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c4di - Centre for Design and Innovation
United Kingdom
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Chinese proverb
The Centre for Design and Innovation (c4di) has adopted the above wisdom and developed material to teach companies techniques with which to identify improved products and services for themselves. The core philosophy of the centre is based on applying user-centred design and developing teaching materials targeted at SMEs in Scotland that encourage a creative and playful approach to innovation. This can include innovations centred on the business strategy, service delivery, product development and branding. The significance of this challenge is to make companies put aside their self-preconceptions and review their business in an objective yet creative manner.
Focused on front-end thinking, the centre employs a strategy of serious play and hands-on exercises to engage with its clients. The exercises include user-centred research techniques, idea-generation exercises and quick prototyping methods. A version of TRIZ specifically for the services sector has also been developed by c4di (www.c4di.org.uk.servicetriz). The skills transferred are universal and have been taught to companies in a wide range of sectors, including food, energy, biotechnology and the creative industries.
The use of design as a driver of innovation is well understood among the most successful companies in Scotland, but there is still some misconception as to what design can achieve at a strategic level. This programme aims to improve the awareness of the barriers to innovation and the adoption of clear strategies for developing a culture of innovation within their client organisations.
The success of the programme is heavily reliant on SME participation. Although participation in the programme is free, attracting interest in the centre is difficult, as companies often defer innovation during periods of economic constraint. A great deal of effort was expended at the start of the programme to develop a clear brand and mission that can be easily understood by SMEs. It is important to use a language targeted to the audience – ‘design speak’ is not necessarily ‘business speak’ – in order to make it clear what the centre offers.
Contact with companies is made initially through a workshop programme entitled ‘Innovation by Design’. The programme provides companies with an introduction to design thinking and service design. From here the centre aims to create a one-to-one relationship with companies, beginning with site visits and undertaking design audits or bespoke workshops. Projects that progress beyond the remit of the initial programme, for example new product development, could be funded by knowledge transfer vouchers from the Scottish Funding Council.
Project Targets: (note to the designer: this can be a post-it)
C4di was initiated by the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. The association with the university gives the centre credibility and emphasises its non-commercial status. For the university the centre provides a strategic link between business and academia, which can lead to future research and knowledge-transfer activities.
In addition to the university’s support, c4di is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Scottish Government’s SEEKIT Programme. C4di is aligned with the Scottish government’s economic priority areas, which are focused on support for innovation in the key sectors of the creative industries, energy, food, tourism and IT. Other partners in the programme include Aberdeen City Council, Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Enterprise, which recently updated its strategy to include design as a key driver of innovation. The total amount of funding provided to the centre is £1 million to December 2011.
There are eight people working on the programme, each with diverse but complementary skills. Leading the project is Professor Julian Malins, whose speciality in design and creative thinking research formed the basis of c4di. Other key members of the team include a business adviser, a professional designer, an IT expert, a chartered marketer with a legal background, a PhD researcher and an administrator.
When the project was originally conceived it aimed to produce new jobs, but since the recession the targets have been revised and now the emphasis is on retaining existing jobs. To date the programme has achieved most of its ‘SMEs assisted’ targets and is on course to complete all of the targets or exceed them. Further evaluation of the programme comes from statements from SMEs. These are related to an awareness of how design thinking can assist innovation and how practical steps can be implemented to develop a culture of innovation within the company. Furthermore, participating companies have agreed to share data on the amount of investment they have spent on innovation as a result of the centre’s intervention.
For more information contact c4di@rgu.ac.uk or visit www.c4di.org.uk.
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© Design Wales 2011
