Podcast Interview with Continuum's Harry West Now Available

Christine Flanagan
March 30, 2009

This week I’m pleased to present BIF research advisor Harry West. As Vice President for Strategy and Innovation at design consultancy Continuum, Harry has probably been in your business, your house and maybe even in your car. Yet design shouldn’t be just about making things work better and look better. Instead it should be about understanding the emotions that drive buying decisions.

Design according to Harry is a set of principles and ways of thinking that help us to manage and create in the material world. But what happens when the material world is uprooted? In this podcast interview, we talk about the state of design in today’s troubled economy and the the role it still plays in a burgeoning era of non-consumption.  We also get into the differences between customer-fueled and customer-created innovation. What role does each play in a design-thinking approach to innovation?

As a member of BIF’s research advisory council Harry has been a staunch supporter of our mission of enabling collaborative innovation. We wrap-up our conversation with a discussion about the importance of experimentation in the development of new ideas.

Listen to the podcast interview

RELATED: Don't Miss the Continuum Workshop on May 18th

Coming back for a third year in a row, Continuum will be at BIF on May 18 for an immersive workshop on service delivery innovation.  How can your business or organization identify opportunities for transforming service delivery? How can you create systems that support service innovation across your organization? 

Let Continuum show you some strategies for service redesign and innovation and see first hand how to apply them to a diverse set of situations. Seats are limited. Get all the details here.