Idea in Brief
The Problem
Complex new designs of products (say, an electric vehicle) or systems (like a school system) typically struggle to gain acceptance. Many good groundbreaking ideas fail in the starting gate.
Why It Happens
New products and systems often require people to change established business models and behaviors. As a result they encounter stiff resistance from their intended beneficiaries and from the people who have to deliver or operate them.
The Solution
Treat the introduction of the new product or system—the “designed artifact”—as a design challenge itself. When Intercorp Group in Peru took that approach, it won acceptance for a new technology-enabled school concept in which the teacher facilitates learning rather than serves as the sole lesson provider.
Throughout most of history, design was a process applied to physical objects. Raymond Loewy designed trains. Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses. Charles Eames designed furniture. Coco Chanel designed haute couture. Paul Rand designed logos. David Kelley designed products, including (most famously) the mouse for the Apple computer.
