William Drenttel, "Review of Winners! How Today's Successful Companies Innovate by Design by John Thackara." I.D., 44:4 (June 1997) 78.


As popularized by the Harvard Business School, the predominant method for teaching business is the case study. Outside of academia, the case study is the foundation for new business development, especially in product design-intensive industries and service businesses. It's the way companies tell tales from the front lines of commerce. The case study has proven to be flexible, too, transforming itself from a teaching method (where it examines models of success and failure) to a selling tool (where it illuminates the bright spots in succesful product launches and marketing efforts).

In either instance, American designers have had problems incorporating the case study into their professional vocabulary. To begin with, the very idea of the case study suggests that while success can be duplicated, design, by its very nature, succeeds when it is unique. In addition, it places too much value on scrutinizing processes and measuring tangible results in the marketplace. Finally, the language of the case study requires designers to evaluate those results against stated goals.

In Winners, John Thackera applies the model of the case study to the European Design Prize, where he elevates the 49 victors into shining examples of design effectiveness. In Thackera's hands, the application of case studies to the design practice is the major achievement. These are not just pictures of winning designs--these are stories of innovation, précis in support of a larger message. Design is understood as a fundamental means of innovation, and Thackara examines how social and commercial changes make greater innovation essential. Design, in this context, is a critical factor in social and economic progress.

As Director of the Netherlands Design Institute, Thackera has long been an advocate for greater research and stronger concrete evidence supporting the role of design--in economic terms, in international terms, across industries and disciplines. With the support of the European Union's Innovation Programme, this book outlines his initial findings. What are interesting are the criteria Thackara adopts to define innovation and to organize these case studies, among them: aging populations, new patterns of work, environmental limits, and smart materials. The studies themselves, while only loosely critical, are fascinating: from access control devices such as revolving gates and turnstiles; to voice interfaces for air traffic controllers; to semiotic pollution control mechanisms and universal sign languages for public spaces.

The weakest case study, perhaps, is the design of the book itself. The sweepstakes-winner cover tries to popularize the content, and the pocket-book format and dense layout do little to simplify the complex structure of the editorial matter. Where it succeeds is in its global reach, however, and in its progressive use of the case study as a model for articulating the role of design within and against large social and national agendas. Here, perhaps, lies a model well worth duplicating.

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