This is week 3 of the course I am taking on design. Week 3 focused on turning user needs into design concepts. Design concepts are a visual representation of a solution. There are four elements to a good concept: 1. The concept addresses user needs 2. The concept is responsive to cost 3. The concept…

This is week 2 of the course I am taking on design. Week 2 focused on problem definition and user needs. My first takeaway was the Kano framework. This was proposed by Noriaki Kano and shows the four different types of needs – must haves, linear needs, latent need and don’t care. Latent needs were…

I am taking a course through the University of Pennsylvania titled “Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society.” According to its description: This is a course aimed at making you a better designer. The course marries theory and practice, as both are valuable in improving design performance. Lectures and readings will lay out the fundamental concepts…

Last week’s post introduced the Process Innovation Canvas and the various elements it contains.  This week’s post will offer a little more detail on each of the building blocks.  Next week we will begin to explore how to use the Canvas.   The Building Blocks: Customer Every process serves one or more Customers. Customers are…

As I speak with others in the community, I hear over and over questions about methodology.  “Should I use Six Sigma?”  “Should I use Lean?”  “Which methodology is best for business process improvement?” What I have come to realize is that the methodology is not the most important piece of process improvement – rather, it…