Hong Kong manufacturers come to Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Design to learn about “human-centered” design
The Institute of Design (ID), a graduate school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, announced today a unique four-day executive forum developed for a group of visiting Hong Kong executives, to be held in Chicago March 26th-29th.
The forum, entitled “Delivering Human-Centered Innovation,” will be presented to a group of 25 managers, product developers, marketers, and designers from small- and mid-size Hong Kong manufacturing firms. Several renowned ID faculty members will lead the program, under Patrick Whitney, ID’s Director.
The program will feature case studies by corporate designers and design consultants—many of them ID alumni—from several Chicago-area firms. These presenters work extensively with small (and large) business clients on design issues, and are some of Chicago’s leading exponents of user observation and integrated team approach to product development. Presenters will include Insight Product Development, Ignite Design, Gravity Tank, Herbst Lazar Bell, and ACCO Brands.
Through lectures, workshops, and site visits, the Hong Kong manufacturers will gain valuable insight into new, customer-centric approaches to product development. They expect that these methods will be crucial to their continued success in an increasingly globalized and competitive Hong Kong economy.
“Hong Kong companies already know how to get products to market quickly and cheaply,” says Whitney, “but they don’t always know what products to make, or how to make them appealing to multinational customers. ID is the best place in the world for these professionals to learn how to create value for global customers before they ask for it, and before competitors can create it.”
The forum is sponsored by the Hong Kong Productivity Council, a government organization that promotes the adoption of world-wide best practices in Hong Kong industry. The Council has worked closely with ID since 1997, when it co-sponsored a series of ID workshops in Hong Kong entitled “How Design Can Change Industries in the 21st Century.”
“Working with the Institute of Design, Hong Kong business leaders have learned to focus on creating intrinsic value for customers rather than following fashion or trends that are short lived,” says Francis Lai, a consultant with the Productivity Council. “We expect this forum to continue that learning process and enable Hong Kong manufacturers to develop better, proprietary, and branded products.”
The forum is one of several special events ID plans to deliver in Chicago and elsewhere this year. These events, including roundtables, forums, executive seminars and conferences, are part of ID’s ongoing effort to share its cutting-edge research and design methods with the international business community, where design issues are increasingly crucial to competitive advantage.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
