Usify uses a wide spectrum of tools to enable and drive complex discussions – some physical objects, some game-inspired.
Design’s new frontier: business transformation Whether it be helping a utilities company to better understand its relationship with its customers, or facilitating an enterprise in forming its transformation strategy, every project undertaken by Usify has something in common. “We use design thinking to help organisations form their future,” explains CEO Bjarte Bugge, “and always with the focus on people – people forming strategies, culture and services.” By Liz Longden | Photos: Usify
Design thinking is a philosophy and methodology that takes the needs of people as the starting point and which then aims to create solutions to meet those needs. Developed primarily in the US over the past 25 years, Bugge explains, the method has emerged as a reaction to the colossal changes in society and business culture brought about by huge technological advances. With the opportunities and digitalisation of information, the necessity of increased sustainability, and the explosion of communication tools such as social media, Bugge ar110 | Issue 129 | October 2019
gues that companies find themselves in new and complex territory, and in need of new approaches. Design thinking helps organisations define their goals and then find ways of getting there. Linköping-based Usify has taken the concept of design thinking and run with it. By using the methodology to help companies and organisations to develop visions and strategies, it has grown to be one of Sweden’s leading providers of strategic design and service design, with an impressive client portfolio that includes
Saab, Migrationsverket (the Swedish Migration Agency), Stena Recycling, SKANSKA and LKAB, to name just a few. While design thinking has proved fruitful for Usify and its clients, however, Bugge says that it is at odds with the traditional and dominant culture of problem-solving in Sweden. “In Sweden, we have a very strong culture of science and logic and engineering, which influences our way of thinking. And while it has had its advantages, it can also be limiting,” Bugge argues. “We’ve trained ourselves to be ‘solution machines’ and find ‘the right answer’. But in the more complex scenarios of today, there isn’t one right answer, but lots of good answers that each affect the organisation in a different way.” Helping organisations find their way towards the answer most fit for the desired outcome, is Usify’s speciality.