The Designing for Growth Field Book: A Step-by-Step Project Guide (Columbia Business School Publishing)

In Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers (D4G), Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie showed how design can boost innovation and drive growth. In this companion guide, also suitable as a stand-alone project workbook, the authors provide a step-by-step framework for applying the D4G toolkit and process to a particular project, systematically explaining how to address the four key questions of their design thinking approach.

The field book maps the flow of the design process within the context of a specific project and reminds readers of key D4G takeaways as they work. The text helps readers identify an opportunity, draft a design brief, conduct research, establish design criteria, brainstorm, develop concepts, create napkin pitches, make prototypes, solicit feedback from stakeholders, and run learning launches. The workbook demystifies tools that have traditionally been the domain of designers―from direct observation to journey mapping, storytelling, and storyboarding―that power the design thinking process and help businesses align around a project to realize its full potential.

Jeanne Liedtka is a professor at the Darden School of Business. Her other books include The Catalyst: How You Can Become an Extraordinary Growth Leader and The Physics of Business Growth.

Tim Ogilvie is cofounder and CEO of Peer Insight, an innovation strategy consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.

Rachel Brozenske is vice president of Allison Partners, an organizational development consulting practice in Charlottesville, and a lecturer at the Darden School of Business.