Mark Curtis was brought to Inspirefest to speak during the session on design thinking, a concept that forms the core of his business yet has troubled him in recent years.

Inspirefest 2017

Mark Curtis is the co-founder of Fjord, a design and innovation consultancy that was acquired by Accenture in May 2013. While design thinking is his business, he is wary of its growing popularity as a concept, as what is on the front page of the Harvard Business Review one day is soon to be the latest fad to be trashed.

Curtis and Fjord instead operate under the rule of three for design, which incorporates design thinking, design doing and design culture, which he explained at Inspirefest 2016.

In his keynote, Curtis explores the challenges companies that have not traditionally been design-focused have faced in adopting this trio. He also explains why this is becoming increasingly important for businesses as we enter the third digital age. From desktop to mobile, he believes the next era will be dominated by living services. But are we ready to design them?

Words by Elaine Burke