By framing problems, the opportunity for solutions is expanded with a great potential for innovation. This research brings insights into how frame creation models enable practitioners to highlight opportunities and challenges of the implementing frames in organisations.
Coming from a design background I know that briefing is highlighted as one of the most important stages of a project, but it is also hard to develop a good brief. This led me to investigate how designers approach problems and generate great outcomes. My research allows me to acknowledge my own practices as a designer and demonstrates how practitioners beyond design disciplines could incorporate framing into their practices for innovation.
I have noticed that the heart of the framing process is embedded within my own research process. When I investigated both closely and widely into various areas and disciplines, I began to draw connections between them. Doing a literature review and gaining real-life insights from practitioners through interviews and workshops, both led me to the core element that I might have ignored without framing my original problem.
Research inquiry mapping for topic presentation in January 2021. I visualised MA Innovation Management programme journey which divided into three units. This presentation sits under unit 2: Situated Inquiry.
Inquiry
Initially, my research inquiry interest was in the notion of freedom and constraint. As a personal topic of interest, I looked into the notions and aim to find a link between them and innovation management. I then approached my inquiry through the lens of urban planning, design, and innovation management to see the key potential that I could develop further.
I spotted one practice that harnessed the notion of freedom and constraint and mapped out the role of these particular notions between design and business settings. I assumed that we mention a lot about the brief and strategy but paid not much mind to the process of building one. We called 'framing' to refine and address potential issues and resulting in 'the brief'.
I highlighted the potential of the framing process into understanding problems and therefore generating more effective and better solutions. The research was contextualised in design and brand consultancy as an entity that provides service. According to the literature, practitioners intuitively embedded the framing process into their work. In addition, the research aims to manifest the practice into a broader range of organisations, especially in business and innovation firms.
I engaged in participatory action research and transdisciplinary research as my methodologies. The research was divided into two stages in which different research methods were conducted.
Stage one
Researchers reflected that designers intuitively frame the problems as a part of the design-thinking practice and approach the problem efficiently. Still, various factors differentiate the designer's approach: experience, disciplines, services provided, or company's vision, for example. To gain deeper insights and find out whether framing is in designers' crucial practice, I conducted interviews with designers with different levels of experience, company sizes, and areas of expertise.
Online interview about briefing and framing processes with a co-founder of Practical Studio based in Bangkok, Thailand
I found connections and differences between all experts. Firstly, that all of them practice framing the brief (from clients). However, the involvement of designers in the debriefing or framing varies. A freelance illustrator (designer 5) said a few occasions where the project owner allowed her to collaborate and put her opinion into creating work. On those occasions, she would completely engage in framing the brief and conceptualising. Whereas most of the time, clients came to her with a concrete outcome in mind. She could have creative input into executing visually but didn't discuss why and how the client arrived at this brief.
On the other hand, director-level designers (designer 1 and designer 2) from two brand consultancies shared similar practices in approaching client briefs. They shared ownership of a project and spent more time understanding the work, which happened periodically throughout the project before accepting the job. They spent time doing research, framing clients' problems, which brought them to actual problems. Interestingly, both designers mentioned running workshops with all stakeholders. Their role is a collaborator and not only a person who provide solutions.
Workshops have many advantages for both consultancies and clients:
1. Getting involved allows all stakeholders to understand each other and the work they are collaborating on. Clients would acknowledge the problems they are dealing with. More often than not, clients also get to reflect on the company's vision and branding.
2. Seeing the work from scratch allows clients to understand the designer's processes, which might inspire them to adopt the practice internally. By sharing processes, they gain trust, which would improve professional relationships.
3. Knowledge and opinions are exchanged during this process as it is in a collaborative setup. Designers provide their expertise, but clients also offer another perspective from their rich experience in the business.
Another mentioned approach is a list of questions designer would ask their clients during their first contact. The answers helped them evaluate the subject and, therefore, figure out their next steps to approach the client's briefs.
Frame Creation Model (Dorst, 2015)
Stage two
According to insights I gained from stage one, I moved forward to answer my subsequent inquiry. Designers are known to use the framing process in their practice, and it shows in the literature that the process is critical. Framing then should be helpful for non-designers in the context of innovation management. I ran a focus group research on my interviewees' input - a workshop with a group of innovation management students who don't have a design background and do not work in the creative industry. They all are from different backgrounds, such as business administration, cultural production, theatre.
The workshop is designed to introduce the framing process and frames using the Frame Creation Model by Kees Dorst (2015). The nine-step model was simplified into three main sections in the workshop for the participants to grasp the process rather than going in-depth into the problem.
Participants were given a speculative narrative, setting its unique conditions and problems. In each section, participants were assigned to brainstorm and map out the context around the situation. They could spot new issues from the initial problem and point out potential problems and what they could do to solve them.
The workshop is designed to introduce the framing process and frames using the Frame Creation Model by Kees Dorst (2015). The nine-step model was simplified into three main sections in the workshop for the participants to grasp the process rather than going in-depth into the problem.
Participants were given a speculative narrative, setting its unique conditions and problems. In each section, participants were assigned to brainstorm and map out the context around the situation. They could spot new issues from the initial problem and point out potential problems and what they could do to solve them.
I noticed the scenario could influence the outcome of the workshop. While this particular narrative stimulated creativity and provided fun activities, participants deliberately drew the dots by referring back to the real world experience. Thus, if they encounter a situation where they did not know, the workshop might have gone differently. Furthermore, the fact that participants were aware that they jumped right to the assumption does not confirm whether these insights came from individual cognition or the frame allowed them to see.
The workshop demonstrated how non-designers could adopt the framing practice by applying a framework such as Dorst's frame creation model. Some opportunities and challenges need further research in adopting the approach and framework in organisations. On the other hand, I am aware that various frameworks are being used. Still, they may not go by the title related to 'frames', for instance, Double Diamond, IDEO's Design thinking principles, and Google's Design Sprint. However, the research articulated the importance of the framing process that should be well manifested in the innovation management discipline.
I envision the presence of the frame creation model as a gradual change of practice in organisations rather than a phenomenon. The model is an undeniably robust and valuable approach for problem-framing. Thus, there is an excellent potential for organisations to use frames more widely for innovation. However, it is challenging to invest in the notion, time, and practice to achieve the ultimate goal of frames: to become proactive to problems before it becomes actual problems.
(The full research articles are a part of MA Innovation Management, Central Saint Martins final dissertation and unpublished.)