Tag: design thinking

In our search for convenience and efficiency, many of our everyday chores have become monotonous routines. But what if those repetitive actions could instead become a way to bring joy into our lives?

In this article, Sarita Wilkinson, Insights Editor at PDD, explores the power of rituals and how consumer brands can elevate our everyday experiences, as we interact with the functional objects in our lives.

People’s relationship with their homes is shifting, from the artefacts that populate our space, to the way in which we consume resources.

In this article, Jamie Buckley, Creative Director at PDD, explores how data and behaviour change is shaping the future of our living spaces; and how we can design better home products and experiences to meet consumers’ changing expectations and build trust.

When was the last time you pulled when it said ‘push’?

Every day, we are surrounded by products and services that somehow, don’t work as we expect them to. Whether it is an ‘impossible-to-follow’ set of instructions or the ‘push’ sign on a handle that clearly invites you to pull, people are constantly forced to develop workarounds to compensate for poor design.

Design can be a powerful driver for change – it can inspire new behaviours and drive us to think and act more responsibly. But to innovate ourselves to a better future, a puritanical focus on reducing impact will not do.

In this article, Marko Plevnik, Principal – Industrial Design at PDD, reflects on the importance of character in good design and the need to create meaningful experiences that are emotionally rewarding and encourage people to do the right thing. 

We are delighted to announce that our colleague Oliver Breit, is taking the helm as Sector Leader Industrial – Commercial at PDD. Based in Hong Kong, Oliver has over 20 years experience leading design, innovation and product development programmes with global clients.

The online learning programme enables organisations to access various video-based courses and effective tools needed to discover and define opportunities, brainstorm, prototype and test solutions.

PDD and Skillsoft, a global leader in corporate learning, today jointly announced that they will be launching an online learning programme on Design Thinking later this year.

While we are all conscious that big data will be transforming our businesses and even our way of life, the best use and how to translate all of that data is not always immediately evident. Human-Centered Design helps find the most meaningful ways to translate big data into information that your business can use to the benefit of your organisation.

At PDD, we get asked this question a lot. What is Design thinking? So here is a brief summary of what it means and the benefits it could have to your organisation.

One of PDD’s objectives has been to build on the success of its Innovation Training programme and expand it into Asia. Last year, PDD organised several taster HCD workshops during IXDC and delivered a private customised workshop to one of its clients in Asia. PDD’s first Asia specific public ‘Accelerating Innovation through Human-Centred Design (HCD)’ workshop took place in Shanghai on 19th and 20th July, and thankfully it occurred just before the heatwave hit 40℃!

So the waiting list for London’s first naked restaurant has gone through the roof. The Bunyadi opens in June 2016 for three months and claims to offer diners an experience “free and unadulterated from the trappings of modern life” including phones, electric lights and even clothing. According to a press release, the naked themed menu includes vegan and omnivore dishes made with all-natural ingredients an d cooking methods, served on handmade clay plates, with edible cutlery.

All too often our health care is taken for granted, and we assume it will always be available to serve our community’s needs. The question is “How healthy are our healthcare facilities to handle the diversity of services and to produce healthy outcomes for an expansive and unprecedented market of six (6) living generations – all distinctively different with a diverse set of needs and priorities?”

As someone who loves a good mash-up, I was keen to see (feel, hear, smell and taste) how Kitchen Theory’s collaborative gastronomic project fused the fields of gastronomy; food science, food culture, food history, multisensory flavour perception, and neurogastronomy into its first Multi-Sensory Gastronomy Seminar and networking event. The event brought together people interested in synaesthesia (“union of the senses”–a condition in which two or more of the senses are involuntarily and automatically joined together) and crossmodal interactions (how the brain integrates information across the different sensory modalities).

A few weeks ago I posted a mash-of Larry Keeley’s Ten Types of Innovation and Alexander Osterwalder’s and Yves Pigneur’s Business Model Canvas (BMC).

During my internship with PDD, I participated in the LUMA Institute + PDD’s Human-Centred Design (HCD) for Innovation workshop that the PDD HCD team runs several times a year in London.

Our friends at Intersection-inc. attended the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, IL, and provided some insights into the hot topics and products from the show.

Are you happy? Although happiness is something we all strive for, achieving it is actually quite difficult. Could we use design to help make our lives happier?

Today we sadly say goodbye to Ross our Modelmaker & CNC Engineer and fellow running partner for the past two and half years. We will miss him and wish him all the best of luck in his future endeavour!

‘Simple, but not easy!’ To create a breath-taking, efficient and simple product, clear and logical ‘design thinking’ is a must. It can help to deliver an accurate and effective result. Check out the link below from Matt Candy: a talk by Peter Day about how innovative designers use special thinking processes in the real world.

Not too long ago, our Senior Consultant Creative Lead Shun Ishikawa travelled to Japan to facilitate a unique workshop. Upon his return, we quizzed him on the event, the people and what he learnt from the experience: