In 1936, Charlie Chaplin produced, directed and acted in a fantastic critique of the industrial world, which was then at its peak. That film, Modern Times, is a classic, a satire of everything that was happening in society at that time. Many people have already understood the environmental destruction caused by the wave of industrialization and are convinced that we have to redesign everything so as to create a model of life that will be more friendly to the planet in which we live. Fewer people, however, have realized the mess that this industrial thinking has made of our minds. It seems that Chaplin's warning has not really been understood.

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DMI's conference will be part of a year-long roster of Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 events.
 
The Hotel Klaus K offers special rates for DMI conference delegates. To receive the rate, please reserve by 17 February.
 
DMI. Helsinki. 2012. Come join us!
 
More information
Register by February 17 and save!
 
Optional pre-conference seminar:
Design Research and the Customer-driven Innovation Strategy
Darrel Rhea, Founder & CEO, Rhea Insight
April 23-24, 2012, Helsinki, Finland

Optional post-conference seminar:
Team Dynamics: Resourcing for Success
Dieter Reuther, Operations Consultant, Cast Collective
Sabrina Jetton, Design Consultant, Cast Collective
April 27, 2012, Helsinki, Finland
 
 

February, 2012

"These are not business as usual times"
Join the conversation, face-to-face, live in your community at DMI Night Out in February 2012. A good old-fashioned roundtable (which might not be a table or round) that will be an honest discussion on what you are doing to lead over, around and through these challenging times. Come share what you're doing more of... less of… in this new normal business of design.

Hosted by local DMI members, DMI Night Out is a local source of support and partnership for today's critical issues, connecting cross-disciplinary design and business leaders in their local communities—a local gathering of DMI members and the extended community of design leaders, with the goal of fostering community, collaboration, and content that informs and inspires.

Join in on one of the many DMI Night Out events planned. DMI Members and nonmembers are welcome:

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BALANCING EXTREMES:
The tensions in design
Design/Management Thinking 24 Conference
June 19-20, 2012
Portland, Oregon, USA
Gerding Theatre at the Armory

Conference co-chairs:
Casey Lehner, Global Design Operations Director, NIKE
David Thorpe, Creative Director, iNDUSTRY
Josh Levine, Director of Strategy, Great Monday
Karen Reuther, President, DMI

No longer competing in an either-or-world, design leaders are learning to break through classic trade-offs for ultimate success in getting the best products, services and experiences to market. Today, they find success by tapping into a diversity of tools, techniques and methods to move more adaptively than ever. Fast versus Slow. Chaos vs. Stability. Novel vs. Known. The need to remain agile, and embrace today's tensions helps design solve for ever-increasing complexity in an ever-accelerating world. Be a part of the conversation that taps the opportunities to manage the extremes in leading people, products and processes.
 
INNOVATE versus ITERATE: more vs. less; simple vs. complex; proven vs. unproven; create vs. edit; abstract vs. tangible
REVOLUTION versus EVOLUTION: generalist vs. specialist; experience vs. youth
MEASURED versus INTUITIVE: thinking vs. making; abstract vs. tangible; risk vs. reward; structured vs. organic
 
Join us as DMI's West Coast conference moves to Portland, Oregon, at the beautifully renovated Gerding Theatre at the Armory.
 
More information
Register by March 26 and save!
 
   

A New DMI Seminar:
 
Designing Business Strategy: Creating customer-centered, holistic strategies and tactics
Dave Norton, PhD, Principal, Lead Strategist, Stone Mantel
Jeff VanDeVelde, Senior Vice President, Direct of Client Experience and Loyalty, SunTrust Banks, Inc.
Bryan Searing, Lead Strategist, Stone Mantel
Whitney Stewart, SunTrust Banks, Inc.
 
April 19-20, 2012, New York City, USA
November 8-9, 2012, Seattle, USA
 
Increasingly, design thinkers are called on to solve the most challenging issues in business: how to innovate in a highly regulated industry or how to increase customer demand for products that been extended too far for too long—or, just how to thrive in a world that uncertain. Customer-centered value proposition development, business strategy, and innovation principles are key requirements for any company that wants to delight its customers.
 
This seminar provides you with the skills you need to think about, lead, and deliver holistic, experiential organization-wide thinking to solve the biggest challenges your company faces. Designing business strategy takes you step-by-step through the systems-based thinking to discover new opportunities, define the requirements for success, demonstrate the value created, and act as an organization to execute. This seminar is appropriate for design leaders within corporate environments who are looking to guide corporate innovation across multiple channels.
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Webinar:
 
Designing for organic growth: Partnering with managers to help them succeed
Jeanne Liedtka, Professor of Management, Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia
February 15, 2012, 1PM ET
 
Ask managers at any level, in almost any organization, and they'll tell you that they struggle to produce the kind of profitable organic growth that is expected of them. Most organizations, our research suggests, don't give their managers tools to find growth, their business mindset and processes don't support people who do somehow stumble upon growth opportunities, and their corporate cultures seal the deal by turning growth into an unnatural act.

Partnering with designers—and using the tools and techniques associated with a design thinking approach—offers a superior option for helping managers to overcome the growth challenge. But introducing this new way of thinking to managers can be perilous. In this session, we will look at some advice from designers who've succeeded.
More information
 
Interested in presenting a webinar? Contact DMI for info.
 
 

Seminars:
 
Team Dynamics: Resourcing for Success
Dieter Reuther, Operations Consultant, Cast Collective
Sabrina Jetton, Design Consultant, Cast Collective
March 8-9, 2012, Chicago, USA
November 1-2, 2012, New York, USA
 
Through insightful presentations, interactive dialogues, and hands-on activities, you will learn how to analyze, diagnose, and improve the chemistry of your project teams, optimize project outcomes, and increase profitability.
More information
 
Building Great Internal Design Organizations
Thomas Lockwood, PhD, Editor, DMI Review; Founding Partner, Lockwood Resource
April 12-13, 2012, San Francisco, USA
 
"Excellent packaging of all the relevant elements of design management that experienced design managers are looking for."
—John L. Guenther, LWS Industrial Design Competency Manager, Hewlett-Packard
More information
 
Design Research and the Customer-Driven Strategy
Darrel Rhea, Founder & CEO, Rhea Insight
April 23-24, 2012, Helsinki, Finland
 
"This is the single most valuable, relevant, timely and enabling seminar that I have ever attended. In just two days, we learned tools and methods that will be immediately usable in my job."
—Jeff Lopes, UX Director, Autodesk, Inc.
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Improving Design Decision Making and Concept Evaluation
Jeremy Alexis, Assistant Dean and Professor, IIT Institute of Design
May 17-18, 2012, Boston, USA
 
"The emphasis on core principles made this seminar incredibly useful. It fed my understanding and set me up for informed and effective action."
—Philip Hartley, Senior Design Strategist, Smart Design
More information
 
Service Design for Business: Key Methods and Strategies for In-House Teams
Engine Service Design
May 24-25, 2012, London, UK
 
"Comments from participants: "Great overall! I don't usually give perfect scores but you really were excellent. Thanks and well done!" "I gained great insight, usable for my organization, both internal and external."
More information
 
 

Collaboration at Mass Scale
Jake Barton, Principal & Founder, Local Projects

Originally presented during DMI's conference, "Design at Scale," October 25-26, 2011, New York City
 
The lowest-common denominator may be the most popular approach to mass scale, but it's not the most effective, and increasingly, not the safest either. Drawing on examples from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Jake Barton demonstrates how participation in design and the design process can engage the public, focus internal stakeholders, and create revelatory innovation.
View the video
 

From Products to Services: Understanding the New Rules of Engagement

By Jeneanne Rae, CEO, Motiv Strategies; Carl Fudge, Director, Motiv Strategies; and Colin Hudson, Innovation Strategist, Motiv Strategies
DMI Review, Vol. 22, No. 4, 2011
 
Once upon a time consumers bought products to fit their needs. Now, successful companies design service alternatives that meet those same needs.
 
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Call for DMI Review Article Submissions:
September 2012 Issue: Design Entrepreneurship
To what degree is design providing an entrepreneurial approach to problem solving? Who leads the process of design for change, and who is responsible for the results? What is the overlap between design, business strategy and change management? To what extent should design managers be supporting entrepreneurship, business transformation, and seek to become "business engineers?" Please send article proposals by March 1 to editor@dmi.org.
 

Design Management Journal Article:
Social Innovation in Brazil through Design Strategy

By Carla Cipolla, Associate Professor, Rio de Janeiro Federal University/ COPPE, DESIS Group; and Heloisa Moura, Research Associate, Rio de Janeiro Federal University/ COPPE, DESIS Group
Design Management Journal, Vol. 6, 2011
 
The world is filled with pressing social challenges that cry out for solution. On the one side are issues related to natural resources, and on the other are problems with service systems. This article presents and analyzes four projects developed in Brazil using the role of design strategy to promote and support sustainable change, and discusses the theoretical framework supporting these projects.
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The annual Design Management Journal is DMI's peer-reviewed academic publication. A subscription to the Journal is included with all DMI Review subscriptions and all DMI memberships.
 

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