Dear (none)Designer,

Welcome back to the ninth Design at Scale™ Newsletter – focusing on innovation and how design drives change in a large organisation or an agency.

Recently, I have been asked why design at scale and what the difference is between design and design at scale.

I suppose that, as the method evolves over time, there will ultimately be more discussions and detailed materials about the differences between the basic design function and the design at scale function.

What is Design?

The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design in response to a requirement (an objective) to solve a specific problem (in a more recent case, the behaviour). Historically, design has to satisfy specific goals and constraints, may take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, or socio-political considerations, and is expected to interact with a certain environment. 

Design as Expression

Design tends to respond visually to the above-mentioned in the form of an outcome – painting, poster, diagram, infographics, patterns, colour and layout systems

Design as Function  

Design also responds in the form of architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams, schemas and wireframes. This minimises overall risk and allows the product to adapt to the final stage.  

In a fundamental level, the difference lies in the following:

– The design focuses on the construction of the (visual) artefacts that define and serve a very specific objective; it’s communicated through a (visual) medium in order to reach a consensus about the deliverable = output

– The design at scale takes the construction of an artefact and uses automation to enable the business impact of the "deliverable" to become a founding element of a performance ecosystem that generates 10x revenue and ultimately leads to the sale.

What is Scale 

The descriptive theory of scale talks about isolated concepts or methods that have found wide applicability in descriptive set theory. In our case, scale refers to the manufacture-led linear model of scale transitioning to an exponential model where the design is the driving element of the change. 

The idea of scale is well described in the book Exponential Organisations. Authors Salim Ismail, Mike Malone, and Yuri van Geest provided a new perspective on “why new organisations are ten times better, faster and cheaper than yours (and what to do about it)”. 

This comes down to a simple philosophy: in business, performance is key, and how you organise your efforts is the key to growth when it comes to performance.

Bringing Design and Scale Together

Design at Scale™ – combines both above narratives into one comprehensive method. This method defines the Mindset, Values, Principles, Mission Statement and supporting methods (* in any case, Design at Scale does not modify, critique, or influence existing methods; rather, it sees them as building blocks in complex design propositions).

That's all for this edition!

I hope these insights were valuable and sparked new ideas for scaling your design propositions. Remember, the journey from concept to widespread impact is a shared one, and your experiences are invaluable. Keep experimenting, keep learning, and stay tuned for our next newsletter, featuring more strategies and success stories from our incredible community.