Design Process and Organisational Strategy: A Storytelling Perspective

This paper explores the relationship between design process and organisational strategy through a storytelling perspective by providing a literature review; firstly, in relation to society in general; establishing a contextual background to the research. Secondly, by relating this to a) how designers and design researchers examine storytelling within design process, and b) how organisational strategists theorise storytelling. Then finally, through comparing and contrasting the literature, unearth the relevancies of using a storytelling perspective and uncover opportunities for understanding how design process impacts organisational strategy. It is apparent that certain underlying principles in adopting a storytelling perspective when employing organisational strategy and design process coexist. Foremost are the human centred focuses; in particular building relationships and constructing identities. Concerning the approaches to storytelling, a shared desire to elicit emotional resonance with audiences exists in the use of characterisation. During collaboration between designers and organisations, stories resulting from the design process will incontrovertibly have the potential to impact that company’s peoples. Examining collaborations between designers and organisations from the perspective of storytelling could lead to a deeper understanding of the impact design can have in an organisation, particularly along the themes of a sense of community, constructing meaning and affecting change within organisations.