Design approach to innovation used to help small businesses grow
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Professor Mike Waller and the Prospecting and Innovation Studio supported creative businesses to develop their innovation cultures by applying Goldsmiths design expertise.
The British Library (Credit: Christina Hemsley, Shutterstock)
Funded by the Arts Council England and the British Library, Get Ready For Business Growth is a programme to inspire businesses in the creative and cultural sector to thrive. It is offered virtually across the British Library’s Business and IP Centre National Network for entrepreneurs and small businesses across the nation.
Professor Waller, working with Trudi Hamer in the Enterprise Office, delivered a series workshops for Product and Service Innovation over seven cohorts from October 2022 – September 2024, followed by bespoke one-to-one sessions. Over 200 creative and cultural small and medium-sized enterprises from across the UK and from a wide range of industries were involved. A new initiative in Scotland will see this activity continue in 2025 and into 2026.
The workshop and one-to-one sessions collaboratively supported creative and cultural businesses to develop creative approaches for innovation projects. Professor Waller used design tools developed at Goldsmiths to help businesses map and strategically better understand their context and audiences, and how previous innovations were received and implemented. By applying methods used in design, businesses can more readily identify challenges and opportunities associated with new products and services that resonate with their core values and better serve their audiences.
“Mapping tools help us focus on the business, see the bigger landscape, connect ideas, and locate where to zoom in on challenges or spark new ideas. Strong innovation demands a deep grasp of the organisation, its context, and empathy with its audience, insights uncovered through enquiry, design, and research,” Professor Mike Waller explained.
The impact of the Get Ready for Business Growth programme on small businesses was revealed in a report which shows that 298 new products, processes or services have been introduced in 98 participant businesses, 223 jobs were created, and 179 jobs were safeguarded.
Projects like this connect our work in the university with people and organisations beyond it, those striving to thrive, create better futures, and build stronger livelihoods.
Mike Waller, Professor of Design and Innovation
Professor Waller added, “We work collaboratively with organisations and use design-led methods, mapping the innovation landscape, prototyping, exploring external forces, and crafting stories to bring ideas to life. Our goal is to spark a culture of creativity and drive forward their innovation projects. Investing in the creative process transforms the quality of the outcome.”