Scenarios for coupling design thinking with systematic engineering design in NPD

This study addresses the external consultant-client interface and suggests different scenarios for coupling the design activities of both parties. More specifically, it investigates scenarios for coupling the user-centred perspective of design thinking with systematic engineering design processes via the consultant-client relationship. Having interviewed eight innovation consultants and lecturers working with design thinking, a scheme for differentiation of coupling-scenarios is proposed. The scheme considers different types of process-couplings (partial and complete substitution of the client’s design activities) and modes of interaction (the client’s active or passive involvement in solution generation). Implications for design practice are discussed. Our findings furthermore suggest four dominant issues that affect successful (external) consultant-client relationships: both parties are aware of design process models used when preparing and implementing design projects, negotiate the solution space when writing the design brief, manage expectations especially with respect to envisaged outcomes, and allow for unplanned and potentially unknown solutions.