IN THE FACE OF CURRENT CHALLENGES — those we face today and those yet to come — we all need ways to prepare to act even when we are uncertain. Design offers tools and methods not for a changed world, but for an ever-changing one; and as a result, we are in the midst of a shift to a world where design plays a broader role in society.
One important implication of the expanding role of design is the responsibility that comes with taking that attitude of inventiveness and creating products, experiences and systems that change the world around you for the better. When you design, you shape the world for others, whether you’re redesigning the evening routine for your family or an entire public health system.
Thinking and learning like a designer can be tremendously powerful. But success is never about a single approach or moment of insight. In my recent book, I present 81 exercises that can keep you and your team learning — and designing — indefinitely. In this article I will share three of them with you.
METHOD 1: Stakeholder Mapping
An idea alone is rarely enough to change the status quo. You need a group of people to get behind the idea, clear the way to try it out, and sometimes retire old or competing ideas in the process. When your goal is to improve or redesign experiences within large, complex systems, you should focus first and foremost on the people whose lives are most affected by that system. But trying to improve a system with only that one group of stakeholders in
