means (reflection in action). A manager may control an employee, directing what is done and how it is done. This boot-camp style may sometimes be appropriate for “raw recruits” but is out of place in senior management (controlling). When necessary, a good manager will mentor or teach an employee, discussing possible means for achieving a goal (mentoring). And often a good manager will delegate to a willing and able employee, “merely” setting goals and leaving the employee free to choose a means of achieving them ( delegating).

But only one form of conversation leads to a partnership, to deep trust, and ultimately to innovation and a sustained period of good design. Such conversations are principally about goals—about beliefs, about values, and about quality (collaborating).

Steve Jobs learned to foster such conversations. So did John Lasseter, Eliot Noyes, and the others mentioned here. Their conversations cover all aspects of design—not just physical product design, but also architecture, filmmaking, designing for interaction and service, as well

ENDNOTES:

1. Isaacson, W. Steve Jobs. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011, 346.

2. Steve Jobs quoted in “Apple’s One-Dollar-a-Year Man.” Fortune (January 24, 2000); http:// money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_ archive/2000/01/24/272277/ index.htm

3. Bruce, G. Eliot Noyes: A Pioneer of Design and Architecture in the Age of Modernism. Phaidon, New York, 2006.

4. Junginger, S. Design in the organization: Parts and wholes. Design Research Journal, 2, 9 (2009), Swedish Design Council (SVID), 23-29.

5. Freeze, K. and Chung, K-W. Design strategy at Samsung: Becoming a top tier company. Design Management Institute Case Study, DMI, Boston, 2008.

6. Stevens, R. Chris Bangle, former BM W designer, bringing his deconstructivist ways to Samsung devices? Endgadget (March 12, 2011); http://www.

engadget.com/2011/03/12/chris-bangle-former- bmw-designer-bringing-his-deconstructivist/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hugh Dubberly manages a con-
sultancy focused on making ser-
vices and software easier to use
through interaction design and
information design. In the past he
was vice president of design at
May + June 2012