The role of data in the strategic design field is unquestionable and essential, being a catalyst for creativity and decision making. Design teams gather large amounts of data at the beginning of projects, to understand how the context of the problem looks like and how they can get inspired for the ideation of the outcomes. In the context of this Master thesis, data is the first pillar of an input-output processing system, which is used in the field of strategic design (process) and can result in new business models (output). Until now, design practitioners have relied highly on manual data saving (whiteboards, post-its and notebooks). Digital data saving, on the other hand, can ensure that data and the embedded knowledge are not lost or damaged and that can be easily retrieved. Especially within bigger teams where there are multiple data and knowledge creators, it so happens that the knowledge gap between novice and expert designers is large. This typically results in the hindering of quality of the outcomes of design projects, as team members are limited to their own data and knowledge accessible to them, as opposed to the entirety of the team. The second pillar is the process, referred to as strategic design. Business Models Inc. (BMI), a design consultancy for strategy and innovation in Amsterdam, makes use of a variant of strategic design, which is known as Business Design. At BMI, data is used extensively in the understanding phase of the design project and ideation, where the goal is not only to get the Business Design team inspired but also the client, who co-creates with them. The type of data that they make use of is, therefore, a combination of quantitative (e.g. consumer surveys, market outlooks, financial statements of the client) and qualitative (e.g. their curated collection of business models, SWOT analysis, customer interviews and co-creation sessions). This type of data helps the team create new business models and value propositions, which are the output of the input-output processing system. There is an increasing trend in the design industry to start incorporating data science practices, allowing designers to have access to new insights which are up to date and can be shared among team members. This has been proposed in literature and applied already in the design industry, for instance, design consultancies already combining data science with design thinking tools. The premise of this project starts with wondering how the ideation of new business models and value propositions could be further enriched if a data science approach would continue to be welcomed in the design field. The outcome of this project has explored what the best utilization of data would be within the design process, hinting at an exploited usage of data in ideation. The final concept is a 3-horizon roadmap that exposes how BMI could firstly, organize their data; secondly, find it as efficiently as possible, and thirdly, inspire a new customer segment in the creation of new business models and value propositions.

In recent years, design has become a crucial component of corporate innovation. Large corporations such as Deloitte have implemented design capabilities as a method to enhance employee experience, achieve innovation and maintain a competitive advantage. This research aims to demonstrate how design can perform as a catalyst of innovation within a corporate environment.

This report will touch upon the role of employee experience teams within organizations, and the way in which economic and societal change creates a demand for ethical employers with a clear purpose. It will further discuss challenges and opportunities in multidisciplinary collaboration, as a process to achieve innovation. Lastly, it will demonstrate the business value of design as a tool for communication, co-creation and user centred research.
This master thesis is done in collaboration with Deloitte Amsterdam. The project focuses on the digital@deloitte team, a multidisciplinary employee experience team that develops digital solutions using agile, design thinking and user centred research in co-creation with Deloitte employees. The team is driven by use of design methodologies in their approach, collaboration and research techniques.
By investigating a team within Deloitte Netherlands, this thesis will explore ways in which design can improve multidisciplinary collaboration, foster innovation and enhance business impact. Through interviews, creative workshops and co-creation sessions, this project will reveal ways in which the team can enhance their business value and create a bigger impact on employees.
This thesis will introduce the development of a curated tool-kit that aims to improve the team’s collaborative process and perform as a catalyst for multidisciplinary collaboration, by creating focus and bridging the gap between research and product development.
The primary use of the tool-kit will be for team alignment and discussion.

This report will demonstrate how the tool-kit was developed, and how it can be implemented and used to enhance the team’s creative collaboration, communication and finally business impact. A road map will reveal the potential of implementing the tool-kit into the collaborative process of the team, and how it can evolve into an evaluation tool for products, enabling the team to set clear measurable targets. Eventually, the tool-kit has the potential to perform as a decision making tool that can enable the team to become more self steering and enhance their value.

Oversea shopping is becoming increasingly popular among Chinese consumers. Nextport- China is a China-focused digital marketing agency in Amsterdam. The company is help- ing some Dutch brands to market in China. It wants to explore the possibility of selling Dutch products to Chinese consumers online.

This graduation project aims to create a solution, which will enable customer-facing employees to increase employee engagement and customer satisfaction. It does so by optimizing digital supportive resources. The solution tries to resolve the gaps between current supportive resources and ideal supportive data & tools. By bridging the gaps, the solution also could affect information overload and the limitation from the data privacy. Finally, a solution includes a principle and a set of tools are presented. That includes the “JET principle” to align the information structure of customer status across supportive tools. A set of tools “JET banner” “Live JET” and “Empowered JET” indicate real-time customer status in supportive tools, and suggest improvements in service procedures. Through those solutions, the customer-facing employees will have access to the real-time optimized customer status. That could enable and engage those customer-facing employees to offer more empathy in their working context, which will, in turn, improve customer satisfaction.