Luxatia International specialises in bringing people together through outstanding strategic business conferences & summits, professional training and b2b congresses. We maintain the highest standards of quality in research and market analysis, finding the right issues and then producing high-profile events.
Ulrich Dropmann, Head of Standardization at Nokia and this year’s World 5G Summit chairman, talks about the changes in 5G from last year to now and what he expects from this year’s summit.
We were lucky enough to get some additional interview questions with him as well:
This Summer Nokia Had A Huge Milestone, By Launching The World’s First Commercially Deployed Cloud-based 5G Radio Access Network. Can You Expand On That More And Explain Its Significance?
At Nokia, last year, we launched a 5G cloud-based drive. The transformation of the networks will be one of the biggest issues in 5G. We had seen the transformation to cloud-optimised networks on the core network in earlier generations and we will now see this in radio. This will be a huge transformation and it will go along with the change in the network to completely zero-touch management and automated networks. This will be hugely important for our industry to be more agile, more cost-effective and in general — more competitive with the IT industries that have worked in those architectures before. Some of the speakers during the World 5G Summit will give insight on this topic.
What Are Some Of The Biggest Challenges Facing 5G As It Continues To Grow And How Can They Be Addressed?
So, the transformation that goes along with 5G also poses some challenges. We see a lot of hype around 5G, that it can do almost everything. We see 5G for industries like public safety, railways, media distribution/creation and more. That is a huge opportunity for the industry but also a challenge. We need to be able to know that this technology, this one technology, can address all these different use cases and that we have a roadmap that satisfies those requirements without leaving anyone behind.
To get even more insights from Ulrich Dropmann, read our full interview, here.
1) Can you tell us about Foolproof and their vision for design thinking?
Foolproof is an insight-led global product and service design company. That means we create and carry out research on digital products, services and experiences. Our philosophy is that to do what we do, we put the customer/user/human at the heart of our thinking and doing.
On every project, we foster a design thinking mindset and help our clients empathise with their customers, try out new things, experiment, learn and set themselves apart from their competitors.
Design thinking permeates everything we do. It’s intrinsic to the way we work and approach challenges; so much so that there isn’t a vision for design thinking at Foolproof, it’s just baked into who we are.
2) What advice do you have for businesses trying to integrate design thinking into their organization?
Create the conditions for a design thinking mindset and ways of working to take place:
Treat your employees like your customers.
Your employees are your most important customers in some ways. They are instrumental to the success of your company so they deserve to be understood and listened to. To create the best product, you need empathy for both your customers and your employees. Focus on continuously improving your employee experience, find out what you’re doing right and what could be improved and, very importantly, act on the feedback.
Get the right people in.
You need people who demonstrate they understand design thinking to be the champions of change in your company for this mindset to take off.
Create interdisciplinary teams.
Break down silos in your organisation. Good products and services need everyone’s expertise working together towards the same goals.
Foster a learning culture.
Build a culture where failing is seen as a learning opportunity, where it’s encouraged to take calculated risks. It’s only through trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone that you will get through the pains to get to the gains.
Look at your environment.
You need the right kind of spaces to enhance creativity. Are there places where you can get together as a team on an ad hoc basis when needed? Can you modify these places to meet your needs? Are there places where you can stick things on the wall? Is it easy to just walk up to someone and have a chat in your office? Do you have the online tools to help you collaborate if you can’t all be in the same room at once? Here at Foolproof our walls are made of cork and blackboard and we have areas where you can hide away when you need solo thinking time or get together when you need to problem-solve as a group.
Finally, just jump into the pool and have fun doing it!
3) What are some of the latest design thinking trends you are excited about?
The trend I’m currently excited about is how design thinking is being used to improve the employee experience. Interdisciplinary teams, including HR professionals, are leveraging techniques from design thinking and working together to improve employee engagement.
The other trend I’m interested in is how design thinking can help improve the implementation of AI and AI systems. AI hasn’t perhaps quite delivered on its initial promises but we are hearing more success stories around how AI is helping us become better at our jobs. Far from replacing us (yet!), AI is augmenting us, enabling better decision-making and addressing real human needs.
4) What is the most unique industry you have seen impacted by design thinking? How did it affect their business?
The beauty of design thinking is that it can be used in a variety of contexts and be applied to a range of problems.
Most are familiar with how design thinking got Airbnb to where it’s at so I won’t go there. Instead, I’ll tell you about a project that is close to my heart, one of the best I’ve worked on in my near 5-years at Foolproof.
A couple of years ago, we were approached by a medical start-up called Cydar. Their product is amazing. It enables the overlaying of live X-rays with a pre-operative CT scan of the blood vessels, in order to guide medical practitioners during surgery for endovascular procedures. The benefits of using this product are that it can shorten the time of surgery, reduce exposure to X-rays and improve patient outcomes.
We were looking at ‘how might we make this product even better’? We’re great at designing interfaces and working with healthcare providers but we had little knowledge of the end-user in this context.
Our first port of call was to see the product being used in its context; an operating theatre during live surgery. After this, we understood something that would guide us along the way for the whole project: there are so many things that vie for the end user’s attention so simplifying the interface became our key focus. Seeing things from the perspective of the medical practitioner was essential to getting to that insight. We then moved onto designing, testing, iterating, re-testing and delivering.
A quote from Cydar’s CEO, Tom Carrell, summarises the effect this project had on the business, “The proof of the project’s success lies in the adoption of the Cydar EV product by our customers into routine clinical use.”
If you want to read more about this, we have a case study on our website.
Get even more insights from Isabelle McWilliams by reading our full interview, here.
Business trips can be exciting, stressful, insightful, and hectic or any combination of feelings. We have gathered the top tips for business travelers to hopefully minimize any discomfort while travelling and create a smooth and efficient trip.
Stick With A Single Company
When possible, try to book your airline, hotel and rental car (if needed) through the same company. Bundling usually saves you money and you will collect reward points quicker to use on future travel needs.
Traveling with the same company each time will also reduce the stress of adapting to different rules, prices, etc.
Research The Area You Are Traveling To
A quick research session can provide you with so much information about your trip and make it much more enjoyable. Do not waste your time attempting to navigate a new city while you are on a tight schedule.
If you are attending a conference hosted at a hotel, look into staying at the same location or very close by. If you must travel to a separate location or client, research the safety of the area for potential spots to avoid.
If you are unable to stay at the same location as your event, think about how you will be getting around the city.
Look for public transportation first as it is usually the cheapest option. Some public transportation is very easy to navigate while other cities have a more complex system so you will have to decide how confident you are with navigating that particular system. Looking at a map of the city’s public transportation online before you arrive will help you make that decision.
If you prefer not to use public transportation, decide if you will need a rental car or not. If you only need transportation to a couple of locations (to and from the airport, for example) then an uber or car-sharing service is a cheaper option but make sure it is offered in the city you are traveling to.
Keep Bags Light And With You
Packing light is essential on any trip but sometimes not possible when you are traveling with kids or family members. Solo business trips are ideal for packing as light as possible.
Even though you want to pack as light as possible do not forget valuable items. Here are a few things you should think about when packing:
Leisure Clothing — even on a business trip, you will want at least one pair to help you relax after a busy day.
Weather-Related Clothing — is it significantly colder/hotter where you are traveling? Will it rain while you are there?
Your Preference — if you know you get cold easily, bring a light jacket, even in the summer, for times you might get cold inside.
Really analyze what you will be doing during the trip and only pack the essentials. If you can wear a pair of dress pants or a blazer more than once, do it!
You do not want to overpack and end up with a heavy bag to lug around or worse, be forced to check your bag.
This is the ultimate business travel tip, NEVER CHECK YOUR BAG.
Besides additional travel time to check your bag and then retrieve it from baggage claim, you are risking a travellers worst nightmare — a lost bag!
If for some reason you do have to check your bag, keep a carry on with all of your essential items:
Toiletries
A Change Of Clothes
Chargers & Electronics
Business Documents
Identification & Money
Invest In A Good Backpack
This goes right along with the last tip but a high-quality backpack and some professional packing skills can replace a carry-on bag altogether. Improve your travel experience by easily being able to carry everything without having to roll it through crowded streets or escalators.
Find a quality backpack made for business travellers. Make sure it has a padded pocket for laptops or tablets. Extra pockets are also good so you can easily organize your travel necessities.
The only downside is having to carry a heavy bag around instead of being able to set it down and roll it. Pack smart and light, and this will not be an issue.
Have Money And ID Options
It is likely you will be traveling to another country for our conferences so make sure you have your passport and another form of identification just in case. We also recommend making a physical copy of your passport so you can have a form of identification on you without having to carry your passport through the city and risk damaging or losing it. Most hotels have a safe you can lock your passport in once you arrive.
Most of your travel payments will be electronic and made beforehand but you always want to have some cash on you for those few transactions that require it. Some places might not accept a debit/credit card and you will want to avoid searching for an ATM in an unfamiliar city, plus paying transaction fees for withdrawing cash.
Have some of your cash in smaller bills to use for tipping as well.
You will also need to check if the country you are traveling to accepts your home currency or if you will need to exchange it. If you need to exchange it, look up the change fees and reputable exchange locations before arriving.
Storing a backup credit card in a separate bag is also a great idea just in case you lose your purse or wallet. Do not have all of your valuables in one spot. Utilise the safe in your hotel room as mentioned above. Separate credit cards throughout your wallet, purse, carry-on or other travel bags.
Bring Quality Travel Tech & Chargers
Any experienced traveller knows the importance of a good set of headphones. If you do not have some already, invest in a nice pair of noise-canceling headphones to drown out airplane and passenger noise.
Have a backup pair of headphones in case your original pair break or run out of juice. The backup pair does not need to be as nice as your first pair. Save money and packing space by having a small pair of earbuds you can roll-up.
It can be overwhelming trying to keep all of your devices charged and gathering each charger you will need. See if you can charge multiple devices with the same type of charger. If not, look at investing in a charger with multiple device options.
Also, look for a portable charging device to easily keep your devices running while you are on the go.
Traveling internationally, you will most likely need an adapter as well unless your devices are USB chargeable. Make sure you choose the right connection for the country you are visiting. There are adapters for multiple countries as well if your business takes you to several different locations.
Download Apps and Content Ahead Of Time
You do not want to have to rely on a Wi-Fi connection or risk using up your data trying to download content on the go. Download any movies, podcasts or playlists that you will want while traveling before you leave your house.
Also, make sure you have any apps needed to stay connected with your family. This is not only for you, make sure your family members have the app or software set up on their devices as well. Have every family member download the app you are planning to use and do a test call before you set off on your trip.
Stay Organised
Staying organised will help you in every aspect of business traveling. Make sure you have all of your flight, hotel and event information in one location. There are apps to help you manage this and integrate it with your calendar but if you have a physical area to write them down as well, we recommend it. If you lose your phone or the battery dies, you will still have all of this information written down.
Business trips are usually very busy so it can be hard to keep up with expense reports but this is extremely important so you do not end up footing the cost instead of your company.
Dedicate time during or immediately after your business trip to managing your expense reports. Taking photos of your receipts is a smart way to keep track of your expenses.
Read our full blog to get even more travel tips, here.
Summits and conferences are invaluable opportunities to gather industry knowledge and business connections but it can be a lot to take in. There is so much information shared — how do you collect and organise it all? There is nothing worse than racing to jot down notes, only to lose them or not be able to comprehend them later on.
How do you currently take notes during summits?
To help at future events, we have researched the top 10 note-taking apps:
Evernote is a great note-taking app, available on all platforms. It allows you to easily take, organise and enhance your notes with tables, attachments and web clippings. You can also record audio notes of your own thoughts or keynote speakers.
Stay organised by tagging your notes and then easily find them by date, title or tag. The search feature allows you to easily access any note even if you cannot remember exactly when you took it or what you labeled it.
If you tend to take notes that end up cluttered and all over the page but want to better organise them, they also offer templates!
Evernote offers a free and paid version, depending on your needs. One great feature, of many, in the paid version, is the ability to scan and digitise business cards. This would be extremely helpful during the summit networking sessions.
Onenote is a Microsoft office 365 app. It allows you to organise your notes by sections or pages to easily navigate or search your content. You can even add custom annotations by drawing on your notes to make them even more personalized.
Add recorded audio, online videos and other files to your notes. Share them with coworkers to make the most of the knowledge you learned.
The best thing about OneNote is that it is available on all platforms and does not have a device limit, all for free!
This app is a free product from Dropbox that allows you to not only take notes but also collaborate with team members, manage projects and much more. For conferences, its smart formatting makes it easy to create a clean design while keeping up with the engaging speaker panels.
Paper also lets you easily integrate almost anything into your notes. Add audio, YouTube videos, Pinterest boards, google maps and more.
One of the great things about paper is content and accident protection. The free plan gives you a 30-day file recovery and Dropbox rewind if you accidentally delete any note. The paid plans offer longer recovery periods. You can also wipe devices remotely to protect sensitive material and all plans come with two-step verification.
Another key function is its collaborative workspace. Easily share your notes with team members and have them comment or ask questions in real-time. This can be great for large teams that cannot afford to send every member to the conference. Give them access to the information being shared and allow them to submit questions in real-time.
Simplenote is all in the name. A note-taking app focused on speed and efficiency. You will not find fancy integrations with this app but if you simply want to take text-based notes and that is it, then Simplenote has you covered.
It does have a tagging feature and the ability to go back in time, plus sharing capabilities. It is available, free across all platforms and devices.
For device-specific note-taking apps, iPhone and Mac users can take advantage of Apple Notes. Apple Notes lets you type out your notes or tell them to Siri for her to record. You can also create tables inside your notes for easy organisation.
Lock confidential information using a password, Touch ID or Face ID. Share your notes and allow invited guests to edit them. Other features include adding web links to your note, organising by folders and pinning important ones for easy access.
By simply tapping the Aa icon, you can add formatting to your notes such as headings, indentions and stylized text.
Read about the other 5 apps and learn about two smartpen options for those that prefer hand-written notes, here.
Many companies have seen great success through design thinking strategies and the design thinking industry has seen significant growth over the past few years but what’s next? Has design thinking hit its peak already or will it continue to see growth through 2020?
Through market research, here are our top five projections for the design thinking industry:
Solving For Tomorrow Instead Of Today
Design thinking is great at solving the problems of today but what about tomorrow? One of the key growth aspects for the future of design thinking will be going beyond designing for today’s problems to create the sort of products and services that the world wants but doesn’t know it yet.
This type of future includes tools and methodologies coming from strategic business modeling, future casting tools (such as trend mapping), systems thinking tools, human-centered design tools and prototyping.
The future of the industry will be about using the concepts of strategic foresight and design thinking to embrace apprehension, identify opportunities, and make small but significant headway on those opportunities (or future ones).
Increased Need Will Drive New Companies
With continuous growth in the market and more businesses realising the importance of design thinking, there will be an increase in the need for companies specialising in this. Some experts are even predicting that design-consulting firms will be just as common as financial consulting firms will.
Design thinking will not only be associated with designing products but for services and internal processes as well. Many businesses are already finding design thinking solutions with the creative teams in their organisation but they will need to expand beyond these teams to drive their business into the future.
One example, for sales to see continued success, design thinking will be key to establishing a genuine connection with customers and engaging them throughout the sales process.
Increased Value from Communities of Customers
Businesses will need to start embracing a community-based approach to collaborating with their customers. This will be the new way to conduct market research, to support successful design thinking solutions.
Customer insight platforms such as Sparq, a Vision Critical product, will become paramount as the relationship between design and data science grows tighter. Some companies may be struggling to get the data they need after the implementation of GDPR so finding valuable customer insights through consent data might be what gives you a competitive edge.
Many global brands are already utilising customer insight platforms so the projection here is that many more companies will start to adopt this strategy.
For a detailed description of the other two projections, visit our blog.
Look for areas of opportunity to utilise these projections in your own organisations and establish yourself as a long-lasting, innovative company that solves your target audience’s needs and pain points. The concept of designing with the end-user in mind is not new to product design and as companies adopt design thinking in other areas of their business, we should continue to see growth in the market. Make sure your company is prepared and look for opportunities, like the projections above, to give you a competitive advantage.
Other areas of opportunity will be discussed during the 3rd Design Thinking Summit in Berlin, Germany on October 24th and 25th. Join global executives as they share their experiences and discuss the latest trends in design thinking innovations.
