Strategic Design for Space Business: A different approach
- Paper ID
65043
- author
- company
Dereum Labs S.A. de C.V.;
- country
Mexico
- year
2021
- abstract
At the beginning of the last decade there was a boom in the creation of companies focused on offering space services, these new enterprises were a reflection of the ever-changing future in the space business. However, as often happens in new ventures, several of these startups faced difficulties in their profitability in the short and medium term, as well as the lack of a long-term strategy and planning design. Strategic design applies forward-looking principles, seeks to define how problems are addressed, identifies opportunities, and helps offer more comprehensive and sustainable solutions. One of the strengths is in the definition of creative work, foreshadowing. It has the potential to implement broad-spectrum methodologies, providing not only creative thinking, but implementation and ensuring that key ideas maintain their integrity throughout the process. This translates into decision making to increase the innovative and competitive qualities of an organization. That is why the inclusion of designers in executive positions within companies is increasingly common: Apple, Philips or PepsiCo have Chief Design Officers, dedicated to openly promoting change and taking risks by understanding the systems that are interconnected to take decisions and deep understanding of the user. In the space industry, the role of design disciplines has begun to be recognized, however, the open discussion of designer integration at a strategic level has not yet been presented. In this paper, methodologies to generate a strategic proposal in space startups will be discussed. Different thinking tools will be introduced, integrating the results of interviews with relevant experts from the design community. But our case study also seeks to generate a conversation between experts in the sector and the field of the design disciplines. It addresses the implementation of a strategic direction created with elements of design disciplines for problem solving, one that at all times of the process evaluates the viability, feasibility and attractiveness of the idea or project, adding the “reinterpretation” of emerging trends, the analysis of cyclical patterns from a zenith and novel angle, and the use of tools that allow generating project proposals with a better understanding. For those of us who are passionate about space, recent years have made it clear that we are facing radical changes in record time without even waiting for them, it is time to start a new conversation to prepare together and improve our collaborations. We are ready to innovate the way we work.