Design is the bricoleur of innovation

Last week I wrote about innovation policy and its coverage in the media and in particular Mariana Mazzucato's book The Entrepreneurial State. It's in the news again today and what interests me most about this discussion is the unstated role of design in taking ideas to market. That is, intentional design - or design with intent if you will - is about finding ways to shape technology into useful and usable products and services. Many are fond of talking about Apple products and the particular genius that company had in taking others' inventions and packaging them in a way to make them appealing. Have a look at this site for an interesting look at how Mac products moved "forward through the rearview mirror." The designer is the bricoleur, and this is at the heart of innovation. Not invention, though this is important. Rather, when we take ideas emerging from basic research and put these together to form products and services that people will find useful and usable, then we have innovation. This is the stated goal of Tandem Launch, for example, and is well worth looking into. GBC's Design Centre for the Smart Economy is how we scaffold ideas and inventions through to innovations and invoices.