Ravi Sawhney

New Models for Engaging Consumers: A Report from Opportunity Green

Ravi Sawhney — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:25:00 -0500

The business and sustainability conference Opportunity Green, held this past weekend in L.A., was an amazing experience. As we watched the various films and presentations, my wife and I moved from fear (How will the world survive?) to guilt (Look how we've polluted our planet!) to the hope that we can all work together, connected by the belief and passion that we will find a better way.

Teaching Moments: A New Era for Design Education

Ravi Sawhney — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:19:20 -0400

Taking the time to teach is one of the most rewarding ways of contributing to the growth of our profession. Through the years, I've been fortunate enough to teach and speak about design and design thinking at schools that include Harvard, SCAD, and Art Center College of Design.

A Better Way to Health Care Reform: Is There a Designer in the House?

Ravi Sawhney — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:34:40 -0400

As I watch the debate over health care reform, I've begun to see clearly how designers can create a solution that wouldn't be such a bitter pill for so many and would help quiet the level of disagreement currently being experienced by so many.

Here's how my plan would work.

Broken Guitar Has United Playing the Blues to the Tune of $180 Million

Ravi Sawhney — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:25:14 -0400

Singer-songwriter Dave Carroll's United flight had just landed when he heard a passenger behind him exclaim, "My god they're throwing guitars out there." Members of his band, Sons of Maxwell, looked out in time to see their guitars being tossed by baggage handlers. When Carroll later confirmed that his beloved guitar was a casualty in the melee, it wasn't just his $3,500 Taylor guitar that was broken. His heart was broken, too. He was able to have the guitar repaired for $1,200, but it will never be quite the same.

Why Designers Need to Focus on Focus Groups

Ravi Sawhney — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:29:25 -0400

Back in the day--and by "the day," I mean the legendary days of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and legendary computer scientist Alan Kay--we would say, "We spend millions in research and development figuring everything out, and then the first consumer who walks up to the machine can tell you everything that's wrong." Today, market research is a $19 billion industry and focus groups are one of the most expensive types of market research.

Over-Innovation: A Cautionary Tale

Ravi Sawhney — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:40:40 -0400

There's a tale often told in design circles of how, in the heat of the space race, NASA paid over a million dollars to develop a pen that worked in zero gravity. The Russians, however, took a different approach. They used a pencil.

Design Roundtable: Why Do Cell Phones Go Out of Fashion so Quickly?

Alissa Walker — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:38:57 -0400

Once again we've got our favorite design experts gathered around our virtual roundtable, talking about (but not on) cell phones. Here's how our design roundtables work: We choose the topic, put forth a few questions to our panel, and bring the most provocative answers back to you.

Roadmap for Recovery: Five Ways to Come Out on Top

Ravi Sawhney — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:48:50 -0400

In my last post, I shared five short-term strategies for surviving the downturn by using design thinking as a roadmap to connect your business with consumers. Once you've weathered the worst of the economic storms, it's time to plan for the future. To survive and thrive into the next upturn, you must innovate now. Innovation fueled by consumer insight will propel your company into the future, empowering you to rocket past your competition.

Design Roundtable: How Can Cell Phones Improve the World?

Alissa Walker — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 19:45:55 -0400

This week, with more details about the Palm Pre and some rumors about Apple's 2009 iPhone event on Monday, it seemed a good time to gather our design experts together and ponder some issues about our love affair with mobile. Today's question: How can cell phones be used to improve the world?

Design Roundtable: How Have Cell Phones Changed Our Behavior?

Alissa Walker — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:24:48 -0400

Wouldn't it be fun, we thought, to gather our growing roster of design expert bloggers in a room and toss out hot-button design issues for them to ponder, peruse and debate? Well, we can't overnight them to our Fast Company conference table, but thanks to some of the things they've designed, we've got the next best thing: a virtual roundtable. We choose the topic, put forth a few questions to our panel and bring the most provocative answers back to you.

Roadmap for Recovery: Five Ways to Help Your Company Survive Now

Ravi Sawhney — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:43:03 -0400

History has shown that hard times can provide as much opportunity as pitfalls. Want proof? Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, and Xerox are just three innovation-driven companies that were founded during the Great Depression. More recently, both Apple and Microsoft began in the midst of an economic trough in the mid-1970s.

In this post and the next, I'd like to share ways in which design thinking can provide a roadmap that will help you position your company to not only survive the recession, but thrive through the recovery.

Design Like a Surfer..and How Hyundai Caught the Wave

Ravi Sawhney — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:56:00 -0400

Over the past decade, driven by an ever-more sophisticated consumer, design has gone from being a bonus to being an essential ingredient in almost every market sector.

Designing From the First-Person Perspective

Ravi Sawhney — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:59:14 -0400

In professional industrial design, designs aren't really for the designers. They aren't even for the clients. They're for the end-users. I believe we get the best results when we "design from the first-person perspective" and really immerse ourselves in the user experience. When we understand the touch points the user identifies with, the needs that drive them, and the benefits they seek, we can create designs people crave. The more we're able to focus on the user, the more we're create deep emotional connections.

Change-Agent Designs: They Inspire You to Do the Right Thing

Ravi Sawhney — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:08:05 -0400

While designs are often the result of great inspiration, I'm even more interested in designs that themselves inspire. I'm a great believer in design's power to effect positive change in the world. Understandably, the first job at hand is often to create a positive effect on a company's bottom line. But it's absolutely possible to make money and make a difference.

iPhone Apps and the Making of the 99 Cent Hero

Ravi Sawhney — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:23:20 -0400

The Web Design That Changed the World

Ravi Sawhney — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:12:25 -0400

Design's Reach: Let's Begin a Dialogue

Ravi Sawhney — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:57:44 -0400

Design. Everyone seems to know about it. Some discredit it as superficial, while others crave it as a lifestyle. Business can be perplexed by it or harness its power. Not even designers can agree on its meaning.

Welcoming Guest Blogger Ravi Sawhney: His Water Bottle Makes Me Feel Cool

Linda Tischler — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:49:10 -0400

I am not a slave to design. I have an embarrassingly low tech cell phone. Carry a functional, non-designer handbag. Do not wear cool, Kazuo Kawasaki glasses. But I'm in love with my cleverly-designed water bottle. It's the envy of the office. A sleek, cool beach-glass blue, non-BPA number with a top you can pop off with a flick of the thumb and a funny little message ("Laugh often!") under the lid, it's an artifact I take to meetings with pride. No clunky bottle that looks like I just wandered in from hiking the Appalachian Trail for me!