I think the key takeaway from James Dyson was the design principle of iteration in design innovation. Dyson produced 5127 prototypes in 15 years. He mentioned Thomas Edison’s principle that the process of development is through iteration which closely aligns with his design ideology. In his approach, designers build prototypes after prototypes until things work. Most importantly, one change is made in every new prototype so that designers can see exactly what works and what does not work.
Dyson’s design principle is breaking design tasks into extreme details. The designer understands and manipulates every single minute detail of the design to reach perfection. This fits the design thinking process that I learned: a process going through five steps of EMPATHIZE, DEFINE, IDEATE, PROTOTYPE, and TEST. Rather than a linear process, it is a cyclical loop because designers repeat the process infinitely. We might go back to previous processes in any steps. Making a lot of prototypes is only a part of the whole design process system. Behind Dyson’s 5127 prototypes is 5127 times of going through EMPATHIZE, DEFINE, IDEATE, PROTOTYPE, and TEST. The numerous versions of iterations show a process of discovery. By then, design is no longer a huge chunk task, but a progressive exploration. Looking at the most well-known designs before, I could hardly imagine myself also breaking through the conventional thoughts and creating radically. However, I realize that every breakthrough comes step by step by adding incremental pieces of creation to each step. Going through the process of iterations, even the incremental innovations can be disruptive.
Designing a disruptive design can be extremely time-consuming. Dyson took four to five years to achieve the goal of collecting very fine dust through developing new technology. Besides creativity, patience also takes a key role in success. However, I think this patience can only be driven by genuine PASSION because, during this process, designers might earn no profits.
After a product is produced, I think the design mindset of innovation should not stop. A good design should take the finish of one product as the starting point for a new version iteration. Just as the numerous versions of vacuum cleaners seen in the videos, designers developed further detailed problems and tackle them through further new products and technologies. For example, the Dyson company designed a laser head cleaner to reveal dust that seems invisible to the eyes, an anti-tangle tool to solve the problem of tangled hair on the vacuum cleaner, and the newly launched design that prevents smoke from getting outside. Each of them focuses on a single, broken-down problem. Expanding from the vacuum cleaner, the Dyson company applies electric motor technology to fans, hairdryers, and more products.
During the process, we should not think of always perfection. A lot of the time, perfectionism would hinder work efficiency and creativity. If we take the route of incremental innovation, we should embrace failure and imperfection.