New World, New Thinking

Professor Desmond Laubscher, CEO of the African Institute of the Interior Design Professions, talks about how COVID-19 has affected service design in our communities

- Professor Desmond Laubscher

The fast pace of change and the need for resilience have never been more apparent as we move out of 2020 and the global impact of the pandemic. As we move through 2021, much of the uncertainty experienced by creatives and creative industries is still with us.

Questions around resilience, scalability and adaptability have been on the minds of every designer. We can take some comfort in the fact that design as a process of inquiry, and practice of exploration, allows us to investigate and conceptualise innovative solutions to complex challenges. The process is supported through a specific designerly way of thinking, referred to as design thinking.

We have all encountered the concept of design thinking over the past few years, often through a bombardment of media, workshops and so-called gurus. At its core the process is very simple and follows some golden rules: research the problem, define the challenge, ideate and prototype. During this process we can go backwards and forwards until we have a refined concept and solution. There are different models but most follow this iterative process.

The process may be simple, but it supports a range of complex thinking processes and enables us as creatives and citizens of this world to confront the difficulties that we encounter every day. We have realised that our world has changed forever and we need to look at our surroundings with fresh eyes.