The collaboration between IIT Mumbai and IIT Chicago featured Chicago students directing research in Powai, and IIT Mumbai students directing research in Chicago. As a result, research approaches were tailored to each group of students’ needs. IIT Mumbai students focused on physical product design solutions and IIT Chicago focused on designing systems and strategies encompassing combinations of product, communication and service design opportunities. The goal of all of the projects was to contribute to increasing prosperity and small business growth within Chicago and the Powai neighborhood.

Key insights and design ideas derived from the collaboration

Exploring the possibility of for-profit and not-for-profit hybrids

Students explored the creation of for-profit/not-for-profit hybrid organizations by designing systems that:

• Strengthen communities by connecting local resources
  A self-sustaining business model for a Balwadi that integrates a non-for-profit community service provider, a for-profit entity and an educational incubator around the core values of creating social and economic value for the Powai slum community.
  (Gauri Verma, Valerie Campbell, Edwin Steinmetz , Vishwesh Kelkar)

• Empowering Self-employed Women in Powai through Social Networking
  A Kitty-Cooperative model for women’s groups in the Powai slum designed make NGOs more effective in addressing the needs of their constituents in the areas of health, education and financial independence.
  (Bhumi Gajjar, Soham Patel, Anshul Maheshwari)

Utilization of Ubiquitous or Predominant Technologies

Record-keeping and Credit Management Systems for Kirana Stores in Powai. New paper ledgers and record-keeping applications for mobile phones address preponderance of credit-based transactions, unclear payback details, and shop owner’s monopoly of the main register in stores. (Antonio Quinones, Nai-Hwa Chiang, Preethi Lakshminarayanan, Swapnil Jadhav)

Exploring New Types of Currency

Efficient Scrap Collection Systems for Powai Slums A scrap collection system that offers increased efficiency and profitability to Powai scrap collectors by facilitating networking, scrap processing, price transparency and the introduction of incentives. (Vasile Bora, Dan Folwaczny, Kyungsun Kim, Shilpa Rao, Amy Sprague)

The full paper was presented on April 7, 2009 at SDSE 2008, Bangkok Thailand.

20091123_092213_Sustainability_and_a_Global_Design_Process.pdf

(Lisbet Thyge Frandsen was asked to give her take on the question ‘what is the state of the art for the Danish industries working with co-creation and innovation?’ Read the case ‘Grundfos invests in talent’ here)

About Lisbet Thyge Frandsen

(Lisbet Thyge Frandsen was asked to give her take on the question ‘how do you see co-creation as a potential for future growth?’ Read the case ‘Grundfos invests in talent’ here)

About Lisbet Thyge Frandsen

Recognize or reward people for their co-creative efforts, but keep in mind that intrinsic motivation beats extrinsic motivation.

Don’t try to design experiences for people. You can’t. Do provide scaffolds for them to use in creating their own experiences.

(Copenhagen Co’creation asked Liz Sanders to comment on three co-creation challenges. Read the interview with Liz Sanders ‘The right tools for the job’)

About Liz Sanders

The existing power structures in most companies today are built on hierarchy and control. Co-creative thinking threatens the existing power structures. It is very difficult for those who have been successful while being in control to give it up now. The new generation will have an easier time.

(Copenhagen Co’creation asked Liz Sanders to comment on three co-creation challenges. Read the interview with Liz Sanders ‘The right tools for the job’)

As we all know, the world is becoming more and more complex. If we are to meet such major challenges as the financial crisis, the environment and climate change, we shall have to collate knowledge from many different fields and apply it in a completely new way. Otherwise we stand to miss the innovation train. Many design-driven companies are already meeting these challenges by using a new form of open innovation, but in general Danish companies and organisations could do much better.

But why co-creation? Co-creation can help stimulate growth. It is all about getting across the idea that diversity creates innovation. You do not move forward by just doing ‘business as usual’, but by constantly challenging yourself. Those companies that manage actively to involve users in the creation of new products tend to hit the jackpot, in the sense that are handed a short cut to knowledge about user behaviour, which makes it easier for them to understand the complexities of the global market. At the same time, co-creation makes its own demands: companies must be able to manage differences and diversity and to let go of controls and habitual patterns of thought. This in turn calls for management backing and the will to change.

Design fuels growth
In August this year, the Danish Design Association, in association with the Danish Chamber of Commerce, The Confederation of Danish Industry, the Dansk Design Centre / Copenhagen DesignWeek and INDEX: invited more than 150 managers, researchers and innovation experts from all over the world to Copenhagen with the aim of setting up a new innovation network called Copenhagen Co’creation. The idea was to establish a professional network that will help produce new knowledge and market Denmark as an international centre for innovation in design.

Historically speaking, Danish Design has been a goldmine, and though it continues to receive international recognition, competition is very tough. Therefore we are forced to make a renewed effort, and companies will have to put on their thinking caps if we are to compete with countries like Great Britain, Finland and Germany, which, according to a survey of competitiveness published by the Danish government in 2009, earn more from newly-developed products than we do in Denmark. The whole field of design clearly offers massive, unexploited potential – a potential which we can and must tap in to if we want to get Denmark back on the world design map. Among the design-fuelled companies that have already achieved major successes by using co-creation to drive innovation are CPH Design, Grundfos, Novozymes, Vestas and LEGO.

Grundfos is developing global talent
For a long time now, the Danish company, Grundfos, a giant in the field of pumps, has been working to involve users in development processes and has recently set up a global talent programme using the co-creation method. Instead of creating innovation behind closed doors, Grundfos has shifted the responsibility to 40 employees, who despite widely different cultures and professional backgrounds have set up a programme for developing new talent which is has proved very successful.

It may be easier than we think. If we are to increase growth in Denmark, all the evidence suggests that we can achieve great things by adopting a more holistic approach to innovation.

About Gitte Just

In the innovation economy the individual is being placed at the focus of innovation. This is a fact that not only companies but also policy makers must face. Today you need to involve citizens and businesses in the co-creation of new public policies and services to create relevant solutions and to reap the benefits of innovation.

Realizing this, the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority has taken policy making a step further by bringing it into the new age of social media. The Authority has launched a new online platform which gives the public a chance to co-create the future Danish design policy.

The online platform allows citizens, organizations and businesses to suggest ideas for the policy as part of the Authority’s review of the current design policy. The platform is open to anyone who wants to have their say on the future design policy.

To kick off the discussions on this site we have asked design institutions, design experts and companies to formulate which challenges they find most important. Everybody can participate by commenting on the challenges or by presenting ideas of how to solve the challenges.

The first part of the project runs until the end of October 2009. In this part we collect ideas and comments from the platform. Afterwards selected themes will be further discussed to formulate input to the future Danish design policy.

We would like to invite all of you to take part in the process, and if you feel inspired share your ideas or comments on www.policydesignthinking.com.

We hope that many will join and help us co-create the future Danish design policy.