5 tips for a good design process

Yesterday i was at Malmo University to hold a lecture about our design-thinking and product decelopement.

I showed the students our journey with KORI, how we took the kori-concept from idea to reality.

I tried to explain how we reach innovation through loops between chaos and structure.

Instead of promoting the ever promoted and sure worth promoting "focus" I choose to promote chaos and "leaving the track" inviting to think broad and wide, gain knowekegde and finding inspiration.

In short these were my 5 tips for a good design process,  which ended the lecture with 

1. Collect information. As much as you can. The more the better. No need to be directly related, it can as well be inspirational to the project.
2. Do not value the information too early, something uninteresting in the beginning of a project can be of great importance in later in the project.
3. Be curious. Listen and observe. The best way to learn is to get infi from the users. But note that not all questions will give you the actial answer. Ask the right questions. Observ and learn.
4. Get to know your user. And not only in the situation where your project touches him or her, get to know all levels of the user, find out as much as you can, people are complex creatures.
5. Communicate. Get to know yourself and how you communicate your own ideas, how you get them from your thoughts into something explainable for yourself and for others. How you communicate within your group and with different professions, we all have different languages.

The students at Malmö University, waiting for the lectura to begin.

Three fantastic days at the Winter Show fair in Stockholm.

Of course we were nervous, barely two weeks of preparation, a new and relatively unexplored winter-segment (skiers, snowboarders, snowkiting, snowmobile etc.) and the first time outside of our safe sphere with people that likes and believe in KORI.

But KORI were gladly welcomed.

We are out of flyers, the response of the contest has been great and the spontaneous input and feedback has been wonderful. There were so many skiers, kiters, snowboarders and even snowmobilers, horse-riders and motorcyclists who came by, tried KORI out and perceived the KORI concept. Of course KORI does not meet everyone’s needs – but KORI surely seem to fill up an empty space that many people now are aware of.

We also have great input on functional accessories and supplements that would

About to leave the fair, we first got chased by a man who was afraid to miss the our  contest and secondly we were chased by a man who was anxious not to miss the chance of buying his own KORI-Seger-beanie.

Thank you Tott Hotel and Winter Show for some great days in Stockholm!

You will find photoes from the Winter Show at Facebook!

Sebastian von Wachenfeld, part owner of KORI experience AB

The team at Tott Hotel together with the KORI team!

KORI with the very nice polar bear :-)

Anders from Tärnaby Kite is testing the D3O back protector :-) bildtext

From an idea to a first concept.

During two years, the idea was developed further and in late autumn 2009, we had the concept.

- The perfect concept!

During this two-year period, we have developed, planned, pondered, laughed, discussed, decided, joked, negotiated, agreed, borrowed money, written business plans, written a new business plan, put up strategies, put up new strategies and mainly met an incredible number of people and organizations that in different ways helped us and influenced us.

Many thanks to you!