Navigating Design in Transformation

Words have meaning.

Words can be defined in many ways — and can be misinterpreted in just as many ways depending on the context in which they are used.

Have you ever had a conversation about ‘design’ with a development team only to find half-way through the conversation that you are talking about the UI and the Customer, and they are talking about the design of the database structures, the code, or the technology stack?

It’s easy if the context isn’t clear to get confused and get into a position of having said — or done — the wrong thing at the wrong moment.

For me the word “transformation” is one of these commonly confused — and often overused — words.

When an organisation kicks off a transformation program — as many organisations do these days — there can be a lack of clarity about what they mean by transformation. Are they transforming their products or services? Are they transforming their organisational structures? Are they transforming their approach to Customer engagement and the market?

Or are they even transforming anything at all?

Organisations with a clear strategy recognise the differences between these things and therefore know which bits of transformation they are working on, in what order, and also understand a…