Insights on Strategic Design

Strategic Design Insights

Insights about business, research, strategy, branding, culture, and customer experience

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What is Market Positioning?

Five easy questions. Hard answers.

CX Systems: 25 Lenses for Experience Design

Creating experience design systems – customers, users, employees.

The Push

Commercial furniture manufacturers are being pushed toward retail.

Measured Success

Metrics are great, but be careful what you measure.

Please Rate Your Experience

Human experience, a product of consciousness itself, is hard to define and evaluate.

What's the Problem?

To make a bigger difference, find the right problem.

UX Principles at Work

The new reality for work is hard to ignore.

Unbundling Education

For many institutions, it is time to rethink the overall value proposition of education.

Experiences, Large and Small

Layers of experience, from macro to micro, are on the same continuum.

Happy Banana, Sad Banana

Is your team a Happy Banana or a Sad Banana?

Accelerated Change

We need a new frame for the challenges we face today. In the middle of a global pandemic, we find ourselves at home, left to consider what comes next.

WWAD - What Would Amazon Do?

Despite the hoopla, the information age is just beginning

The Industrial Mindset

Solving today's new problems for people requires a different mindset.

Sparking Growth

Sparking growth and keeping it lit requires a leader to adapt to the changing needs of their organization.

No NeoCon. Now What?

A new normal will soon emerge for many industries, including commercial furnishings.

Mining the Technology Gap

What role do new technologies play in your organization?

Let’s Make a Deal

Reconsidering the Dealer Value Chain

Learning and Leadership

Many are starting to think about what comes next, but a new reality was already emerging for education.

Hard Reset: What’s Next for Office Furniture

Navigating the relationship between furniture and work.

Crossing the Collaboration Divide

How will our tools and environments support collaboration?

Branded Environments

Impressive-looking facilities, from factories to offices, have been points of pride and vehicles for sales assurance for corporate owners and their customers.

Brand Love

People love brands—and love to hate brands.

Absorbing Complexity

In order to create simplicity, organizations have to absorb complexity.

Changing Expectations for B2B

Customers have new expectations for B2B firms.

Next Wave Furniture Innovation

Furniture innovation goes beyond furniture

Beyond NeoCon

It's time to think beyond NeoCon and the boundaries of the current market

Your Inner Brand

Was Carl Jung an expert in branding?

Brand Forward

Brand meaning and customer experience are foundational for brand platforms.

Change and Choice

Change can be hard to see. New lenses are needed to chart the course for a new era.

Transformation and Identity

Leaders lead by confidently taking a bold steps.

Customer Experience Planning

Keeping means and ends straight is a way forward.

Inspiration from Nature

Built environment designers often look to nature for inspiration.

Collapse and Opportunity in the Built Environments Value Chain

How companies communicate and conduct business continues to change, and competitors need to position themselves to be ready.

The Most Important Things (Are Nobody’s Job)

Customers are looking for meaningful experiences. Brands need to connect the dots.

The Creator Lever

Finding space to co-create meaning.

Rethinking Product Sampling

What do eyeglasses and textiles have in common?

Office Ergonomics, Health, and Wellness

The evolution of office ergonomics.

Second Cities

Start looking at the market from different perspectives.

Privacy in the Open Office

Privacy in office environments is an ever present issue.

Creating the New

Creative processes are predictably unpredictable.

The Need to Get Different

Adapting to a world of change

New Problems

The character of your problem should define your approach.

Make Research Actionable

Avoiding the gap between insights and application.

Digital Strategies for B2B Brands

Implementing a strong digital strategy can supplement your sales and marketing teams.

Challenger Brands

Brands that challenge increase awareness.

Brand is Not a Garnish

Lipstick doesn’t go on pigs, and brand is not a garnish.

Authentic Brand Engagement

Driving brand engagement by authentic interactions.

Above the Market Noise

Start integrating your consumers point of view.

What Did We Learn from WeWork?

The contract furniture industry will need to adapt to evolving customer needs.

The New Classroom

Whether educators are utilizing AI, mobile apps, or VR/AR tools, the landscape of learning is being reshaped.

The Landscape of Furniture and Work

Trends shape the industry landscape. Competitors will need to mind the waves.

The Brand Bermuda Triangle

Bridging the gap between sales, marketing, and IT.

Tell a Different Story: Meaningful Talent Acquisition

It’s time to build a talent-centric acquisition process.

Regional Branding

Can the branding principles that apply to organizations also apply to place?

Nonverbal Branding

Backing up your claim with more than words.

Is Prestige Dead in Higher Ed?

Rising education costs and the value of the degree.

Is Design Changing?

The future is unwritten, but that shouldn't stop us from thinking about design.

Human-Centered Design in HR: Building Agile Organizations

Building agile organizations requires agile employees and a human-centered design approach to HR.

Furniture as Technology

Business model innovation and product innovation go hand-in-hand.

Framing Design

Understanding the nature of the problem is the foundation of good problem-solving.

Brand and Customer Identity

Six stages to link your brand identity to your customer.

Alumni are Worth More than Donations

Using alumni in the admissions process.

Brand Psychology

Brands are about what people think.

Brand Meaning

Brands are about perception, communication, aspiration, and identity.

Brand Evolution

Change is inevitable, but the rate of change for a brand is a strategic choice.

Design Thinking

Creating Brand Standards

Creating actionable brand standards.

Customer Experience Systems

Balancing the needs of customers and organizations with systems thinking.

The Reach of Design

What are the boundaries and opportunities of design?

Connect with Your Customer

5 steps for creating a sustainable advantage in the connection economy

UX of Work

Physical, digital, or hybrid experiences are part of what’s next.

Brand IP (Intellectual Property) - Protecting Brand Investments

Protecting your Brand Investments - Brand Intellectual Property