IBM leaders to discuss company's design thinking approach during upcoming event

IBM defines design as "the intent behind an outcome," and the company uses design thinking to apply that intent to its products and services by developing understanding and empathy for its users.

During an upcoming presentation presented by Grand Valley's Design Thinking Academy, two design thinking leaders at IBM will describe the company's approach to the design thinking process and what it means for the future of the design profession.

Seth Johnson, IBM Designer Experience design advocate and program director, and Eleanor Bartosh, IBM design thinking practice lead, will present "IBM Design Thinking: Activating Design Thinking at Scale" on March 29. The free event will take place from 6-7 p.m. in Loosemore Auditorium, located in the DeVos Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

"Having key leaders from IBM who lead design thinking activities give a public talk and then visit with Design Thinking Academy students helps all students and faculty see how such skills and experiences are important to major employers," said John Berry, Design Thinking Academy director. "Their visit also indicates the growing interest in what GVSU is doing with design thinking for its undergraduates across the country. IBM, with more than 400,000 employees worldwide, is changing their innovative culture through design thinking."

Bartosh leads the design thinking practice for IBM, where she and her team help others create a sustainable culture of design and design thinking across the enterprise. Bartosh previously served as lead for IBM Design Research and as lead researcher for Power Systems’ Project Monocle where she helped executives understand the needs of system administrators.

Johnson leads IBM’s efforts to elevate the craft of design across multiple product organizations and a global network of more than 40 design studios. He leads a team of designers and developers to serve IBM’s population of 1,600 professional designers. As a recognized leader in the practice of design thinking, Johnson has developed many of the standard facilitation practices currently in use at IBM.

For more information about this event, contact Berry at [email protected]. For more information about the Design Thinking Academy, visit gvsu.edu/designthinking.