Nokia PDC19 – Annual Professional Development Conference – Naperville, Oct 2019
Reviewed on Sunday, October 20, 2019.
Thank you note.
Special thanks to Nokia’s own Terri Edmudns and Rose Martin for all of the help that went into scheduling and setting up the Studio’s session on Design Thinking.
Our campus was packed with participants and PDC volunteers. I apologize about not being able to complete my thank you note here since I am missing quite a few other names at the time of writing this.
PDC19’s Design Thinking Session.
“Diversity of Thought and Creative Tensions as Innovation Toolset” was the theme of our discussions at the Studio where HCD, Human Centered Design, and HFE, Human Factors Engineering, practices are center stage.
The job in hand.
Nokia’s Venture Studio leverages a meta-methodology combining practices such as Design Thinking and DTV, Design to Value to name some examples.
Our workstyle intentionally seeks “Diversity of Thought” and “Creative Tensions” so that we can better explore and craft genuine creative solutions. The more complex the problem in front of us, the more relevant our line of work becomes.
Our job entails applying a variety of optics, looking for both visible and hidden patterns as well as identifying outliers and anomalies. We expand our range of vision through Cartesian skepticism and unconstrained analysis. Basically, pressing the “reset button” and thinking twice in a matter of speaking.
(Design) thinking twice.
The workflow iterates thru adaptive DPCs, Design & Prototyping Cycles, and converges by pressing the “freeze button” to articulate a constrained synthesis with the information and insights available at that point of time.
A project flow is not necessarily linear. We can move forward, backward and sideways… re-focus, deep dive and zoom out as necessary. But, “paralysis by analysis” is not an option: we are always operating on design and prototyping mode.
Note that we can redefine problem areas and shape technological solutions in novel ways. Nothing is a given. Discovery can lead to transitioning from solving for “problem X” (e.g. known needs and usual suspects) to a new and game changing “opportunity Y” addressing otherwise unsuspected areas.
Concrete scenarios and real options.
On the critical path, the interim outcome is the generation of parameterized “A/…/N options” and decisioning models that guide and inform: value, priorities, benefits, risks and trade-offs, which feed the valuation model.
Diversity of Thought takes true diversity and interdisciplinary teamwork, coupled with “outside-in” and “inside-out” feedback-loop cycles, dismantling silos that otherwise impose arbitrary boundaries, paralysis by analysis or the latency and suboptimal effects of design by committee.
About Nokia PDC 2019.
Nokia PDC’s scope goes beyond formal training to cross-pollinate and facilitate serendipity. All of that involves know-how sharing, new connections and networking activities to better collaborate.
At the back end we experience growth at individual, team and organizational levels. Thanks again for the opportunity to be part of this conference this year.