"Anti-Design Thinking"—A Methodology to Avoid Being Led Astray by Imported Concepts—(Part 2)

Naoki Sakai is a concept developer who has created numerous hit products and designs since the 1980s. Rather than merely designing superficial elements, he strategically systematizes a product's philosophy, worldview, and everything else, motivating the entire team, including clients. He is also a pioneer who made the term "concept" mainstream. Additionally, the DENTSU SOKEN INC. B Team, led by DENTSU Inc.'s Hidetoshi Kurashige, is a think tank bringing together 40 employees who excel in specific fields through personal activities, hobbies, university majors, or previous careers. Since its launch in July 2014, this group has developed new concepts through unique research, published them in outlets like Forbes, and consulted on over 50 projects within two years. This time, both parties will discuss "Don't Import Concepts! Don't Easily Borrow Others' Concepts!"—an anti-concept reuse approach. In other words, it's "Anti-Design Thinking." This session deconstructs the knowledge-first methodology we often fall into, gently massaging and loosening our minds.

Why aren't "methods" important?

Kurashige: Let's talk about anti-design thinking. The core of design thinking is that it targets non-designers, right? It's about people outside the design field adopting the thinking methods and processes of designers.

Sakai: True, design thinking became popular among non-designers because it's an easily understandable method for "discovering and solving problems." The significant focus on IDEO certainly played a big role. But I don't think this method alone can "create something from nothing." You absolutely need to inject a significant amount of visionary thinking into it.

IDEO was primarily a product design company until around 1991. But when the iPhone emerged, the era of "things" ended, and designers became less essential. In that environment, they likely expanded their business by offering design thinking.

Kurashige: Mr. Sakai says, "There is no universal or magical method." Recently, a colleague at Dentsu Digital Inc. who specializes in AI for Team B said the same thing. They mentioned the "No Free Lunch Theorem," explaining that while AI is often perceived as universal, no single AI can handle everything. It's like there's no such thing as a free lunch – no easy solution.

The same applies to methodologies. Japan needs to shift from the era of chasing and overtaking the West, yet it remains fixated on short-term gains, unable to change its mindset, and continues to panic. Amidst this, when something is labeled "trendy now!", people immediately jump on it. I really want to voice opposition to this. Because chasing the next big thing is "not innovation." That mindset is flawed. That's why I think Sakai-san and I should loudly proclaim that "there is no magic methodology."

Sakai: That's good. Many people mistakenly believe the method is crucial. While there are various schools of methodology, they all resemble each other. Stanford's design school "d.school" uses "Empathy → Problem Definition → Ideation → Prototype → Test." Meanwhile, "IDEO" follows "Discovery → Interpretation → Conceptualization → Implementation → Evolution." What's unique is "frog design," which is entirely disruptive: "Formulate disruptive hypotheses, find disruptive opportunities sleeping in the market, and generate several disruptive ideas." I wonder if that really works (laughs).

Looking at them this way, it ultimately boils down to repeating "gather information → create → realize," so I think they're all the same.

Kurashige: How about "Water Design," led by Mr. Sakai?

Sakai: In our terms, it's "Sampling (information gathering) → Cut-up → Remix → Play." The most crucial part is extracting and editing brand keywords to form concepts. I create an image box based on that. Using this as a foundation, I direct designers to create products and evaluate the concepts. What makes us unique is our emphasis on the brand itself.

Macromill's "Brand Data Bank," which we developed, includes a service called the Emotional Program. People have various brands attached to them based on their preferences and beliefs. This service maps them out visually on a single map. It seems the average person has about 135 important brands attached to them. I also try to check what people I meet are wearing as much as possible.

Kurashige: Huh! You were checking me out too?

Sakai: Hehehe... By checking, you can see what kind of positioning sensibilities a person has and what their consumption trends might be.

Fifteen years ago, I created a program to automatically classify people's relationships with brands. The vertical axis represents consumption age, and the horizontal axis ranges from conservative to innovative, allowing classification into nine types. We utilize this method to create products focused on specific targets.

Kurashige: We also create many methods, but it's to make it easier to generate ideas with people we've just met. Essentially, it's because we want to create new stars who can say, "Hey, I came up with that!" That person might be a young client, or maybe an older guy about to retire. We brainstorm together with all kinds of people—different backgrounds, different creative approaches—passing the ball around until everyone scores and we all cheer, "We did it!" That's the most exciting part.

To make that happen, we want to have many unique tools and be able to change our approach depending on the challenge. Another thing we're trying is shuffling different methods and rearranging the process to see if something new emerges.

Right now, many people are importing tools from the West Coast. These aren't methods they developed themselves, yet they infiltrate meetings saying, "You must do open innovation" or "Design thinking is crucial." People swallow this whole and start, but ultimately, no innovation happens.

I think everyone should be like the character "Pro Golfer Monkey" from the golf manga. He competes using a golf club he carved from wood himself. Using borrowed irons just won't cut it.

Sakai: I agree. Anything that's obvious to everyone is a trap. Innovation can't possibly exist in such obvious places.

Kurane: Regarding design thinking, I want to add one more point. I heard about this guy who went on a study tour to America and declared, "Design thinking is amazing, Japan should adopt it!" An American student overheard him and said, "But Honda and Sony are already using it as a reference, doesn't that seem odd?" I thought that was interesting.

Similar things happen all the time, right? Like Kyoto's third wave coffee—inspired by Kyoto coffee, refined in San Francisco, then brought back to Japan where it creates huge lines. This pattern plays out everywhere. Something that was originally Japanese gets packaged overseas without us realizing it, then comes back, leaving Japanese people scrambling.

Sakai: The relationship between ASICS' "Onitsuka Tiger" and Nike is another example, right?

Kurashige: I want to sound the alarm about Japan becoming a "blindly imitative nation."

"Small talk" becomes important
 

Kurashige: Sakai-san, is there anything on your mind lately?

Sakai: I'm intrigued by the SIM card vending machines at Heathrow. You buy a SIM card, use it, and when you run low on data, you get an email saying, "Time to buy more?" I think this business model, using just vending machines and text messages, could be applied to many other industries.

It seems like an excellent model—no need to meet anyone, no hassle of filling out forms. I think there's an opportunity to sell "things" through combinations that are completely different from what we've seen before.

Kurashige: That might be true. I'll add one thing. You might say, "Is that even a concept?" but I think "small talk" is on the verge of extinction in the world. Efficiency is important, of course, but isn't small talk and idle chatter also important for life and work?

Sakai: There's a hotel in London called "citizenM." On the first floor, you can eat 24/7, there's a bar, and they have tons of these casual chat corners. They've also got plenty of computers and meeting rooms, and you can stay in a guest room on the second floor or above for around ¥20,000. The rooms only have a bed and shower, but the design is solid, so it doesn't feel cheap like Japanese business hotels. This approach—luxurious shared spaces paired with minimalist accommodations—is becoming mainstream.

Kurashige: I really resonate with that trend. I think casual conversation is incredibly important. I often ask people, both inside and outside the company, why they always come as guests to Team B, and everyone says it's because the casual chats are interesting. Mr. Sakai also comes every month specifically for those chats, right?

Sakai: The casual chats are interesting, and honestly, opportunities to hear firsthand information like this aren't that common. Information floods our mobile devices, but it's all processed – secondhand, thirdhand, fourthhand.

Kurashige: Lately, what's been bothering me is the "Hey, that was my idea!" scam. People are supposed to be doing creative work—coming up with interesting ideas, creating things—yet the moment they win an advertising award, they all start shouting, "Hey, that was my work!"

It shouldn't just be about self-promotion, awards, or merely surviving in the creative industry. I think it's about doing interesting things with ideas, helping someone, or even, if possible, doing something for the world or humanity. I think we really need to seriously consider why we want to work using creativity.

Don't just swallow things whole. We need to properly re-examine why we use our intelligence to work. Today, I wanted to share this message about creativity with Mr. Sakai.

Don't just copy because "design thinking is trendy" or "ethnography is trendy." I want to say: have the courage to evolve in your own unique way. "Prohibited: trying to catch a second loach using someone else's loincloth." Mr. Sakai, how can we build an innovative organization?

Sakai: You can if there's even one "crazy innovator" among your members.

Kurashige: Well then, we need to be even bolder and go "crazy" (laughs).

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You can also read this interview on AdTae!
Planning & Production: Dentsu Live Inc. Creative Unit Creative Room 2, Aki Kanahara

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