Abstract:

As the world changes rapidly with the progress of globalisation, designers are increasingly required to use strategic thinking to deal with complexity and uncertainty in an era of constant transformation. In order to survive, companies need strategic designers to be more competitive (Woyke & Atal, 2007), and design education now focuses more on business (Design Management Institute, 1975; Mozota, 2003) and on the strategic role of design in fostering strategic thinking (Kefallonitis & Efstathios, 2007; Lockwood, 2008; Kumar, 2009; Herrmann & Goldschmidt, 2013). Some research, however, indicates that design education in South Korea does not contribute to making students think in a strategic way and therefore design undergraduate students seriously lack the ability to think strategically. (Korean Institute of Design Promotion, 2011; Shin & Kim, 2012)

In order to address the key question, “How can strategic thinking be enhanced by design education for design undergraduates in South Korea?”, the research reviews current design education, investigates key drivers for and barriers to the enhancement of strategic thinking in South Korea, seeks insights from successful design education programmes, and gathers perspectives about strategic thinking from design students, design educators, and design strategists. By using both qualitative (focus groups, in-depth interviews, a literature review, case studies, and action research) and quantitative (a questionnaire) research methods, the study uncovers a number of facts:
(i) design undergraduates’ short-sighted mind-set in South Korea should be reshaped;
(ii) more practical multicultural and interdisciplinary applications of strategic thinking are needed to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical classes;
(iii) consistent stimulation is required to internalise strategic thinking.

This research proposes a design-led strategic framework with three strategic steps: Mind-set, Experience, and Internalisation. Together, these steps, including nine specific guidelines on how to implement the framework, can work to enhance students’ strategic thinking at undergraduate level in South Korea.

The authors believe this framework will contribute to the creation of an effective teaching strategy for fostering strategic thinking in students, and will thus lay the foundations of an environment where design students are encouraged to think strategically. The researchers hope this research will therefore encourage design students to develop their ability to think strategically and thus grow up as strategic designers capable of working in both academia and industry in the current era.

Keywords:

Design Education, Design Strategy, Strategic Thinking, Design Thinking.