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Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design (Design Thinking, Design Theory) by Kees Dorst
How organizations can use practices developed by expert designers to solve today's open, complex, dynamic, and networked problems. When organizations apply old methods of problem-solving to new kinds of problems, they may accomplish only temporary fixes or some ineffectual tinkering around the edges. Today's problems are a new breed—open, complex, dynamic, and networked—and require a radically different response. In this book, Kees Dorst describes a new, innovation-centered approach to problem-solving in frame creation. It applies “design thinking,” but it goes beyond the borrowed tricks and techniques that usually characterize that term. Frame creation focuses not on the generation of solutions but on the ability to create new approaches to the problem situation itself. The strategies Dorst presents are drawn from the unique, sophisticated, multilayered practices of top designers, and from insights that have emerged from fifty years of design research. Dorst describes the nine steps of the frame creation process and illustrates their application to real-world problems with a series of varied case studies. He maps innovative solutions that include rethinking a store layout so retail spaces encourage purchasing rather than stealing, applying the frame of a music festival to understand late-night problems of crime and congestion in a club district, and creative ways to attract young employees to a temporary staffing agency. Dorst provides tools and methods for implementing frame creation, offering not so much a how-to manual as a do-it-yourself handbook—a guide that will help practitioners develop their own approaches to problem-solving and creating innovation.
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First published February 27, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 1, 2015
Kees Dorst’s book on ‚frame innovation’ seeks to position design thinking as uniquely qualified to help us come to grips with the wicked - i.e. open, complex, dynamic, and networked - problems of our times.
More particularly, Dorst wants to foreground a strand of design thinking that obeys a specific rationale of ‚reframing’. Its aim is not to provide solutions to a well-specified problem but to put these issues in a new light so that unthought of possibilities for desirable change can emerge.
So in a way this book constitutes an attempt to reframe ‚design thinking’ away from a mere set of tools to generate solutions to a generic but structured approach to create novel approaches to knotty problem situations.
The heart of the book is a 9-step ’method’ that actually uses the open and dynamic nature of the challenges it seeks to attack to its advantage. Their wickedness shouldn’t intimidate and paralyze us. It is as much an invitation to question received opinions, step out of defined roles and try out new approaches.
The framing method is not a radical departure from the classical design thinking toolbox. A lot will be familiar to professionals in the field of design-driven innovation. Distinctive is the nexus from ‚paradox’ to ‚field’ to ‚theme’ to ‚frame’. This in an intellectual movement that meshes synthesis, contextual analysis, lateral thinking and abstraction to yield novel perspectives on a problematic situation. But it’s not a cookbook approach that unfailingly delivers an ‚aha’ experience. Dorst helpfully illustrates the approach through a large number of cases in a variety of settings (although a large majority of them are public sector projects).
The core insights presented by Frame Innovation are really valuable. However, I have a few gripes with the book.
First, the author has a scholarly temperament and the core argument is embedded in a rich and layered discussion on the nature of the design activity that is littered with conceptual frameworks. On the whole I appreciated that that but readers who like to cut quickly to the chase may lose their patience.
More grieving I found the relative insularity of the whole argument. Dorst briefly discusses the fit of the frame innovation approach with traditional innovation management. There is also a fleeting reference to Saras Sarasvathy’s theory on effectual entrepreneurship. But he misses an opportunity to establish a very solid and pertinent link with the realm of systems thinking. There is no doubt that frame innovation meshes well with approaches such as soft systems methodology, critical systems thinking and causal layered analysis.
A key element of the Frame Innovation approach is its final step - Integration - whereby the capacity for reframing is embedded in organizational routines. Given the potentially disruptive nature of the approach this will very likely generate resistance. So this is where frame innovation connects to change management. The discussion here is rather sparse and I had a distinct feeling that Dorst's real interest lies elsewhere.
Finally, the book is relatively weak in documenting the mechanics of applying the methodology. The cases provide a macro view but it is left to the reader to translate this into practical terms. Dorst keeps referring to 2-hour framing workshops but I wondered what exactly these sessions entailed and how they were ran.
Altogether this is an important addition to the innovation literature and with a few caveats in mind I certainly recommend it.
More particularly, Dorst wants to foreground a strand of design thinking that obeys a specific rationale of ‚reframing’. Its aim is not to provide solutions to a well-specified problem but to put these issues in a new light so that unthought of possibilities for desirable change can emerge.
So in a way this book constitutes an attempt to reframe ‚design thinking’ away from a mere set of tools to generate solutions to a generic but structured approach to create novel approaches to knotty problem situations.
The heart of the book is a 9-step ’method’ that actually uses the open and dynamic nature of the challenges it seeks to attack to its advantage. Their wickedness shouldn’t intimidate and paralyze us. It is as much an invitation to question received opinions, step out of defined roles and try out new approaches.
The framing method is not a radical departure from the classical design thinking toolbox. A lot will be familiar to professionals in the field of design-driven innovation. Distinctive is the nexus from ‚paradox’ to ‚field’ to ‚theme’ to ‚frame’. This in an intellectual movement that meshes synthesis, contextual analysis, lateral thinking and abstraction to yield novel perspectives on a problematic situation. But it’s not a cookbook approach that unfailingly delivers an ‚aha’ experience. Dorst helpfully illustrates the approach through a large number of cases in a variety of settings (although a large majority of them are public sector projects).
The core insights presented by Frame Innovation are really valuable. However, I have a few gripes with the book.
First, the author has a scholarly temperament and the core argument is embedded in a rich and layered discussion on the nature of the design activity that is littered with conceptual frameworks. On the whole I appreciated that that but readers who like to cut quickly to the chase may lose their patience.
More grieving I found the relative insularity of the whole argument. Dorst briefly discusses the fit of the frame innovation approach with traditional innovation management. There is also a fleeting reference to Saras Sarasvathy’s theory on effectual entrepreneurship. But he misses an opportunity to establish a very solid and pertinent link with the realm of systems thinking. There is no doubt that frame innovation meshes well with approaches such as soft systems methodology, critical systems thinking and causal layered analysis.
A key element of the Frame Innovation approach is its final step - Integration - whereby the capacity for reframing is embedded in organizational routines. Given the potentially disruptive nature of the approach this will very likely generate resistance. So this is where frame innovation connects to change management. The discussion here is rather sparse and I had a distinct feeling that Dorst's real interest lies elsewhere.
Finally, the book is relatively weak in documenting the mechanics of applying the methodology. The cases provide a macro view but it is left to the reader to translate this into practical terms. Dorst keeps referring to 2-hour framing workshops but I wondered what exactly these sessions entailed and how they were ran.
Altogether this is an important addition to the innovation literature and with a few caveats in mind I certainly recommend it.
November 20, 2020
Kitap, rasyonel düşünme ve çözüm arama yöntemlerinin bugünün karmaşık, hareketli ve hızla değişip dönüşen dünyasına özgü sorunlara çözüm bulmada yetersiz kaldığını söylüyor. Çözümü, tasarımcıların tasarım sürecindeki yaratıcı düşünme ve çözüm bulma yollarından yararlanmakta buluyor. Bu süreci ise "çerçeve oluşturma" süreci olarak kavramsallaştırıyor. Sorunlara bakış açımızı değiştirerek umulmadık, yaratıcı çözümlere nasıl ulaşabileceğimizi kavramsal olarak da ele alan yazar, farklı ülkelerde, özellikle kamusal alanlara ilişkin yaşanan çeşitli sorunlar ve bulunan çözümleri aktarıyor ve bu şekilde çerçeve oluşturma sürecini somutlaştırıyor. Kitap, "kutunun dışında düşünmeyi" anlatıyor aslında. Kitabın kapak tasarımı da bunu görselleştirir nitelikte aslında.
July 27, 2019
What the book offers to you is not another design tool, it offers you insights into how expert designers work and how it can possibly solve open,complex, dynamic and networked problems.
The structure of the book itself quite well placed and narrated.
The book starts with explaining the nature of the problems we face in everyday life and the methods and approaches we take to solve these problems.
It also talks about how designers solve problems and how design abduction plays a crucial role in it, also why might it be suited to the kind of problems we face in our world.
The frame creation model itself is 9 steps and looks deeply into the process of the how expert designers work, taking various case studies and explaining how the frame creation model fits into what and what happens when a frame creation approach is taken.
After the initial steps, to ensure that this is not a tool but rather a problem solving methods. The author talks about the principles behind each step of the frame creation process, it is this principles which makes way for the frame creation model of the 9 steps. This is very important as it is not a tool that is being proposed by Kees Dorst.
Though most of this is set for individual problem cases where the problem is already known - where the old method of problem solving has already been tried, the author also makes quite an argument with case studies of why and how this can be applied to organization in methods of how it is no longer trying to solve problems rather finding opportunities.
The author is well aware that the challenges that'll be faced when moving forward with the frame creation process. He analysis existing methods of problem solving using a rational approach and dissects the approach.
In the end I believe as the author intended, framing of the problem could bring better solutions to open,networked,complex and dynamic problems itself than the solution.
This book though far from being a methodology gives several compelling insights into what kind of problems we face, what kind of problem solving approaches we take, what works what doesn't work and why they don't work, also how frame creation could help in solving these problems.
The structure of the book itself quite well placed and narrated.
The book starts with explaining the nature of the problems we face in everyday life and the methods and approaches we take to solve these problems.
It also talks about how designers solve problems and how design abduction plays a crucial role in it, also why might it be suited to the kind of problems we face in our world.
The frame creation model itself is 9 steps and looks deeply into the process of the how expert designers work, taking various case studies and explaining how the frame creation model fits into what and what happens when a frame creation approach is taken.
After the initial steps, to ensure that this is not a tool but rather a problem solving methods. The author talks about the principles behind each step of the frame creation process, it is this principles which makes way for the frame creation model of the 9 steps. This is very important as it is not a tool that is being proposed by Kees Dorst.
Though most of this is set for individual problem cases where the problem is already known - where the old method of problem solving has already been tried, the author also makes quite an argument with case studies of why and how this can be applied to organization in methods of how it is no longer trying to solve problems rather finding opportunities.
The author is well aware that the challenges that'll be faced when moving forward with the frame creation process. He analysis existing methods of problem solving using a rational approach and dissects the approach.
In the end I believe as the author intended, framing of the problem could bring better solutions to open,networked,complex and dynamic problems itself than the solution.
This book though far from being a methodology gives several compelling insights into what kind of problems we face, what kind of problem solving approaches we take, what works what doesn't work and why they don't work, also how frame creation could help in solving these problems.
November 24, 2022
hayatımızda karşımıza çıkan problemlerin çözümü için geleneksel olarak süreçsel iyileştirmelere başvyrabileceğimiz gibi, bunları tasarım konusu olarak da ele alabiliriz. problem derken belli bir objective’den bahsediyorum tabii, sorunu tanımlamak ve buna tasarım üzerinden cevaplar sunmak gibi düşünebiliriz. burada çerçeve yaklaşımının en ideal çözümler için faydalarını anlatmış yazar. tamamen kafamda canlandırabildiğimi söyleyemeyeceğim ancak ana fikir olarak anlaşılır. örneğin asayiş ve güvenlik sorunları; ister gençlerin eğleneceği bir mahalle olsun, ister sydney opera binası olsun, isterse de bir süpermarket olsun; tasarımla düzeltilebileceğine dair bir fikir sağlıyor. bu yaklaşımın işe yaradığını da görüyoruz.
az çok tasarımın içerisinde birisi olarak; tasarımla cover edilebilecek, iyileştirilebilecek veya düzeltilebilecek birçok problemin olduğunu tecrübe etmişimdir. buradaki yaklaşımla da belki önceliklerin belirlenmesi gibi bir düşünce yapısı edinebiliriz. her tasarımsal çözüm her şeyi sağlamayabilir. fonksiyonel olarak müthiş bir süreç/ürün/uygulama tasarlanabilir örneğin, ancak hiç çevre dostu değildir veya estetik olarak hoşumuza gitmeyecek bir dizayna sahip olabilir.
yine de derdini yeterince anlatmış olduğuna ikna olamadım. her ne kadar vakalarla somut örnekler sunmaya çalışmış olsa da, bu çabalarının benim gibi sıradan bir okuyucunun seviyesinden yukarda kaldığını söylemem lazım. hem anlatımdaki yetersizlikler hem de teknik terimlerle çok fazla okuyucuyu yorması problemli durumlar.
az çok tasarımın içerisinde birisi olarak; tasarımla cover edilebilecek, iyileştirilebilecek veya düzeltilebilecek birçok problemin olduğunu tecrübe etmişimdir. buradaki yaklaşımla da belki önceliklerin belirlenmesi gibi bir düşünce yapısı edinebiliriz. her tasarımsal çözüm her şeyi sağlamayabilir. fonksiyonel olarak müthiş bir süreç/ürün/uygulama tasarlanabilir örneğin, ancak hiç çevre dostu değildir veya estetik olarak hoşumuza gitmeyecek bir dizayna sahip olabilir.
yine de derdini yeterince anlatmış olduğuna ikna olamadım. her ne kadar vakalarla somut örnekler sunmaya çalışmış olsa da, bu çabalarının benim gibi sıradan bir okuyucunun seviyesinden yukarda kaldığını söylemem lazım. hem anlatımdaki yetersizlikler hem de teknik terimlerle çok fazla okuyucuyu yorması problemli durumlar.
December 16, 2019
Dorst presents a clear method for creating "frames" around a design problem space. Includes lots of real-world case studies.
December 15, 2020
A book I would like to own. Helpful to use if you have a sticky problems, talks you through how to look at the problem differently. The "how-to" process was the most helpful part.
October 17, 2024
3.5) To read again. Frame creation is the solution to modern problems. Too much nonsense at the start, amazing ending.
October 25, 2020
70'e kadar dayanabildim. Kitap tercümeye kurban gitmiş sanırım. 20 yıllık tasarımcıyım hayatımda duymadığım onlarca terim var:
DIŞSALLAŞTIRMAK, ÇOĞUL TEMSİLLER KULLANMAK(?), BİRİNCİL ÜRETEÇLER YARATMAK(??), SORUNU DEVİNDİRMEK(???), HAREKET HALİNDE NESNEL/ÖZNEL DÜŞÜNÜM(???) vb (s.71). Bu tip kitapları tasarımcılar çevirse daha iyi olacak.
DIŞSALLAŞTIRMAK, ÇOĞUL TEMSİLLER KULLANMAK(?), BİRİNCİL ÜRETEÇLER YARATMAK(??), SORUNU DEVİNDİRMEK(???), HAREKET HALİNDE NESNEL/ÖZNEL DÜŞÜNÜM(???) vb (s.71). Bu tip kitapları tasarımcılar çevirse daha iyi olacak.
February 19, 2017
Kees Dorst does a good job explaining how business students and others can adopt the mindset and methods of designers to solve any type of problem. He proposes a Frame Creation Model that represents how designers reframe problem situations to find novel solutions to complex problems. He calls 'framing' the key to design abduction, which is the way of reasoning or problem solving approach of designers. In induction and deduction which are the two basic ways of reasoning, problem-solvers tend to freeze the situation and the context too soon, which can have serious consequences for their ability to find a valid solution. Designers instead question the established relationships in a problem situation and create both a new way of looking at the problem situation and a new way of acting within it. This comprehensive new approach to the problem situation is called a “frame” within design literature. A frame is the proposal through which, by applying a particular pattern of relationships, we can create a desired outcome (Doorst, 2015, location 1120). If the problem is approached as if it is …. , then...
The actual frame creation model involves nine steps. In steps 1 to 5 you seek to figure out the nature of the problem without making assumptions, while steps 6 to 8 are critical investigation of possible solution directions. 1. Archeology: you investigate the problem in depth and try to understand the history of the problem, previous solutions and the behaviour of the problem owner. 2. Paradox: You find out what makes the problem hard to solve. What is the paradox or deadlock that keeps the problem owner from moving forward. 3. Context: explore the practices of key stakeholders and the influences on their behaviour. Get a sense of practices and scenarios that can be part of a solution. 4. Field: widen the context and make a ‘playing field’. Consider all potential players. What is their ‘currency’? Meaning practices, interests, values and frames. Find shared underlying values. 5. Themes: understand deep factors like needs and motivation - universals that are relevant for the problem situation. 6. Frames: find common themes shared by many players. What are the implications of adopting a certain pattern of relationships? Will they lead to a fruitful solution space? 7. Futures: apply frame to problem situation. Reshape in coevlution. Can the frame lead to viable solutions? Ideas should not be decided upon yet. First evaluate the frame. Does it bring us in the right direction? Does it bring multiple sensible solutions? Is the frame fruitful? Also think about what the frame’s value proposition is for each stakeholder. 8. Transformation: critical evaluation of frames and ideas. Weed out. Is implementation realistic? Think of business plan for transformation agenda/strategy for a few of them. Short term component and long term component. 9. Integration: make sure new frames are well integrated into the broader context (the field). Integrate into the organization’s discourse and be proactive in relationships to their environment.
While the nine steps of the frame creation model can be seen as a general and logical progression, in practice the activities that are captured in the steps all interact with each other - in a frame creation session there is a constant to-ing and fro-ing between the steps, and that is absolutely crucial in order to arrive at a good and balanced result to the frame creation process. The starting point for a frame creation project can actually occur at any of the stages.
The actual frame creation model involves nine steps. In steps 1 to 5 you seek to figure out the nature of the problem without making assumptions, while steps 6 to 8 are critical investigation of possible solution directions. 1. Archeology: you investigate the problem in depth and try to understand the history of the problem, previous solutions and the behaviour of the problem owner. 2. Paradox: You find out what makes the problem hard to solve. What is the paradox or deadlock that keeps the problem owner from moving forward. 3. Context: explore the practices of key stakeholders and the influences on their behaviour. Get a sense of practices and scenarios that can be part of a solution. 4. Field: widen the context and make a ‘playing field’. Consider all potential players. What is their ‘currency’? Meaning practices, interests, values and frames. Find shared underlying values. 5. Themes: understand deep factors like needs and motivation - universals that are relevant for the problem situation. 6. Frames: find common themes shared by many players. What are the implications of adopting a certain pattern of relationships? Will they lead to a fruitful solution space? 7. Futures: apply frame to problem situation. Reshape in coevlution. Can the frame lead to viable solutions? Ideas should not be decided upon yet. First evaluate the frame. Does it bring us in the right direction? Does it bring multiple sensible solutions? Is the frame fruitful? Also think about what the frame’s value proposition is for each stakeholder. 8. Transformation: critical evaluation of frames and ideas. Weed out. Is implementation realistic? Think of business plan for transformation agenda/strategy for a few of them. Short term component and long term component. 9. Integration: make sure new frames are well integrated into the broader context (the field). Integrate into the organization’s discourse and be proactive in relationships to their environment.
While the nine steps of the frame creation model can be seen as a general and logical progression, in practice the activities that are captured in the steps all interact with each other - in a frame creation session there is a constant to-ing and fro-ing between the steps, and that is absolutely crucial in order to arrive at a good and balanced result to the frame creation process. The starting point for a frame creation project can actually occur at any of the stages.
August 16, 2018
Al nivel de las ya establecidas biblias del diseño escritas por Norman y Manzini. Me atrevo a decir que probablemente sea de las lecturas que más me vayan a servir encarada al tfg.
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