Design and Success:

An exploration into product design and entrepreneurship

Gerard Wylie

Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Design

Innovation

August 2017

Supervisor: Trevor Vaugh

Department of Design Innovation

Head of Department: Peter Robbins

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 Abstract

The role of a product designer is constantly evolving and so must the educational institutes
to meet to demand in society. Some of the world‘s most innovative companies were founded
by entrepreneurs with a design background. After conducting a literature review and analys-
ing the course structure of product/industrial design courses in Ireland it became clear there
was a gap in the educational system when it came to product design and entrepreneurship.
This paper explores the connections and similarities that product designers have with entre-
preneurs and the importance and positive effect that design thinking methodologies have on a
business. Additionally this paper explores the importance of entrepreneurial skills and design
thinking methods being taught to multiple college course outside the design department. It
uses a mixed method approach towards data collection to gain a deep understanding of the
research topic. The researcher used semi-structured interviews and conducted a online survey
to gain both qualitative and quantitative data. Six entrepreneurs were interviewed for the re-
search study with five of the six entrepreneurs having a design background. Additionally,
three recent graduates of product design were interviewed. The results of the research study
indicated inconsistencies in product design education throughout Ireland in relation to entre-
preneurship and new business venture creation. The results indicated the importance of entre-
preneurial skills and design thinking methods being implemented into multiple college cours-
es to increase the awareness of entrepreneurship as a career option, along with to increase the
likeliness of graduates pursuing a career path of self-employment.

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 Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank my supervisor Trevor Vaugh for his
guidance throughout my dissertation. His guidance and encouragement throughout the
dissertation allowed me to complete dissertation successfully.

I would now like to thank the members of my class in Design Innovation at Maynooth
University for the continual guidance and advice that allowed me to make the necessary
adjustments to ensure a successful completion of this research study. In particular I would
like to take this opportunity to thank Conor Cogan, Laura Nugent and James Maxwell for all
their help, guidance and friendship that made the last year enjoyable.

I would like to also thank all the participants and interviewees that were involved throughout
data collection process of this research study, without them this study would not have been
possible.

I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to those who took time
out to proof read this study.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Barry and Patricia and my sister Fiona who have
always been there for continuous support throughout my education and without them none of
this would have been possible. I would like thank my girlfriend Leah McBride, and other
friends for their encouragement and support throughout this past year.

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 DECLARATION

I have read and understood the Departmental policy on plagiarism.

I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another
degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education.

Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been
acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given.

Name of Student: Gerard Wylie

Student Number: 10726465

Signature: ______________ Date ___________________

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Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………i
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………..ii
Thesis Declaration Form……………………………………………………………………..iii

Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 4

1.0Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.1Aims of the Research Study.................................................................................................. 7
1.2Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 7
1.3Rationale and Positionality of Research ............................................................................... 8
1.4Structure of the Thesis .......................................................................................................... 9
Chapter Two: Literature Review ...................................................................................... 10
2.0Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10
2.1Entrepreneurship ................................................................................................................. 10
2.2Role of Designers ................................................................................................................ 14
2.3Connection between Designers and Entrepreneurs............................................................. 15
2.4Origin of the Term Design Entrepreneurship ..................................................................... 17
2.5Design Entrepreneurship ..................................................................................................... 18
2.6Design and Entrepreneurship Education ............................................................................. 19
2.7 Product and Industrial Design course structure presently in Ireland ................................. 22
2.8 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 23
Chapter Three: Methodology ............................................................................................ 26
3.0Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 26
3.1Aims of the Study ............................................................................................................... 26
3.2Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 27
3.3Research Paradigm.............................................................................................................. 27
3.4Research Approach ............................................................................................................. 28
3.5Method of Data Collection.................................................................................................. 28
3.5.1Rationale for utilising both Interviews and Surveys .................................................... 29
3.5.2Interview Guide ........................................................................................................... 30
3.5.3 Pilot Interview ............................................................................................................. 31
3.5.4 Respondent Validation ................................................................................................ 31
3.6Selection and Sampling of Participants .............................................................................. 32

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......................... 3.6.1 Participant Profile…………………………………………………………… .34
3.7Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 34
3.8Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................ 36
3.8.1Information letter and Informed Consent .................................................................... 36
3.9Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 37

Chapter Four ..................................................................................................................................

4.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… ..........39
4.1 Response Rate………………………………………………………………………… ..........39
.................................. 4.1.1 Semi-Structured Interviews…………………………………………… 39
....................4.1.2 Surveys………………………………………………………………………..39
4.2 Themes Identified……………………………………………………………………….40
................... 4.2.1 Theme One…………………………………………………………………….41
............................................................................................................................................................ 4.2.1
................... 4.2.2 Theme Two……………………………………………………………………42
............................................................................................................................................................ 4.2.2
........................ 4.2.3 Theme Three…………………………………………………………………. 46
............................................................................................................................................................ 4.2.3
........................... 4.2.4 Theme Four………………………………………………………………… 49
............................................................................................................................................................ 4.2.4
4.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. .........56

Chapter Five .....................................................................................................................................

5.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… ..........59
5.1 Summary of Research…………………………………………………………………. .........59
......................... 5.1.1 Research Question One……………………………………………………… 60
........................ 5.1.2 Research Question Two……………………………………………………… 60
........................ 5.1.3 Research Question Three…………………………………………………….. 61
5.2 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………… ...........62
5.3 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………… ............63
5.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………64
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….. ........65

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Appendices

Appendix One: Participant Profile……………………………………………………....72

Appendix Two: Interview Topic Guide…………………………………………………73
Appendix Three: Consent Form…………………………………………………………78
Appendix Four: Survey………………………………………………………………….80
Appendix Five: Coded Interviews………………………………………………………86
.......................................................

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Chapter One: Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Throughout the last number of decades education within the design field has made rapid
advances. Historic studies found that incorporating entrepreneurship into the curriculum of
product and industrial design courses would provide designers with the knowledge and
capabilities to not solely be employees but also have the opportunity to be employers and also
instils confidence into the student that self-employment is an option as a career path (Sullivan
and Carlson, 2002; Gunes, 2012; Odora, 2015). As a result, a number of educational third
level institutes have incorporated this into their curriculum and have enhanced and enriched
their course with broadening the knowledge and education students are thought.

Considering the literature surrounding this topic it was evident there are a number of key
similarities that product and industrial designers share with entrepreneurs, these similarities
include a number of behaviours, attitudes, traits and skills that are essential in the creation of
a new product or venture. The role of a designer has changed dramatically over the past few
decades. Designers in the 21st century have been programmed by education into the mind-set
of becoming employees and not employers, but have also been equipped with the skills
necessary to successfully create and maintain a successful product or service related business
venture but don‘t necessarily realise it yet.

Experience in the industry is highly important for the development of a ―design entrepreneur‖
with most entrepreneurs having up to on average 13 years‘ experience in the industry before
developing a new venture, with the average age of design entrepreneurs in their early 30‘s.
(Tidd and Bessant, 2007)

Designers have been taught the skills and have built the necessary traits and behaviours to
become entrepreneurs including, Team building, creative problem-solving, new product
development, marketing, visual presentation of concepts and storytelling, effective and
logical decision making and the ability to adapt to evolving markets, to mention just a few.
Peter Drucker (1998) sees entrepreneurs as creators of innovative ideas and solutions that
exploit and act on opportunities that arise in society. This definition by Drucker (1998) also

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describes the role of product/ industrial designer showing evidence that designers have been
moulded to become entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs attack the underlying causes to
certain problems in society rather than trying to create a solution for a quick fix to the
problem (Tidd and Bessant, 2007); this too can be said for product designers which draw
more evidence towards designers being moulded by education to become successful
entrepreneurs. Designers and Social entrepreneurs take calculated risks and are skilled at
doing so they are able to create a deep understanding of the end user‘s needs and seek to not
only meet the needs and expectations of the end user and investors but exceed their
expectation with surprisingly attractive solutions and products. (Dee, 1998; Tidd and Bessant,
2007).

Designers need to be convinced and made aware that they have provided with the necessary
skills to become successful entrepreneurs. By adapting the mind-set of designer of thinking
they have to become employees and not employers. Nevertheless, it could be argued that
designers still need experience working in a design consultancy or in a similar organisation is
essential to build some of the skills required to successfully develop a business.

There is great importance for design students to be taught skills in business and
entrepreneurship. Additionally, not only design students should be taught these skills but that
multiple college degrees should integrate product design and entrepreneurship into their
course content outside the design department. Heller (2011) concurs with the above
argument; he has a strong belief in design entrepreneurship. This is evident in his book,
Design Entrepreneur 3.0.

Ideas from design entrepreneurs usually stem from the designer‘s social experience and their
surroundings. A very notable example of such a situation is Deborah Adler who redesigned
prescription medication containers to make it safer for use among the elderly by changing
font size and over layout (Heller, 2011). This idea stemmed from a personal experience when
Adler‘s own mother mistakenly took the wrong medication as a result of confusion by the
user due to bad layout and design. Adler‘s redesign was quickly recognised and was
purchased by the American superstore Giant Target to fill all of its prescription medication
(Heller, 2011).

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This personal experience can happen to any person and any person can create a new idea but
not everyone with a 3rd level education has been taught the required skills to convert ideas
into opportunities.

There has been evidence of a product design courses in Ireland incorporating

entrepreneurship into their course structure, but there has also been evidence of similar
courses not including it in the course structure. Entrepreneurial skills and the fundamental
skills required to establish a business venture should be adopted and taught by all product/
industrial design course not only in Ireland but worldwide, which would increase the
likeliness of designers creating and establishing their own venture which could lead to a rise
in economic development.

There is evidence of product designers being moulded to become entrepreneurs. Throughout

the literature review it displays evidence of how product design and entrepreneurship
assignments have increased the likeness of students taking a path to self-employment along
with identifying an increase of economic development with the introduction of more
entrepreneurs into society. The early adoption of entrepreneurial skills and design thinking
methodology could see an increase in economic development as jobs seekers become job
creators.

However, it has become evident throughout literature and findings from research studies that
students are unaware of the knowledge they are gaining from this combined curriculum and
that there is a need for design thinking and entrepreneurship to be taught to multiple college
degrees to increase the likeliness of students becoming entrepreneurs which in turn could see
an increase in economic development. In fact, it could pose the question are designers
moulded to be entrepreneurs by educators but are unaware of their capabilities?‘. Considering
this, this study looks to explore recent graduates of product/industrial design courses and
design entrepreneur‘s perspectives on this matter.

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 1.1 Aims of the Research Study

The aim of this research study is to explore and identify the characteristics of design
entrepreneurs and to establish the connections product / industrial designers have with
successful entrepreneurs. Additionally, this research seeks to show evidence that product and
industrial designers would make great entrepreneurs. This study also aims to identify
evidence designers have a competitive advantage when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur
compared to people with different discipline backgrounds. Additionally, it aims to show
evidence of the importance of design thinking methodology and entrepreneurial skills being
taught to a wider range of college courses outside the design department and looks to
encourage universities and institutes to adopt and instil a design thinking mind-set and
entrepreneurial skills into the lives of all students from multiple discipline curriculums to
increase the likeliness and awareness of self-employment as a career option.

1.2 Research Questions

This study aims to provide evidence towards answering the following questions:

• What similarities do product/industrial designers share with successful entrepreneurs?

• Have design students been equipped with the skills, behaviours and traits to
successfully establish a new business venture?

• Should a design thinking mind-set and entrepreneurial skills be instilled into a wider
range of course curriculums outside the design department?

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 1.3 Rationale and Positionality of Research

As a recent graduate of Product Design (Marketing and Innovation) in Maynooth University

and due to the constant evolution of course structure and demands put on educational
establishments to supply designers with entrepreneurial skills and other skills to better equip
designers to fit into the ever-changing role of a designer, it quickly became an very
interesting topic choice for this research study. After reviewing numerous sources of
literature based around design entrepreneurs and realising that some of the most successful
companies in the world were founded by product/ industrial designers such as YouTube,
AirBnB Vimeo (Nussbaum, 2011) it has instilled the realisation of a designer‘s skillset and
capabilities that designers have been equipped with throughout their education. The course
structure is continuously changing for the better but isn't being adopted by all universities and
institutes. The realisation and awareness around the potential of designers becoming
successful entrepreneurs and having a career path of self-employment adds to the reasoning
behind the exploration of this topic. The identification of the key connections between
successful entrepreneurs and product designers is important for the researcher to explore and
to confirm the potential of self-employment as a career option. With friends and family
establishing new ventures and businesses it was important for the researcher to identify why
designers have a competitive advantage when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur
compared to people with different discipline backgrounds. As the content and structure of the
product design course to which the researcher had graduated has changed since then it‘s even
more important to identify and provide evidence of the importance of entrepreneurial skills
and design thinking to be not only taught within the design department but throughout a
much wider range of college course curriculum. There are many new modules based around
entrepreneurship that have been added to the curriculum of the product design course at
Maynooth University in recent years, these modules would have proved beneficial for
designers that have graduated in recent years and for all designers, which makes it more
important for the researcher to explore this topic and create awareness of the benefits of
entrepreneurial skills being taught to designers as many product/ industrial design courses
available in Ireland in 2017 lack the entrepreneurial modules that equip designers with the
capabilities for successful development of new ventures.

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 1.4 Structure of the Thesis

A breakdown of the structure of the thesis and synopsis of the chapters is displayed below;

Chapter Two: Literature Review

The literature review will evaluate a range of articles, studies and opinions through past and
present research surrounding product design and entrepreneurship. This chapter will outline
and explore the importance of entrepreneurship and design thinking methodology in
education. It will explore in depth the literature surrounding the connections between
product/industrial designers and entrepreneurs and literature surrounding design
entrepreneurship.

Chapter Three: Methodology

This chapter will explain the methodology that was used throughout the research study. It
will identify and explain in detail the methods and approach that was utilised to collect and
analyse the applicable data.

Chapter Four: Findings and Analysis

This chapter will present the applicable findings that were gathered throughout the research
stage. It will aim to identify the key themes that arose from the semi-structured interviews
and the surveys that were conducted and analyse the data collected.

Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter will evaluate and draw a conclusion from the entire research study. It will
outline the most significant findings and how these findings have answered the identified
research questions mentioned earlier. This chapter will also make recommendations and
suggestions for further research.

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Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.0 Introduction

“Knowledge enables meaningful action” (Gouldler, 1979).

Have design students been equipped with the skills, behaviours and traits to successfully
establish a new business venture? This report aims to identify the key characteristics,
behaviours, skills and traits of both designers and entrepreneurs and how they share the same
mind set required to successfully develop a marketable product and then develop the product
into a viable business opportunity. This report will also discuss in depth the connection
between designers and entrepreneurs. This report also aims to identify and define the
meaning of ―design entrepreneurship‖ by looking at multiple sources and discussing the term
―design-entrepreneur”. It will discuss in-depth the history of design entrepreneurship by
looking at multiple educational institutions and universities that integrated the idea of
teaching entrepreneurial and business skills to designers and the positive effect it has had.
This report will delve into the importance of designers being taught these skills and will
utilise examples of multiple success stories, along with discussing how I think
entrepreneurship should not only be taught to students studying business, design and
engineering but instead multiple college course curriculums to increase the likeliness of
students having the option of seeking self-employment in the future.

2.1 Entrepreneurship

In order to better understand the connection entrepreneurs, have with product and industrial
designers, we must first understand what an entrepreneur is. The term entrepreneur first
originated in France in the 17th century and was used in terms of economics. (Dee, 1998). It
was first used to describe someone that takes up a certain activity or project, it then quickly
evolved to identify individuals who were venturesome and stimulated economic progress by
creating new and better ways of performing everyday tasks. Jean Baptiste Say describes an
entrepreneur as someone who “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an
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area of higher productivity and greater yield.” In other words, entrepreneurs create value. In
the 20th century an economist by the name of Joseph Schumpeter describes the function of an
entrepreneur is to revolutionise and reform the pattern of production through innovative and
creative methods (Dees, 1998). Entrepreneurship was closely connected with economic
growth by creating new markets and ways of doing things by either exploring untried
possibilities for creating new commodities or exploiting existing products and inventions.
Peter Drucker sees entrepreneurs as creators of innovative ideas and solutions that exploit and
act on opportunities that arise in society. He goes on to say that entrepreneurs have a certain
mind-set that is able to identify possibilities rather than see problems created by change.

Entrepreneurship is defined in many different ways, to mention the most meaningful in

connection with designers,

“The process of creating something different with value by devoting the necessary time and
effort; assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks; and receiving the
resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction and independence” (Hisrisch, Peters,
& Shepherd, 2008)

Entrepreneurs can be broken into certain group‘s technological entrepreneurs and social
entrepreneurs. Technological entrepreneurs use technology to drive the innovative venture
(Tidd and Bessant, 2007).

Social entrepreneurs are defined as “entrepreneurial, innovative and transformatory

individuals who are also, leaders, storytellers, people managers, visionary opportunists and
alliance builders.” (Leadbeater, 1997; Tidd and Bessant, 2007). Wealth is not important to a
social entrepreneur as the development of the product usually helps people in need and is
used for charitable reasons, social entrepreneurs are more concerned with the social value
created by the venture. They are happy to of solved a social problem and if profit comes from
it then it acts as an added bonus to the venture (Dee, 1998).

Social entrepreneurs attack the underlying causes to certain problems in society rather than
trying to create a solution for a quick fix to the problem. They are known for reducing
customer‘s needs rather than just satisfying them. They do this by being able to recognise and
pursue new opportunities, they engage in continuous adaption, innovation and learning (Tidd
and Bessant, 2007). They are known to act boldly without regard of the resources available to
them. It is not achieved by an individual burst of creativity it is managed by constant

11
improvement and learning. Social entrepreneurs take calculated risks and are skilled at doing
so they are able to create a deep understanding of the end user‘s needs and seek to not only
meet the needs and expectations of the end user and investors but exceed their expectation
with surprisingly attractive solutions and products. (Dee, 1998; Tidd and Bessant, 2007).

In order to develop an understanding of the connection between entrepreneurs and designers

we must first look at the skills entrepreneurs use to become successful business owners in
particular social entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs have the unique skill of effectuation. Effectuation is a certain way or logic of
thinking that benefits the entrepreneur in the successful creation of a business. Effectuation is
a certain decision-making logic that is used by entrepreneurs during times of uncertainty.
Sarasvathy (2008) states that the use of effectual logic enables the entrepreneur to create
unpredictable effects of known means. Effectuation uses a certain set of steps to follow that
can help the entrepreneur to assess future risks, and use these risks to adapt accordingly
(Sarasvathy 2008; M.Agogue, M.Lundqvist, K. Williams Middleton, 2015). There are five
principles mentioned in study titled ―Teaching Design Theory to Entrepreneurs: An Effectual
Use of Design” that make up the thinking framework of effectual logic (Agogue et al 2015).

The first principle is referred to as ―Bird-in-hand‖ and refers to what the entrepreneur knows
and has access to and acts accordingly. By accessing there means they can create viable goals
to set themselves. This principle is usually conducted by the entrepreneur asking themselves
the following three questions, “Who am I? What do I know? and who do I know?‖
(Sarasvathy 2008). By asking themselves these questions they can quickly access if a certain
pathway is achievable and forms a plan for the future (Sarasvathy and Dew, 2005; Agogue et
al, 2015).

The second principle is known as ―Affordable loss‖, this principle refers to entrepreneurs
anticipating and limiting risk by understanding what they have to lose. Simply put by
Sarasvathy (2008), ―don't risk or spend what you don't have.”

The third principle of effectuation recommends entrepreneurs to leverage contingencies.

Entrepreneurs should determine the best way to leverage unexpected or surprising outcomes,
by turning possible ―bad news‖ into possible opportunities. Making the most out of a bad
situation.

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The fourth principle is referred to as ―Patchwork Quilt‖ by a paper conducted by the
University of Virginia, and it refers to the partnerships that an entrepreneur makes in order to
succeed in their venture. The entrepreneur selects stakeholders in the early stage of
development. This allows the entrepreneur to reduce uncertainty when it comes to
partnerships and enable them to ―co-create the new market with interesting participants‖
(Agogue et al, 2015).

The fifth and final principle of effectuation is referred to by the University of Virginia as
―Pilot-in-a plane‖ and refers to the entrepreneur forcing on certain activities within their
control, and by having these activities under their control it will result in desired outcomes
instead of predicted ones that carry uncertainty and risk (Sarasvathy 2008; Dew, 2009; Read,
2011; Agogue et al, 2015).

Other skills and behaviours entrepreneurs have developed according to Entrepreneurship

Education in Ireland (2009) apart from effectuation include ―Opportunity seeking, Initiative
taking, ownership of a development, commitment to see things through, personal focus of
control, initiative decision making with limited information , networking capacity , strategic
thinking , negotiation capacity, selling/persuasive capacity, achievement orientation and
calculated risk taking” to mention just a few, all of these skills attitudes and behaviours are
the key entrepreneurial competences that develop and entrepreneurial mind-set, which is
important for successful development of a product or business.

Work experience has a huge role to play in the creation of a successful entrepreneur. In
addition to a high level of education successful entrepreneurs also have on average 13 years
of work experience before creating and developing their new venture. (Tidd and Bessant,
2007).

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 2.2 Role of Designers

To better understand the connection between designers and entrepreneurs we must first
understand the role of a designer and the process of new product development. Product
design is blended mix of skills in market research, conceptualisation, prototype development,
final product development, product testing and product refinement. Walsh (1992) defines
product design as being;

“The activity in which ideas and needs are given physical form, initially as solution concepts
and then as a specific configuration or arrangement of elements, materials and components”.

There are slight differences between industrial design and product design, industrial design is
defined by the Cambridge Business English dictionary as “the process of designing the
shape, features, etc. of manufactured products”. Product designers focus more on identifying
the customer needs through Research and Development (R&D), then by identifying these
needs they can begin the design process to satisfy the needs and expectations of the user, and
through effective innovative conceptualisation reduce the needs of the user and create
products above the customers expectation. R&D allows the designer to ―increase their stock
of knowledge and use this stock of knowledge to devise new material‘s, products, processes
and service or improving on existing products and services by exploiting new technologies
(Walsh, 1992; Murray, 2005). Innovation is used by designers to establish a breakthrough in
product and process design. Walsh, (1992) defines innovation as “The whole activity from
invention (the discovery of a new device, product, process or system) to the point of first
commercial or social use”.

Walsh (1992) and Cross (1989) articulate that the skills required of designers include Tacit
Knowledge, Visual Communication, Idea representation, research skills and communication
skills. Designers would normally also have sufficient knowledge in presentation technique‘s,
ergonomics, design process, economics, time management and knowledge of various
computer programmes including 3D CAD, Photoshop and range of the Adobe Suite for
effective visual presentation of concepts.

Product designers use a market-led approach compared to industrial designers that typically
use a technology-led or production-led approach. Market led design approach transforms user

14
needs into marketable products or service whereas technology and production led design in
which technology is the driving force for the NPD (Murray, 2005)

The design process is described by a number of researchers by involving the following steps:
Identification and examination of market needs, Need and problem analysis and the creation
of the design brief, Identifying product specifications, Idea generation and conceptualisation,
Concept development and prototyping, Embodiment and detailed design, design for
manufacture, design evaluation and review, post production improvement and design (Pugh,
1991; Walsh, 1992; Cross, 1989). It‘s important to understand the design process as it relates
closely to the process of bringing a new product to market that entrepreneurs may use in
order to successfully set up a new venture.

2.3 Connection between Designers and Entrepreneurs

After identifying and defining the role of both designers and entrepreneurs it‘s becoming
clear there are many connections between designers and entrepreneurs, not only in their
behaviours and attitudes but a lot can be connected in the skills they have developed. Product
and industrial designers have a lot of similar traits with entrepreneurs, especially social
entrepreneurs. Product designers also want to create something meaningful that can solve a
problem and aren't focused too much on financial gain, both social entrepreneurs and product
designers start their new product development process by identify the need of the customer or
by identifying a problem in the area of focus, then by effective decision making and problem
solving through creative conceptualisation they then can develop a concept that solves the
identified problem and hopefully make the life of the user easier.

Both designers and entrepreneurs can be considered a jack of all trades, having a
multidisciplinary skill set that is required to develop a product and bring it to market.
Merging business, technical, creativity and anthropological skills it allows the designer and
entrepreneur to develop a product or service from first identifying the need all the way to the
product or service being used by the customer.

Skills that connect both entrepreneurs and designers include effective decision making,
creative problem solving, risk assessment, ability to work well in a team, innovative
conceptualisation and the ability to adapt to the evolving marketplace.

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Effectuation is a skill or behavioural trait that is instilled in both designers and entrepreneurs.
Logical decision making allows both the entrepreneur and the product designer to use a
certain way of thinking for creative reasoning allowing the designer/entrepreneur to make
effective decisions in order for success. Seeing upcoming barriers that stand in their as not a
dead end but as an opportunity to evolve and learn turning a negative into a positive
(Sarasvathy, 2008; Agogue et al, 2017). Both entrepreneurs and product designers share a
certain mind-set that allows them to make creative and effective decisions that allow them to
solve problems and analyse risk.

There are even some things that entrepreneurs can learn from designers, firstly their ability to
present a concept visually which would benefit the entrepreneur when presenting concepts to
potential investors (Blumenfeld, 2017). Another vital thing that entrepreneurs can learn from
designers is their ability to solve problems creatively for example the founders of AirBnB
came up with the brilliant ideas of selling custom made cereals such as Obama O‘s and Cap‘n
McCains which at the time allowed them to solve some financial problems they were
encountering. An idea that any business or engineering focused individual would have
probably overlooked (Quora, 2017).

More mentionable lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from product designers are that they
should listen to their customers early and often. It‘s easy for an entrepreneur to make
assumptions of what customers want and need but entrepreneurs can learn that sometimes the
users and customers don't know what they want or need and it takes a product designer to
research and identify the hidden needs of the user and to make sure that throughout the design
process that they are still focused on the needs of the customer. Designers are the voice of the
customer and are telling businesses that create products what the customer needs to have
from a certain product. Many start-ups don't even talk to customers and make assumptions
that can often lead to the failure of a product or service.

The whole methodology of ―design thinking‖ can be beneficial to not only an entrepreneur
but to any business and can be used to evaluate and improve any aspect of a business. A
product designer‘s ability to quickly adapt to an evolving market place is another extremely
useful skill that entrepreneurs should equip themselves with in order to be successful.

Brian Chesky who is the founder and CEO of AirBnB who studied industrial design in Rhode
Island School of Design and said during an interview, ‗I think RISD produces great
entrepreneurs‖, ―They teach you that creativity can solve any problem‖ (Chesky, 2017). This

16
quote from Chesky almost confirms that designers would make great entrepreneurs, designers
have been equipped with a numerous amount of skills that are required to develop and bring a
concept to market (Strollo, 2017). There is such a connection between designers and
entrepreneurs that designers who have become entrepreneurs have been given their own
name.

2.4 Origin of the Term Design Entrepreneurship

Design entrepreneurship stemmed from ―design authorship" which emerged in the late 1980‘s
when graphic designers began working for themselves instead of for clients. It soon became
the movement of design entrepreneurship in the 1990‘s. The design entrepreneurial
movement suggested and nearly demanded that designers “take greater responsibility as
creators of their own marketable products” (Heller, 2011). At this early stage of the concept
of design entrepreneurship, designers who were seeking to create their own business usually
didn't commit to it fully and often kept their day jobs. At this point in the design entrepreneur
movement of the early 90‘s, professional business organisations were not embracing the
concept of design entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial and business skills were not taught in
design and art institutions. It was not until the late 90‘s when design entrepreneurship was
considered a viable career path and an alternative to working for a client or design
consultancy. (Heller,2011; Gunes 2012).

In the 1920‘s design entrepreneurship was being experimented with by the Bauhaus in
Germany and in the United States a collection of furniture, graphic and industrial designers
established a group called Contempora who created a number of entrepreneurial retail
products. The first known examples of design entrepreneurs or design authors were from the
1920s and 1940‘s, well before the term was even coined or studied. These ―designprenuers‖
included Kurts Schwitters (1920‘s) and Walter Herdeg (1940‘s) both graphic designers at the
time who established their own businesses (Heller, 2011). Then in the 1990‘s the first digital
desktop applications were first introduced to computers, the age of design entrepreneurs
quickly expanded. Designers now had immediate access to a range of tools to help transform
an initial idea or sketch in 3D CAD models to quickly identify faults and problems in
prototyping which before this time was only possible if the designer had access to vast

17
resources to produce prototypes. It was now becoming increasingly easier for lone designers
to create their own components without outsourcing the work.

Nevertheless, unfortunately at this time investors were not interested in the designers skill of
being able to generate ideas and prototype concepts, investors wanted more from a designer,
they wanted the designer to be able to present them with assumptions made of possible risks,
demonstrate that they can manage a business, make financial estimations and market the
product successfully. This was a void that was not yet being filled by education. Design
schools were not yet teaching skills in business and entrepreneurship to designers (Heller,
2011; Gunes, 2012; Mersland, 2012). Therefore, this demonstrated the gap between supply
and demand.

2.5 Design Entrepreneurship

The term ―designprenuer‖ was first coined by Nejdeh Hovanessian while completing a
research project for a master‘s degree dissertation at Brunel University. He has defined it as
―the phenomenon of innate entrepreneur inside a designer or the entrepreneurial effect of the
design profession.” (Kluas,2017). Therefore, design entrepreneurship is about
conceptualisation, production and marketing of one‘s concept or design idea leading to the
creation of a new business (Gunes, 2012). It is a certain set of skills that designers become
equipped with during education that enables them to identify problems and solving these
problems by conceptualising a solution. Any designer can come up with a solution or new
design idea but it takes a ‗designprenuer‘ to turn this idea in to a new business venture. Put
simply a design entrepreneur is equipped with the right abilities and skills to develop the right
concepts and bring them to market as a successful design product. These abilities and skills
are not just the typical skills you would relate to a designer such as idea generation, problem
solving and CAD drawing, but also the skills related to entrepreneurs that are required to
successfully bring a product to market such as sufficient knowledge of the economy, business
planning, marketing, financing, assuming risks and many more (Gunes, 2012).

Steven Heller (2011) defines a design entrepreneur as any type of designer that will produce
their own original work for their own business instead of working for clients. He continues to

18
state that within contemporary society it is less difficult for design entrepreneurs to establish
and develop a business with todays advanced desktop applications and access to endless
information and online platforms on the internet (Heller, 2011). Within contemporary society
we have the most advanced desktop applications such as the latest 3D CAD programmes,
graphic design software, the ability to easily create an online shopping platform along with
the new age of 3D printing, the possibility of designers becoming entrepreneurs has never
been higher. Designers can now not only fully design, develop, prototype and test the
concepts from the comfort of their bedroom but can now seek funding from multiple crowd
funding websites and create their own website to sell their finished product and seek feedback
from customers and other entrepreneurs.

Design entrepreneurs have a deep passion for design and design is at the heart of the
company and it never stops, they see beyond the project and have the mind-set that it will
never be finished and with no set end date, with constant design thinking improvements being
made to every aspect of product development and the company. To a design entrepreneur the
customer is the always at centre of the design process. Design entrepreneurs master both the
design and business aspects of a company although they would rather focus on the design
they care equally as much about their creative work as how the business is run (Benun, 2016).

2.6 Design and Entrepreneurship Education

Entrepreneurial skills being taught to designers in education is extremely important to raise

awareness of self-employment as a possible career option by creating behaviours and
attitudes to establish highly potential business ventures. Design Students are now taught how
to identify possible entrepreneurial opportunities along with being taught how to eliminate
fear of failure and the importance of networking and business partnerships that can lead to
long term benefits in not only the individuals career, in economic growth in society.

A study conducted in South Africa by R.J Odra titled ―Integrating Product design and
entrepreneurship Education: a stimulant for enterprising Design and Engineering students in
South Africa” (Odora, 2015) it illustrated how 5 engineering students that took part in a
product design and entrepreneurship project indicated that it had a positive effect to the
development of positive attitudes and interest in entrepreneurship.

19
The students were interviewed after conducting the product design project with one of the
participants stating that “The design project was an eye-opener for me and I believe that
entrepreneurship education broadened my career prospects and business choices” along
with another student stating that ―the design project has enabled me to understand the
importance of entrepreneurship education and how I will use the knowledge to start my own
business” (Odora, 2015). It was clear from the statements and findings that a simple product
design project can have such a positive effect on students and builds an awareness of the
possibility of self-employment as a career option.

Along with interview answers from the participants, a survey was conducted to measure if
there was an increase in design and entrepreneurial skills after conducting the product design
project after analysis of the results there was a noticeable increase in both design and
entrepreneurial skills as can been seen in the following table.

Table 1: Results of survey measuring skills before and after conducting a product design
project (Odora, 2015)

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It was clear from the above findings that product design and entrepreneurship played a very
important role for not only students seeking the creation of their own business but also for
economic development of developing countries. In South Africa, the ratio of entrepreneurs to
workers was approximately 1 to 52 in 2012, in comparison to developed countries with a
ratio of 1-10 (Sullivan and Carlson, 2002; Odora, 2015). Research findings illustrated that
south Africans believed in themselves as business creators significantly less than similar
developing countries such as India, Brazil and Mexico (Shay and Wood, 2004; Odora, 2015).
This proves that the introduction of teaching entrepreneurial skills in higher education along
with product design and development increased the likeliness of students believing in
themselves enough to consider self-employment as a career option which in turn could see an
increase in economic development as students or design entrepreneurs choose to create their
own business and became job providers and not job seekers (Kembaren et al, 2014; Odora,
2015). Some articles suggest that entrepreneurial skills should be taught in primary and
secondary education (Ghimire, 2017).

Another study conducted by Lawrence Carlson and Jacquelyn Sullivan aimed at proving that
engineering students conducting a product development and entrepreneurship project
enhanced skills in these areas along with increasing the likeliness of students pursuing
entrepreneurship as a career option. The results also show an increase in engagement at
different levels of the project compared to traditional learning techniques showing that the
table below illustrates the findings from the above study.

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 Figure 1. Pre and Post course assessment results (Sullivan and Carlson, 2002)

2.7 Product and Industrial Design course structure presently in Ireland

The product and industrial design course structure in Ireland 2017 is constantly evolving and
differs in content in different universities and institutes.

Industrial design at NCAD in Dublin focuses on equipping the designers with more aesthetic
skills throughout the 3-year course, during the first year they focus on design research and
observation techniques along with development of design skills such as problem solving,
conceptualisation, prototyping and digital presentation. Then moving into second year
students are taught Human centred design, 3D CAD, rapid prototyping and further
development of the fundamentals in design skills from 1st year. In the third year of the
industrial design course in NCAD students focus on an area of interest and develop a product
around this area to be displayed at the end of year show.

Product design at the Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street use a more technical
approach to equipping the design students with skills, the skills mentioned above that are
22
taught in NCAD are taught but with more focus on technical skills including electro
technology, applied physics and design mathematics along with modules in marketing.

Product Design (Marketing and Innovation) at Maynooth University uses a more

multidisciplinary approach. Throughout the 4-year course students are taught the
fundamentals in all the modules and taught skills mentioned above along with modules in
entrepreneurship including financial accounting, entrepreneurship and the business idea,
ethnography and anthropology and many more to equip students with a broad range of skills
that if practiced can allow them to master each element of the design thinking process along
with being able to pursue self-employment as a career path option in the future.

2.8 Conclusion

Analysis of multiple articles and studies has identified a number of key similarities that
product and industrial designers share with entrepreneurs, these similarities include a number
of behaviours, attitudes, traits and skills that are essential in the creation of a new product or
venture. The role of a designer has changed dramatically over the past few decades.
Designers in the 21st century have been programmed by education into the mind-set of
becoming employees and not employers, but have also been equipped with the skills
necessary to successfully create and maintain a successful product or service related business
venture but don‘t necessarily realise it yet.

Experience in the industry is highly important for the development of a ―design entrepreneur‖
with most entrepreneurs having up to on average 13 years‘ experience in the industry before
developing a new venture. With the average age of design entrepreneurs in their early 30‘s
(Tidd and Bessant, 2007)

Designers have been taught the skills and have built the necessary traits and behaviours to
become entrepreneurs including, Team building, creative problem-solving, new product
development, marketing, visual presentation of concepts and storytelling, effective and
logical decision making and the ability to adapt to evolving markets, to mention just a few.
Peter Drucker sees entrepreneurs as creators of innovative ideas and solutions that exploit and
act on opportunities that arise in society. This definition by Drucker also describes the role of

23
product/ industrial designer showing evidence that designers have been moulded to become
entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurs attack the underlying causes to certain problems in
society rather than trying to create a solution for a quick fix to the problem (Tidd and
Bessant, 2007), this too can be said for product designers which draws more evidence
towards designers being moulded by education to become successful entrepreneurs.
Designers and Social entrepreneurs take calculated risks and are skilled at doing so they are
able to create a deep understanding of the end users‘ needs and seek to not only meet the
needs and expectations of the end user and investors but exceed their expectation with
surprisingly attractive solutions and products. (Dee, 1998; Tidd and Bessant, 2007).

Designers need to be convinced and made aware that they have what it takes to become
successful entrepreneurs. By adapting the mind-set of designer of thinking they have to
become employees and not employers, although experience working in a design consultancy
or in a similar organisation is essential to build some of the skills required to successfully
develop a business.

After analysing multiple articles and studies on design entrepreneurs it became clear the
importance of design students being taught skills in business and entrepreneurship
additionally not only design students should be taught these skills but that multiple college
degrees should integrate product design and entrepreneurship into their course content outside
the design department. Heller states in his book Design Entrepreneur 3.0 (Heller, 2011).
Those ideas from design entrepreneurs usually stem from the designer‘s social experience
and their surroundings. A very notable example of such a situation is Deborah Adler who
redesigned prescription medication containers to make it safer for use among the elderly by
changing font size and over layout (Heller, 2011). This idea stemmed from a personal
experience when Adler‘s own mother mistakenly took the wrong medication as a result of
confusion by the user due to bad layout and design. Adler‘s redesign was quickly recognised
and was purchased by the American superstore Giant Target to fill all of its prescription
medication (Heller, 2011). This personal experience can happen to any person and any person
can create a new idea but not everyone with a 3rd level education has been taught the
required skills to convert ideas into opportunities. Some other very successful examples of
design entrepreneurs that created business that now employ thousands of people worldwide
and some reinventing a whole service industry include YouTube, Airbnb, Tumblr and Vimeo

24
to mention a few were all created by entrepreneurs with a design degree or background
(Nussbaum, 2011).

This report displayed evidence of a product design course in Ireland incorporating

entrepreneurship into their course structure, but has presented evidence of similar course not
including it in the course structure. Entrepreneurial skills and the fundamental skills required
to establish a business venture should be adopted and taught by all product/ industrial design
course not only in Ireland but worldwide, which would increase the likeliness of designers
creating and establishing their own venture which could lead to a rise in economic
development.

Throughout this report we have seen evidence of product designers being moulded to become
entrepreneurs. This report also shows evidence of how product design and entrepreneurship
assignments have increased the likeness of students taking a path to self-employment along
with identifying an increase of economic development with the introduction of more
entrepreneurs into society, with some articles suggesting the introduction of entrepreneurship
being taught in primary and secondary education (Ghimire, 2017). The early adoption of
entrepreneurship and design thinking could see an increase in economic development as jobs
seekers become job creators.

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Chapter Three: Methodology

3.0 Introduction

This chapter outlines the methods used and the manner to which they were collected to
guarantee validity and reliability. The methodology is an essential element of a research study
as it builds the foundation of how the research is carried out and gathered. Clough and
Nutbrown (2012) emphasise on the importance of the methodology chapter and future state
that a methodology is a process of justifying the choices made throughout the research. As a
result, this chapter is mainly concerned with the methodology choice and justifying the
methods and approaches utilised. This chapter will additionally discuss how these choices
have impacted the findings gathered and will illustrate how these findings were collected
ethically.

3.1 Aims of the Study

The aim of this research study is to explore and identify the characteristics of design
entrepreneurs and to establish the connections product / industrial designers have with
successful entrepreneurs. Additionally, this research seeks to show evidence that product and
industrial designers would make great entrepreneurs. This study also aims to identify
evidence designers have a competitive advantage when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur
compared to people with different discipline backgrounds. Additionally, it aims to show
evidence of the importance of design thinking methodology and entrepreneurial skills being
taught to a wider range of college courses outside the design department and looks to
encourage universities and institutes to adopt and instil a design thinking mind-set and
entrepreneurial skills into the lives of all students from multiple discipline curriculums to
increase the likeliness and awareness of self-employment as a career option.

26
 3.2 Research Questions

This study aims to provide evidence towards answering the following questions:

• What similarities do product/industrial designers share with successful entrepreneurs?

• Have design students been equipped with the skills, behaviours and traits to
successfully establish a new business venture?

• Should a design thinking mind-set and entrepreneurial skills be instilled into a wider
range of course curriculums outside the design department?

3.3 Research Paradigm

People perceive situations in different manners and people‘s beliefs, feelings and thoughts
may differ. Therefore, this research has utilised an interpretivist paradigm as the underlining
foundation to conducting this research. An interpretivist paradigm seeks to explore people‘s
perceptions, views and opinions (Bryman, 2012). As this research intends to gather the
participant‘s insights on the research topic it is evident utilising this paradigm would enhance
the research and broaden the findings collected. Monette et al (2014) states by embracing this
paradigm it will allow the researcher develop an understanding of the participants perceptions
and will allow for other information to be brought forward naturally, therefore enhancing the
findings.

It is evident throughout research, that researchers utilising the interpretivist paradigm

throughout their research would employ a qualitative method to collect data. Employing
qualitative methods into this study allowed the researcher to explore people‘s perceptions on
education in the design field and discover the participant‘s views on the connections between
product designers and entrepreneurs. As a result of this, it justifies the need to employ this
paradigm alongside utilising qualitative methods to gather data.

27
 3.4 Research Approach

Although, quantitative and qualitative methods have been proven throughout research studies
to be effective approaches to collecting data in isolation, the researcher believed by
embracing a mixed method approach it would enhance the research and would allow for
some more in-depth findings. Heppner at el (2016) concurs with this and further suggests that
by employing a mixed method approach into a study it will allow the researcher to collect
both numerical data alongside gathering people‘s perceptions on the researched topic. As a
result, the researcher employed a mixed method approach which allowed the researcher to
gather people‘s beliefs and views surrounding the topic and explore the culture within design
and entrepreneurship.

3.5 Method of Data Collection

The development of a research study governs the conclusions that grow from the research, as
a result, it is of great importance to choose a method which is relevant for the research and
the participants who are taking part. Diem (2017) articulates that when choosing a method,
you must focus on the purpose of your research and match this with an appropriate method.
As this study has a main focus on exploring people‘s perceptions on the connections between
product designers and entrepreneurs and whether education should be formed to combine
both design and entrepreneurship into the curriculum to enrich the knowledge of individuals
and equip them with the ability, skills and necessary capabilities to both design their own
product and become a successful entrepreneur and not just employees, it was evident
incorporating interviews into the study would enrich the findings and match the purpose of
the study. Nevertheless, it was additionally essential to gather numerical data from
individuals. Considering this, the researcher conducted both face-to-face semi structured
interviews and distributed surveys through an online survey platform. The methods utilised
were chosen to achieve the desired outcomes of the study which were outlined previously.

28
 3.5.1 Rationale for utilising both Interviews and Surveys

As stated previously by Clough and Nutbrown (2012) a methodology is the process of

justifying the reasons for choosing the approaches and methods for collecting the data.
Therefore, it is essential to justify why the researcher has chosen to employ interviews and
surveys as forms to collect the data. It is evident throughout research that both interviews and
surveys work effectively in isolation however in order to match the purpose of the study and
enrich the findings the researcher choose to utilise a mixed method approach and employ
both interviews and surveys. Deim (2017) states utilising combined methods will supplement
a study and allow the research to collect both numerical data and comprehend the
participant‘s views of the social world in terms of the researched topic. Implementing a
mixed method approach allowed the researcher to collect more in–depth data and enhance the
findings in its totality. The research conducted a number of interviews with a design
background. Some of the participants in particular have come from a design background and
have developed their own product or service and have additionally taken on the role of an
entrepreneur. By employing interviews as a method, it allowed the researcher to develop an
understanding and comprehend the participant‘s views of the design industry and their
experiences of developing their own products and implementing their combined knowledge
of design and entrepreneurship in order to become successful entrepreneurs.

Semi-structured interviews are open and by implementing them into the study it allows for
flexibility, spontaneity and responsiveness during the interview process (Wengraf, 2001;
Tabler, 2008). By conducting interviews, it allowed for the participants to give detailed
answers. It could be argues that this could be due to the conversational style semi- structured
interviews possess. This will allow for further views, opinions, ideas, topics and themes to
arise which the interviewer may not have had in their prepared questions. In addition to the
interviews, the researcher distributed surveys through an online survey platform to the same
cliental to gather numerical data on the researched topic. There are a number of advantages to
utilising surveys to collect data; in particular some individuals are more willing to disclose
information on a survey rather than being interviewed (Visser et al, 2001). Additionally, as
the researcher was conducting research within a small timeframe it allowed the researcher to
gather information from a large scale of participants while still being time efficient.
Nonetheless, there is disadvantages to conducting surveys, notably it can be difficult to
gathers people‘s perceptions on the research topic through paper. Consequently, this builds

29
on the rationale for employing combined methods and conducting both interviews and
surveys to collect the data.

3.5.2 Interview Guide

The questions that the researcher formulates are an essential element of both the interviews
and the surveys as it determines and influences the conversation and answers. It could be
argued that it is important to have questions prepared for the interview as it helps with
commencing the in the interview, ‗breaking the ice‘ and they guide the researcher throughout
the interview process. Additionally, it allows for a conversation and discussion to develop
naturally during the interview.

Gillham (2000) states there are two types of questions one can ask which are open and closed
ended questions. For the purpose of this study, throughout the interviews the researcher asked
open ended questions as it allowed the participants to answer the questions without limiting
their answers. In addition, it allowed the participants to give an in depth answer and converse
about their feelings, opinions and attitudes towards the discussed matter. However, as the
researcher also sought to gather numerical and measurable data it was apparent to ask closed
answer questions. As a result of asking closed answer questions in the surveys it made it
easier for the researcher to measure and present the findings gathered.

Gillham (2000) states the prepared questions are a vital part of both qualitative and
quantitative research. As a result, the questions must be carefully prepared, researched and
must ensure they relay to the studied topic. The researcher examined the surrounding
literature, the research questions, sub questions and the aims of the study and developed
questions which would enhance the study and enable the researcher to gather accurate and
elaborate findings through the experience of the participants. (Please see appendix for
interview and survey questions).

30
3.5.3 Pilot Interview

It became evident throughout research that conducting pilot interviews prior to undertaking
the final interviews is very beneficial for the researcher and the study (Potter, 2015).
Considering this, preceding the interviews with the participants the researcher undertook two
pilot interviews with two willing fellow class mates. By conducting these trail interviews, it
allowed the researcher to reflect on the interview process and develop recommendations for
improvement. According to John‘s (1994) reflective model undertaking interviews as a
means of practice gives the researcher the opportunity to practice their prepared questions,
make recommendations for future interviews and gather some guidelines and advise on how
to improve from the practicing interviewees (Surgenor, 2011). The interviewees provided the
researcher with invaluable feedback which helped with the development of further questions
and enabled the researcher to build confidence in conducting interviews and develop and
expand their interview skills.

3.5.4 Respondent Validation

In order to ensure the findings illustrate a clear and precise illustration of the participant‘s
perspectives, answers and viewpoints, it is imperative to secure respondent validation.
Throughout a number of research studies, it became apparent that providing the participants
with the transcripts of the interviews undertaken is indispensable. As a result, by providing
the participants with the recordings of the interviews it gave the participants the opportunity
to ensure the recordings correctly reflected their answers and the interviews undertaken. In
addition to this it gave the participants the opportunity to consider their answers and to
remove any information they feel doesn‘t fit or to be inaccurate, which is the right as
participants. Nevertheless, by undertaking this process and employing this ethical approach,
the participants were given time to reflect on their answers and the recordings and in fact it
came about that some of the participants wanted to add some additional information which
they felt they forgotten to mention and would expand on their answers, therefore, it enriched
the data and findings. The researcher believed undertaking this process was invaluable and
overall, enriched the findings and enhances the research in its totality.

31
 3.6 Selection and Sampling of Participants

Ensuring that the appropriate participants are chosen and utilised is an essential element of a
research study as it will have a major influence on the findings and will impact the overall
study. Prior to choosing and gathering participants the researcher examining the relevant
literature, the aims of the study and the research and sub research questions to develop an
understanding of what participants would be suitable. There are a number of approaches to
which a researcher can employ throughout the selection process however for the purpose of
this research study the researcher selected to adopt a non-random sampling approach. Kolb
(2008) states that a non–random sampling approach is not gathering participants randomly
rather you chose participants which are appropriate and fit the research. Therefore, prior to
commencing the selection process the researcher needed to generate required criteria to
which the participants needed to meet in order to be appropriate and chosen for the
interviews. According to a number of research studies, a researcher needs to choose
participants who can provide relevant information on the research topic (Kolb, 2008; Suri,
2011). As a result, participants were chosen purposely. All participants had a background in
design education and in some cases, became successful entrepreneurs.

As the researcher conducted both interviews and surveys the approaches adopted varied
based on the method. As stated previously, the researcher adopted a non – random approach
for the selection process of the participants who were interviewed. This approach was also, to
a certain extent, employed for the surveys. As the researcher wanted to gather a large scale of
measurable data it was not appropriate to implement the same required criteria as the
interviews as this could have limited the number of participants who would take part in the
surveys. Therefore, the surveys were distributed through online platforms for product and
industrial designers. The surveys were distributed throughout a number of relevant and
appropriate social media sites. The researcher believed distributing the surveys through
online social media sites would be more time efficient that manually dispensing them,
therefore allowing for more participants to be gathered.

The selection process was a very effective and vital component and stage of the research
study. Purposively choosing the participants which matched the desired criteria and study,
enhanced and enriched the data collection. In addition, choosing the appropriate participants
allowed the researcher to gain an understanding of the individuals perspectives within the

32
industry and heightened the findings and the study as a whole, therefore this justifies the
rationale for implementing this approach and process into the methodology of the study.

3.6.1 Participant Profile

33
 3.7 Data Analysis

Analysing the data is a vital component and process of the research study as it allows the
researcher to ensure the validity of the proposition and enabled the researcher to conclude the
findings. Similar to the selection process, there are a number of approaches and methods
which can be utilised to analysis the data which has been collected. From examining the
literature and other research studies methodologies it became apparent that implementing a
thematic analytical approach to analyse the data would be appropriate. Thematic analysis is
usually utilised with qualitative research however it has been known to also be used as an
approach for analysing mixed method approaches such as surveys and interviews. Thematic
analysis is simply about gathering themes which are constantly recurring throughout the
collected data and analysing these themes. In order to analysis the themes and data, the
researcher choose to implement and follow Braun and Clarke‘s (2006) step by step guide to
thematic analysis. Braun and Clarke‘s (2006) guide consists of six stages, these stages don‘t
need to be followed in sequenced rather you can continue to go back and forth throughout the
stages as analysis data can be complex and is not forth right.

34
Below is a diagram which provides a visual illustration of the thematic analysis process set

out by Braun and Clarke (2006).

Stage 1:
Familiarisation

Stage 6: Stage 2:
Producing the Generating initial
report codes

Braun &
Clarke's (2006)
Guide
Stage 5: Defining Stage 3:
and Naming Searching for
themes themes

Stage 4:
Reviewing
Themes

In brief, the stages commence with familiarising yourself with the data gathered, this usually

can be done by transcribing the data and reading through the data and gathering an

understanding of the participants perspectives and answers. Following on from this, the

researcher gathers initial codes and develops these into recurring themes and sub themes. The

researcher then analyses the themes and titles them and finally, produces the report

developing an appropriate argument and attempts to answer the research questions identified

at the start of the research study. Throughout the findings and analysis chapter a discussion

was developed which mirrored the research questions and drew conclusions to the study.

35
 3.8 Ethical Considerations

When conducting research, it is of paramount importance to ensure no harm is caused

towards the participants. Therefore, ethics must be taken into consideration when conducting
research with humans. As the researcher conducted interviews as one of the methods it was
essential to ensure the researcher conducted the interviews ethically. In order to ensure the
research was conducted ethically, the researcher abided strictly to the ethical procedures set
out by Maynooth University.

Prior to commencing the research study, the researcher had to seek approval from the ethics
committee of Maynooth by filling out the required form. On approval the researcher, was
permitted to research the topic and agreed to follow all protocols to ensure the research was
carried out in an ethical manner. The researcher ensured the best interest of the participants
by providing them all with both a brief information sheet, outlining the purpose of the study
and a consent form (Both these forms will be discussed in detail in 3.8.1).

3.8.1 Information letter and Informed Consent

Providing the participants with both an information sheet and consent form informed the
participants of the purpose of the study, the aims of the study, the procedures and it allowed
the researcher to gain their consent to take part in the interviewing process. By doing this
process, the researcher abided by the ethical guidelines and standards set out by Maynooth
University‘s ethics committee. The information letter briefly outlined the purpose of the
study, it included both the researcher questions and the aim of the study. Additionally, it
provided the participants with the procedure guidelines of the interview process and all
relevant information necessary. In addition, it provided the participants with all relevant
contact details for the researcher (Please see appendix for a copy of the information sheet).

As the researcher is producing a documentary as part of their research thesis, the interviews
needed to be recorded and implemented into the documentary. Therefore, ensuring
confidentiality and anonymity was not possible in relation to the video accompanying this
document. Consequently, the researcher needed to inform the participants of this and gain
their consent to be named and recorded. All participants were informed of all procedures and
had the opportunity to not partake in the interview process and were also given a period of

36
time after the interviews to retrieve their data (Please see appendix for a copy of the consent
form).

Prior to commencing the interviews all participants were provided with the above forms and
were given a period of time to fill out the necessary documentation. Participants were also
given the opportunity to contact the researcher for any further information needed. Once
forms were received back, the researcher arranged times and venues with the participants
which suited them. As soon as this was organised, the interviews took place, prior to
discussing the discussed topic the researcher again informed the participants of the
procedures and the need for visually recording them and then again gained consent verbally
to ensure the participants were informed of all procedures and the participants took part in the
interviews voluntary.

For the purpose of the surveys, the above steps were not needed. The participants who took
part in the surveys were provided with a brief overview of the research topic and the purpose
of the topic. The participants demonstrated consent by filling out the surveys themselves.

3.9 Conclusion

It was evident the methods chosen supplemented the research study and enabled the
researcher to collect relevant data. The interpervist paradigm built the foundation of the study
and the approaches utilised were deemed appropriate.

Once the data was collected, the researcher analysed the data by following Braun and
Clarke‘s (2006) guide to thematic analysis. This enabled the researcher to identify
reoccurring themes and produce the findings and discussion chapter.

The methodology utilised was employed, adopted and utilised with giving great consideration
to the ethical guidelines set out by Maynooth University. When utilising human subjects in
your research, it is of great importance to ensure you conduct your research in an ethical
manner and ensure the best interest of the participants is upheld at all times throughout the
research process. The researcher maintained this by providing the participants with both an
information sheet and consent form before commencing the interviews to inform the
participants of the procedure and seek consent from them to take part. In summary, the
methodology chapter formed the foundation of the study and the researcher sought to justify
all choices made to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings.

37
Chapter Four: Findings and analysis

4.0 Introduction

This chapter will discuss in detail the research findings that have been gathered throughout
this research study. It will categorise responses and findings into relevant themes that will
also be identified and discuss the relevant findings accordingly. The data was analysed to ex-
plore the connections and similarities between Product/Industrial designers and successful
entrepreneurs, additionally the data collected aims to prove the importance of design thinking
methodologies being utilised in all aspects of a business, big or small. In addition, this chap-
ter will analyse the data with the aim to provide evidence of the importance of design think-
ing methodology and entrepreneurial skills being taught in multiple college course outside the
design department including secondary level education.

Finally, this chapter will analyse and discuss the research findings in relation to the literature
that was discussed in chapter two. As mentioned as part of the methodology chapter the
framework utilised for this chapter was derived from work by Braun and Clarke (2006).

4.1 Response Rate

4.1.1 Semi-Structured Interviews

In total nineteen entrepreneurs with a design background or a design related company were
contacted in the hope of being able to partake in the research study, additionally four recent
graduates of product / industrial design were contacted and asked to partake in the study. Of
the nineteen entrepreneurs contacted only six were willing to take part in the study and only
three of the recent graduates of product/ industrial design were willing to partake. The inter-
views were captured and recorded using a video camera for use in the informative video ac-
companying this research study. The main findings from the interviews were transcribed and
grouped into the relevant themes and will be analysed throughout this chapter. For ethical
consideration the participant‘s identity will remain confidential throughout this thesis and are
referred to as participant one to nine. (Participant Profile Chart can be found in the appendix

38
of this document) In the case of the video that accompanies this document the participants are
named and have given permission to use their identity for the purpose of this study.

4.1.2 Survey

As mentioned previously within the methodology chapter the researcher has adopted a mixed
method approach to collect the data as suggested in literature from numerous sources (Hep-
pner et al 2016 ; Daim 2017). In order to gather both quantitative and qualitative data a sur-
vey was conducted to accompany the findings gathered from the semi-structured interviews
to gain numerical data. The survey was posted on numerous product/industrial design social
media platforms to gain the maximum possible number of responses. All social media pages
were closed private groups of students and recent graduates of product/industrial design
courses from multiple institutes and universities within Ireland. There were a total of 44 re-
sponses all of which were current or past students of product/industrial design courses
throughout Ireland.

4.2 Themes Identified

Prior to conducting the interviews with the participants the researcher formulated two rele-
vant interview topic guide for both the graduates and entrepreneurs to gather a deep insight in
the product / industrial design education structure within Ireland, along with providing evi-
dence of the connections and similarities product / industrial designers have with successful
entrepreneurs, additionally the interviews aimed to identify the importance of design thinking
methodology in business and the importance of design thinking methods being taught to mul-
tiple college courses outside the design department including second level education.

The questions within the interview topic guide allowed for smooth conversational flow
throughout the interview. (Please see appendix) After analysis and coding of the interviews
conducted a number of recurring themes were identified. In total there were four main themes
identified which will be presented and discussed below.

39
4.2.1 Theme one: The evolving role of a designer

It was clear from the literature review and throughout the nine interviews that the role of a
designer is constantly evolving to meet to demand in society. Product design throughout the
literature is defined by Walsh (1992) as “the activity in which ideas and needs are given
physical form, initially as solution concepts and then as a specific configuration or arrange-
ments of elements, materials and components “, However this definition of product design is
now out-dated and it is evident that the role of a designer has evolved since.

Participant seven stated during the interview “The core of what I think being an industrial
designer is about creating something new that people need or fulfil a purpose”. This can be
directly related to Walsh (1992) but the role of a designer has changed over the years as men-
tioned by participant by two:

"a designer years back were unstructured in their approach....they had and innate
talent for drawing, for spacial awareness and creating stuff, they had good ideas that they
projected onto markets and often styled them nicely. Now the designer is a more social sci-
ence researcher as well as these skills they have to work harder to see new opportunities”
(Participant two)

Participant one describes his role as a industrial designer within his company as :―my role
begins with conception the whole way through to development, pricing, marketing, factory
visits, quality control ..It covers almost everything apart from the commercial side of what we
do”

The role of a designer changes throughout different companies with depending on their size
as stated by participant two, “ it’s pretty broad role in a small company, in a larger company
its less so, it’s more focused on concept development ….it’s a much more focused type of a
role in large organisations “

40
4.2.1.1 Discussion:

It‘s clear from the research findings and the perceptions of the interviewees that the role of a
designer has evolved over the years. Designers in past were focused more on the concept de-
velopment stage of developing a product and didn't focus as much on identifying the need or
creating the design brief. Product/Industrial designers in the past mainly focused on the tech-
nical aspect of the design process from ideation to manufacturing specifications. But it‘s clear
the role has evolved since then. Now the designer must use research techniques to analyse the
relevant population of users to identify the user‘s needs, once these needs are identified they
can begin to conceptualise ideas to meet those needs, compared to the past when the designer
was just handed a design brief. It‘s also clear that the role of a designer differs depending on
the size of the organisation. In large organisations the role of a designer ends after manufac-
turing specifications are created which contrasts with a smaller company where the role of
designer begins at identification of need all the way to quality control within a factory along
with design and creation of packaging. The evolving role of a designer requires a constant
evolution of design education to meet the demand of what is expected from a prod-
uct/industrial designer today in society. In relation to entrepreneurship the role of the designer
within the company they have created requires them to undertake every task needed to de-
sign, create and successfully launch their product.

4.2.2 Theme two: Similarities and connections between product/industrial designers

and entrepreneurs

There were many connections and similarities that product designers and entrepreneurs have
in common and it was discussed and mentioned by all participants. Participant seven stated
that :” I think all the traits of a good designer would be inclusion with an entrepreneur
…there is very little that will differentiate them ..the best designer would make the best entre-
preneur”. It became evident throughout all of the interviews that most of the participants
agreed with this statement with participant four stating,“ I believe we have a wide spectrum of
skills that are conducive to entrepreneurship “ and participant five stating:

“I think it goes both ways, I think the two things shouldn't be separate, I think there is
an opportunity in many peoples industries to take in people who are designers who
can fit in and work well within a team and I don't think there is any reason why they
should be exclusive “

41
The majority of the participants agreed that there was a number of traits and similarities that
both designers and entrepreneurs share but some participants agreed that designers don't real-
ise this with participant three stating, “ there are a lot of similarities between designers and
entrepreneurs , I think it’s something a lot of designers don't realise ”, participant nine argu-
ing that they believe they haven't got the same skillset as entrepreneurs when he stated, “De-
signers coming out of college I don't think their equipped with the right skills to be entrepre-
neurs”. The survey results concur with this statement with 55.81% of 44 product / industrial
design graduates answering no when asked `’Do you feel your education equipped you with
the skills required to set up your own business?” , as shown in the chart below.

Fig.2. Survey result when asked “Do you feel your education equipped you with the skills required to
set up your own business?”

It‘s clear that the participants believe that there are similarities between the two and they then
begin to explain these similarities to put it into context with participant two stating that
,"design is the toolbox to understand your user and then to provide a solution to their need
and that’s just the centre of entrepreneurship and business, you’re selling a service to a us-
er”. Participant one states that, “being a designer gives you another take on things a lot of it
is problem solving, and problem solving that entrepreneurs come up against all the time, I
think as a small business you have to think of things in a more creative way.‖ This statement
can be closely related to a statement by participant three when he stated “in studying a design
field..you may be hit with a brick wall and have to adapt around a problem, completely
change a product and I think work ethic and ability to adapt”. Additionally, participant one

42
agrees with this statement by stating, “as an entrepreneur starting out I think some of the
skills that you learn and develop as a designer you definitely aid you in the ability to solve
problems in different ways”.

There was other skills mentioned that both entrepreneurs and designers share with partici-
pant four stating that, “decision making is another massive one, weather need to choose the
material for a project as a designer, in a business you need to make 100 decisions a day
…they need to be the right choice at the right time”. Decision making and risk taking go hand
in hand and by making effective decisions it can mitigate risk, participant four states that, “I
think that entrepreneurs are risk takers and as designers we take risks in the name of discov-
ery and learning and we threat failure as a learning curve rather than a negative”. This can
be directly related to literature on the topic of effectuation, effectuation according to Saras-
vathy (2008) is the skill of logical decision making (that according to Sarasvathy is uniquely
associated with entrepreneurs) used to think ahead and mitigate risk. Arguably this skill is
also used by product designers in there day to day lives to make effective decisions that miti-
gate risk. Participant seven states, ―we try to put design first in pretty much every case ..we
try and design everything so that its efficient so that it mitigates the risk”.

Apart from the skills that both entrepreneurs and product/industrial designers share many par-
ticipants believe that entrepreneurs can learn a lot form designers, this is also consistent
throughout the literature review. Participant six who is an entrepreneur with a design back-
ground states during the interview:

“ being trained as an industrial designer you certainly have a great skillset you have an ad-
vantage over people who don't have this kind of skillset …If I was studying business you
would fall down a lot easier than someone that had a design background probably would “

The skill of visual story telling is mentioned as an advantage both in throughout the literature
and the interviews with participant three stating:

―its something that designers are great at.. people in business that needs brand logos,
client presentations. Visual skills make them stand out…there is a lot of entrepreneurs and
business people can learn from designers “

43
This statement by participant three is supported in literature by Quora (2017) when stating:

“Designers have the advantage of being visual storytellers. What this means is they can often
create the perception that something is real/tangible early on to rally potential cofounders
and investors around their vision.”

Additionally, participant four states that, “I think empathy is the most important tool in the
arsenal of a designer”, this can be directly connected to literature where Strollo (2017) states
in an article titled “3 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from designers”, that, ―Many start-ups
don't talk to customers until the product is in beta, instead assuming they know what users
want….designers serve as a conduit for ensuring the voice of the customer is represented in
each stage of development”. This relates directly to use of design thinking methodology
where empathy and understanding customer needs is the first step of the design thinking
method. Design thinking methodology is mentioned so much throughout all the interviews
conducted that it was identified as a reoccurring theme throughout the research and will be
discussed in detail in this chapter.

Additional quotes supporting the themes throughout this chapter can be found in the appendix
under Coded Interviews.

4.2.2.1 Discussion:

It‘s clear throughout the findings and after reviewing the literature that designers are
equipped with the skills necessary to become entrepreneurs. The designers ability to adapt
under pressure and the use of creative problem solving is something that goes a long way
when setting up or establishing a business venture. The use of effectuation by both entrepre-
neurs and product/industrial designers is the strongest capability that they share. The effective
decision making in a business is essential to successful growth of the venture, similarly effec-
tive decision making is essential for designers to evaluate potential features, materials, manu-
facturing process of a product or service that tends to control the outcome and mitigate risk.
The skill of visual story telling is another key aspect to running a business that is providing
the user with a product or service. The use of 3D CAD modelling software and visual presen-
tation skills such as Photoshop and InDesign are essential to presenting potentially new con-
cepts to investors along with the use of these skills for marketing, advertising, packaging de-

44
sign and mobile application interface, just to mention a few. The designer in today‘s society
is a jack of all trades and is able to use the skills developed through education, designers have
been equipped with a number of skills that would be beneficial or necessary for any entrepre-
neur establishing a new business venture including critical thinking, creative problem solv-
ing, effective decision making, ethnographic research to understand the user needs, 3D CAD,
visual storytelling, knowledge of manufacturing processes and material properties are all es-
sential skills when developing a product. The hard skills such as 3D modelling and the use of
machinery to create prototypes are needed for product development, where the softer skills
such a sketching, ethnographic research, critical thinking, creative problem solving and visual
presentation skills are all essential in establishing a business, being able to, ―adapt around a
problem‖, is hugely important as entrepreneurs face problems on a daily basis and need to use
critical thinking and effectuation to make critical decisions to solve the problems that occur in
a creative way. The use of design thinking methodologies is something that every designer
uses on a daily basis, but the methods of design thinking are an effective tool and can be ap-
plied to every aspect of a business.

Although it is evident after interviewing design graduates and analysing the data from the
survey, designers aren't aware of the skills they have been equipped with and they don't real-
ise the skills they have gained can be applied in every aspect of a business to benefit them if
they decide to take the path of self-employment.

4.2.3 Theme Three: The importance of Design Thinking Methodologies

Design thinking methodologies are at the heart of how a designer thinks and it can be applied
and used for every aspect of the design process. Design thinking focuses on having the cus-
tomer at every stage of product development. By identifying what the user truly needs and
wants then a designer or a company can formulate ideas to meet and exceed these needs. De-
sign thinking uses ethnographic research, critical thinking and creative conceptualisation to
design create and launch a product. Participant four describes design thinking as,“Design
thinking at its essence is the generalised rules of a designers mind put into a process for
those that aren't that way inclined “.

45
Design thinking is not just related to designing products, the methodology itself can be used
and applied to any aspect of a business. Many founders of the world‘s biggest companies
have a design background and it‘s all down to the correct use of design thinking methods. An
article by Nussbaum (2017) states that, “Youtube, Flickr, Slideshare, Tumblr, AirBnb, Vimeo
and Feedburner” were all founded by entrepreneurs with design degrees. This confirms the
importance of design thinking methods being used in business. More literature that was re-
vised points towards the importance of design thinking, an article by First Round Review
(2017) proves the importance of design thinking in the title alone, “How design thinking
transformed AirBnB from a failing start-up to a billion dollar business”. This can be directly
related with statements from a number of the participants. Participant nine stated when asked
about the importance of design thinking that, “ a lot of people think it’s the saviour to failing
companies but it has to be used properly”, this is also constant with participant twos state-
ment, “ so the biggest reason for a company failing …it’s because they haven't identified a
worthwhile problem.”

The statements above are consistent with what participant five stated by saying, “its the big-
gest reason for failing is not understanding what the customer wants, I think if you make a
beautiful product or a beautiful app …it has to be something that people want and not just
yourself.”

The design thinking method begins by identifying the needs of the customer by gaining em-
pathy for the user and establishing a deep understanding of what they need and want. You
must position yourself in the user‘s shoes to gain an understanding of their perception of
products and services. When you truly understand their needs then you can begin to solve
them. This can be directly related to participant twos statement:

"yeah in business the key thing for a business is to identify a market need and the market need
comes down to people and understanding what they want and what they need to make their
life easier and design really emphasise a focus on the user and on the customer and under-
standing that need when you get that right then you have potential to start a business”

Participant four agrees with the above statement by saying, ““If you can’t understand your
end use, then you can’t understand their needs ...it’s like playing darts blindfolded in regards
to your business succeeding”

46
Design thinking can be applied and used in any aspect of any business, no matter what busi-
ness you have or what you are selling to the customer design thinking can be applied to make
what you‘re doing more efficient for example participant seven states:

“We walked into a coffee shop in town we did the order process of how somebody orders a
cup of coffee from then and there mind was kinda blown just to see…and that informed the
whole layout design to the cafe ….I guess it going beyond industrial design but it shows you
can apply the design process”

It‘s clear from the above statement that design thinking and the design process can be applied
to any aspect of any business once used correctly and once you stay focused on the customer
throughout the design process. Participant nine states, “Design thinking and these tools are
far more valuable nowadays with the amount of jobs they can apply too and how important
they are,‖ he continues by saying, “ The use of design thinking methods is really useful for
companies provided its used correctly.”

4.2.3.1 Discussion:

It‘s clear after analysing the findings that design thinking methodologies are hugely important
in business today. There is evidence that design thinking not only relates to the design pro-
cess but that it can be applied to every aspect of a business and can be hugely beneficial for
any company. Design thinking is all about focusing on the user at every stage of develop-
ment. By firstly identifying a need through ethnographic research techniques and gaining a
deep understand of the users experience of a product or service. Throughout ideation, selec-
tion, testing and concept refinement the customer is at the heart of each step to ensure their
needs are met. Participant four states:

“we always emphasise with the end users and that’s important ..It gives you the validation of
hypothesis you might of had in your mind about what a customer needs, what’s viable and
feasible to you to undertake, having that bed of knowledge beginning a project or business is
gonna validate things and mitigate the amount of risk associated with failure down the line “

The above statement can be closely related to what participant two mentioned during the in-
terview when stating:

"the key thing for a business is to identify a market need and the market need comes down to
people and understanding what they want and what they need to make their life easier and
design really emphasises a focus on the user and on the customer and understanding that
need when you get that right then you have potential to start a business”

47
There is a need to create awareness of the positive effects of adopting a design thinking
mindset, using design thinking methodologies is hugely beneficial for every business and it is
more important now more than ever for companies to adopt these principles as focusing on
user experience is the key to a business‘s success. Participant two states:

“They say the next competitive advantage in business is user experience and user experience
gets to the point of delighting the user and understanding deeply what your user needs,
wants and how to provide it to them in a pleasing way. That’s what design is all about.

Participant nine agrees with the above statement by saying, “ I think designing experiences
and designing for business and innovation , I think that’s where the biggest jobs in the world
are gonna be in the next 5 years”.

Although it‘s evident that design thinking methodology is hugely important, there was evi-
dence in the findings that suggests companies were not adopting this mindset. This can be
seen in participant fives statement:

“It surprises me sometimes how people don't understand that creativity can change and shape
how a business operates on all levels …its very surprising to me that other businesses don’t
take on the ability to think through and rationalise all aspects of what they do.”

4.2.4 Theme Four: Product / Industrial Design in education

Education surrounding product design and the skills acquired throughout education in rela-
tion to entrepreneurship was mentioned by all participants and had a huge influence on and
effect on their perceptions. The participants that took part in the survey all studied product or
industrial design from three different colleges and the split of participants is displayed in the
graph below.

Figure 3: The educational institutions where the survey participants studied design

48
The majority of participants (51.22%) that took part in the survey studied product design
(Marketing and Innovation) in Maynooth University, followed closely by graduates that stud-
ied product design in the Dublin Institute of Technology with 36.59% of participants and last
but not least 12.20% of the forty four participants studied industrial design at the National
College of Art and Design (NCAD).

After researching the course structure of the three different universities and institutes that are
mentioned in the literature review it was evident that there were major differences in the
modules being taught in each course.

Industrial design at NCAD in Dublin focuses on equipping the designers with more aesthetic
skills throughout the 3 year course, during the first year they focus on design research and
observation techniques along with development of design skills such as problem solving,
conceptualisation, prototyping and digital presentation. Then moving into second year stu-
dents are taught Human centred design, 3D CAD, rapid prototyping and further development
of the fundamentals in design skills from 1st year. In the third year of the industrial design
course in NCAD students focus on an area of interest and develop a product around this area
to be displayed at the end of year show.

Participant six (Graduate of Industrial Design at NCAD) stated, ―NCAD was a place where
you really focused on refining your ideas from a technical point of view more than a whole
design process of going from initial concept through to development”.

Participant one (Graduate of Industrial Design at NCAD) agrees with this statement by say-
ing, “ One failing of when I did the course …there wasn't really anything to do with even un-
derstanding of patents and design registration ….which I think would of been worthwhile”.

49
Additionally participant two states that, ― in NCAD it was very unstructured, which was posi-
tive and negative” he continues by saying, “research.....it was very unstructured and you
learn by doing, rather than being taught any formal techniques, it would of definitely helped
to get a little more formal training and structured training.” Participant two also discusses
the importance of business skills being taught the designers and that it was something NCAD
were lacking in there course structure by stating:

“There wasn't that much emphasise on business and obviously when you create a product you
have to be very aware and have an understanding of the commercial reality..... I think that
that was something that was missing”

This statement can be directly related to what participant seven said during the interview:

“When we were in college, from my point of view you designed a product, you kinda done it
in a bubble where you just concentrated on the design, the manufacturing, the form and
function and it just stopped there”

Product design at the Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street use a more technical ap-
proach to equipping the design students with skills, the skills mentioned above that are taught
in NCAD are taught but with more focus on technical skills including electro technology,
applied physics and design mathematics along with modules in marketing.

Participant nine who was a graduate of product design in DIT agrees by stating, ―In product
design we learnt a lot of technical skills, being an engineering college a lot of it was geared
towards the engineering side of product design, not enough on the likes of design thinking
modules “.Participant nine (Current Student of Masters in Design Innovation at Maynooth
University) continues to describe the course content of the design course in DIT by stating:

“I did 6 years of engineering in college, prototyping and modelling, I never considered it

design. I considered it engineering, metal work from 1st-3rd year and engineering 4th to 6th
year” and follows this answer by stating that, “we certainly weren't taught that much about
using the entire process of using design thinking in college, it was only since doing the
masters in Maynooth that I’ve gotten a full handle on the whole process and used it in its
entirety”

Product Design (Marketing and Innovation) at Maynooth University uses a more multidisci-
plinary approach. Throughout the 4 year course students are taught the fundamentals in all
the modules and skills mentioned above along with modules in entrepreneurship including

50
financial accounting, entrepreneurship and the business idea, ethnography and anthropology
and many more to equip students with a broad range of skills that if practiced can allow them
to master each element of the design thinking process along with being able to pursue self-
employment as a career path option in the future. This can be confirmed by participant four
who studied product design in Maynooth University when he states:

“We covered a very broad spectrum of subjects ...even by its name it stands out from other
design colleges because they include learning innovation and marketing …we were taught
the whole product development process from start to finish … the role of an entrepreneur
taking an idea from early conception all the way too creating value and profitability from it”

It is clear that there is a much wider selection of modules taught at Maynooth University that
benefits the student more if they decide to pursue a career option of self-employment. Partic-
ipant four continues by stating:

“I think Maynooth in particular ahead of some other design courses, because we have the
whole business element of the course ingrained deeply in what we do to make sure that any
product we design is marketed to an end user….were very lucky here in Maynooth to have
the department of anthropology so we get a deeper understanding of techniques around
empathy and interviewing end users…I think other courses are lacking that and it’s the most
important thing “

A statement made by participant nine who is currently studying Design Innovation at

Maynooth university concurs with the above statement by saying, “a lot of the skills I learnt
in DIT were the hard skills and Maynooth has given me the softer skills which are actually
now becoming more and more important.” and continues by saying, “Maynooth has taught
me to use proper ethnographic skills and there is far more value in that now in the industry”.

51
4.2.4.1 Discussion

It‘s becoming increasing clear that there is a huge gap in the modules being taught in product/
industrial design depending on which university or institute you attend. The role of designer
doesn't change once they leave college so it is very surprising to see a vast difference in the
modules being taught. Maynooth University is the leading establishment currently teaching
product design as their multidisciplinary approach can be seen as a huge benefit for students
and designers of the future. Participant nine confirms this as he has attended both courses in
Product Design in DIT and Design Innovation in Maynooth University and agrees that not
enough is being taught to fully understand the design process in DIT and the use of the skills
acquired in a entrepreneurial fashion. In an article by Jenner (2013) titled, “We need to teach
young people more entrepreneurial skills”, it states that “more than 99% of European busi-
nesses are SME’s. They provide two thirds of the private sector jobs and primarily responsi-
ble for economic growth in Europe.” but yet education is formed in a way to create employ-
ees and not employers. This is confirmed by number of participants, participant eight states, “
Your taught to be part of the rat race your taught to work the 9-5 this is gonna be your job
you learn one thing you go in get a job and you work till your 65 and I don't see it that way”.

This statement closely resembles a statement made by participant six by saying:

“The course when we did it, I found a very traditional route of where you develop your skills
to become a designer then you go and work for someone else or become part of an agency
…. I think that business skills are needed more than ever now in design teaching”

52
The content and course structure of product design courses are constantly changing to meet
the demand of evolving role of a designer but not enough emphasise is made if the designer
tries to follow a career path of self-employment or tries to bring a product to market. In order
to be a successful entrepreneur you need to be a “Jack of all Trades‖. Participant two who
graduated from NCAD but is also the course director of the Product Design course in
Maynooth University states how the course has evolved throughout its life span:

―"We have made a number of changes to the course since its existence of about ten years. Ini-
tially we were picking standalone subjects that seemed really exciting so we had phycology
subjects more science subjects and technology subject and a reasonable number of design.
We learnt over the years that it was to fragmented and it was missing a strong core to help
the students understand how all these things work together.....so we paired back on some of
the science subjects and some of the phycology subjects and increased big projects.....to try
and demonstrate to the students more how these skills come in together and focused on har-
monising those and making sense of these for the students”

It‘s clear from the findings that there is still gap in education in regards to teaching students
the fundamentals of business and entrepreneurial skills and not only within design education
but the same can apply to all college courses. Participant three states during an interview, “ I
definitely think entrepreneurial skills should be taught to a wide range of courses .in every
field there is room for advancements ”. this statement closely relates to a statement made by
participant eight who is currently an entrepreneur and has a degree in Film Production (which
teaches nothing in relation to entrepreneurship or business), he states :

―People are afraid of not knowing what to do so they will just hold onto the idea and it will
never go anywhere. I heard a stat that each person in their life will always have a 1 million
dollar idea but nobody acts on it .. I think having the platform in college that people get an
insight into the steps that you take to learn how to become an entrepreneur and set up your
own business I think that’s the key. Everybody has good ideas its just weather you act on it or
not.”

It‘s clear that people with a design background have some advantage when setting up a busi-
ness in relation to their skills discussed throughout this chapter, but most entrepreneurs and
business owners haven't got a design background and as mentioned earlier “99% of European
businesses are SME’s”, so it is of huge importance to instil entrepreneurial skills onto every-
one in third level education as they could soon become successful business owners. It may
take a full college course to become a master of the business skills required to set up your
own business but it is important to teach the fundamentals of what‘s required so that if they
do decide to set up their own business it‘s not completely new to them.

53
Participant one state:

“I studied business studies in secondary school and it gives knowledge of how things
work like buying a selling ..but as far as college was concerned they didn't cover any of that
and I think it would have been very beneficial… a grounding in commercial understanding,
drawing up agreements and protecting your designs and patents…even having a basic
understanding so when you do start to research it it’s not completely new to you.”

Three of the six entrepreneurs that were interviewed stated that they didn't acquire the busi-
ness knowledge required to set up a business from college, but they had one major advantage,
they all had parents that were entrepreneurs. Participant two states, “Now because I grew up
under a family business and because of dinner table talk I already had heard a lot of stuff.”
Similarly participant one state:

“I have to give credit to my dad for that, he is always very influential in what we do we still
work with him….he has always been quite entrepreneurial himself …and he saw it and he
said there’s definitely has to be a market for this so he actually asked around and spoke to
some people that he knew on the periphery of the toy industry”

Participant eight states:

I kind of taught myself but my dad always taught me as well, I looked up to him because he
set up his own business from a young age he kind of came from nothing and worked his way
up, rather than school I don't think they teach you any entrepreneurial or setting up your own
business in school, I didn’t learn any of it in school…But in college it was straight up your
learning one thing.. There was no outside of that business wise so if your representing
yourself or self-employed there was none of that how to set up your own business when you
leave college”

Without this bed of knowledge these entrepreneurs picked up from family members their
venture may not have been possible. People with marketable ideas or concepts might not
have someone close by to call on for advice at any time. The family member with the entre-
preneurial background would have had a lot of influence and provided the required guidance
for establishing their venture. That‘s why it‘s of huge importance to teach everyone the skills
required to set up their own venture as it not only provides the individual with the knowledge
needed to set up their own business but can lead to economic growth and the creation of new
jobs as mentioned in the article extract above “more than 99% of European businesses are
SME’s. They provide two thirds of the private sector jobs and primarily responsible for eco-
nomic growth in Europe.”(Jenner, 2013).

54
This statement is confirmed by participant three and recent graduate of product design by
stating, “any new technology or new ways of doing things, not only provides personal fulfil-
ment, it makes the world a better place and increases economies, it can make new jobs.

4.3 Conclusion

Throughout the findings and analysis it was becoming increasingly clear that there were some
gaps in the education system surrounding product design and entrepreneurship. The three
universities and institutes in focus had very different course structures and focused on teach-
ing different aspects of the design process in detail. It was evident that there wasn't enough
emphasise on the key skills required to set up a business. Although Maynooth University did
provide an efficient amount of knowledge related to entrepreneurship, but it was also evident
that these skills that were provided went unnoticed. Both NCAD and DIT were lacking a suf-
ficient amount of modules based around entrepreneurship and the fundamentals to venture
creation. With “99% of European companies being SME’s”(Jenner, 2013) it is more im-
portant now more than ever for entrepreneurial skills to be taught to a wider range of college
degrees outside the design departments. Additionally, evidence of the importance of design
thinking methodologies in business leads to the need for not only entrepreneurial skills and
the fundamentals of venture creation to be taught to a wider range of college courses but also
design thinking methodologies should become mandatory for all college courses as any per-
son from any educational background can have a marketable idea that can be turned into a
business venture and some grounding of the steps required to do so could prove very benefi-
cial for not only the individual but society itself . Participant eight states:

“I think in every aspect of every degree you do in college, I think there should be a break off
section where you learn that of you want to go self-employed you need to learn the basics to
set up your own business because … they mightn't have it in their main aim when they leave
college to set up their own company but it’s a great thing to know and if you do end up falling
back and go off doing something different like setting up your own company your always
gonna have those skills and your always gonna use them so 100% I think that it should be
taught in school before you even go to college”… I think it should be compulsory through
secondary school and definitely in college”.

Most of the participants agree with the above statement of the importance of these skills be-
ing instilled onto everyone in third level education, with some participants suggesting the
need for it to be introduced at secondary level education.

55
Participant two states:

"I think product design principles should be taught wider than just product designers,
I think every discipline both science based and business, they would benefit from that
application for the end user and person that your creating a new tech for. if the per-
son creating can understand and empathise with people going to use it, so I think it
definitely merits being taught wider”

Participant three states, “it’s very important for all courses or people in all different fields to
have experience in entrepreneurship ...I think everyone should look around to see new op-
portunities” and continues to say:
“It’s very important for all courses or people in all different fields to have experience in en-
trepreneurship ...I think everyone should look around to see new opportunities…any new
technology or new ways to do things, not only provides personal fulfillment , it makes the
world a better place and increase economics.”

Participant seven states:

“Just the design thinking process should be instilled on people in some way ...because if peo-
ple knew that from an early age and applied that to everything they encounter I think the
world would be way better off, everything would be more considered, there would be a lot
less waste. If everyone taught like that everything would run smoother….by bringing in entre-
preneurial and design projects at a younger age..it exposes them to how things work in the
real world..and problem solving and looking at things in different ways and allows them to
come up with creative solutions to things…I think it’s a huge benefit.”

When asked in the survey conducted if they think design thinking methodologies should be
taught to multiple college courses ?, just over 85% of participants answered yes as shown in
the chart below.

Figure 4: Survey results: Do you think product design thinking methods should be taught in multiple college courses?

It‘s evident that the participants have a strong perception of the importance of these skills be-
ing taught to everyone and the importance of it being taught at a younger age. Most of the
participants are entrepreneurs and have experienced first-hand the lack of this knowledge be-

56
ing taught throughout third level education in relation to venture creation. The importance of
instilling this knowledge and basic understanding of the design thinking methodologies could
have a huge positive impact on both the individual and in society. Participant two states:

"You don’t need to be a genius its fairly straight forward .... It’s a number of steps if they could
see and talk to people who have done it they can realise it’s a number of mundane
steps...because anyone can do it once their motivated by an idea.”

Chapter Five: Conclusion

57
5.0 Introduction

In this chapter it will summarise the main findings of the research conducted related to the
three research questions identified in the introduction chapter. The findings that were gath-
ered aims to create a deep understanding of product design education and education in gen-
eral in relation to entrepreneurship. Additionally, this chapter aims to highlight the im-
portance of design thinking methods being used in every business with evidence from the re-
search findings. Furthermore, this chapter will present the limitations which occurred
throughout conducting this research study. Finally, this chapter will make recommendations
and improvements.

5.1 Summary of Research

This study explored in detail the relationship between product/industrial design and entrepre-
neurship. Additionally it explored in detail the supporting factors product/industrial design
and entrepreneurship by investigating the differences in design education within Ireland. To
obtain the data that was gathered the researcher used a mixed method approach by conducting
semi-structured interviews along with undertaking an online survey aimed at prod-
uct/industrial designers that are both currently studying product/industrial design or have
graduated. After analysis of the findings and coding of the interview was completed four
main theme were identified and are presented as follow; Evolving role of a Designer, Similar-
ities and connections between product/industrial designers and entrepreneurs, The importance
of Design Thinking Methodologies and Product / Industrial Design in education. The themes
mentioned above will be discussed and summarised in conjunction with the research ques-
tions.

5.1.1 What similarities do product/industrial designers share with successful entrepreneurs ?

It was clear after analysing the data that was gathered that product /industrial designers
shared a lot of similarities with successful entrepreneur. The main finding pointed to the use

58
of certain skills that is utilised by both entrepreneurs and product/industrial designers. These
skills include critical thinking, creative problem solving and effective decision making. The
principles of effectuation were utilised are utilised by both entrepreneurs and prod-
uct/industrial designers and it was evident that this was the main skill that both shared. There
were also certain traits that could be connected, mainly the desire to create something new a
meaningful for the customer. Their drive to create was the main trait that both entrepreneurs
and designers shared.

5.1.2 Have design students been equipped with the skills, behaviours and traits to successfully
establish a new business venture?

It was clear in some cases that designers have been equipped with the necessary skills that are
required to establish a new business venture but was dependent on the establishment to which
the person studied design. The use of design thinking methodologies is seen as the main rea-
son behind a company‘s success if used correctly. A designer‘s ability to identify customer
needs and satisfy these needs by creating a new product or service was the key to how busi-
nesses ensure the products or services that they are providing to the customer is something
that solves a real need and creates value for the customer.

Depending on where the designer received their degree directly correlated to the amount of
knowledge they gained surrounding entrepreneurship and new business venture. A gap in the
education system surrounding product design and entrepreneurship was becoming increasing-
ly clearer.

The use of effectuation by designers is something that is essential to the successful develop-
ment of a company or venture. The skills including critical thinking and creative problem
solving allows the designer to make effective decisions to control outcomes and mitigate risk.
This is something that is instilled onto product/industrial designers throughout education and
can be directly connected to these skills being used by entrepreneurs when establishing a new
business venture and maintaining a successful flow to business.

Although not all the skills required to successfully establish a business venture have been ac-
quired by designers through education, and it is something that is lacking in the designers
toolbox and in the majority of product design education. More focus is needed in product

59
design education on the business aspects of new venture development. With 99% of Europe-
an companies being SME‘s the need for education to create entrepreneurs is now more im-
portant than ever. With the skills that designers have acquired and with the addition of further
knowledge in the fundamentals of venture creation, product designers will soon come out of
education with all the knowledge required to become successful entrepreneurs and will no
longer be molded as employees but will soon become employees.

5.1.3 Should a design thinking mindset and entrepreneurial skills be instilled into a wider range
or course curriculum outside the design department?

It is evident throughout the research findings that the participants believe that it is of huge
importance for design thinking methodologies and entrepreneurial skills to be taught to eve-
ryone in third level education with some participants suggested the need for these skills and
methods to be introduced into secondary level education. Research also suggests that that in
every field there is room for advancements, and opportunities may arise from these advance-
ments. Any person from any educational background could potentially come up with a ―Mil-
lion Dollar Idea‖ (Participant eight), it‘s just a matter of acting on it that makes an idea be-
come reality.

If these skills were adopted by each department within third level educational institutes there
could be a drastic change in the perception the students have on their future career. Students
would leave college with the option of pursuing a career path of self-employment which
could lead to the creation of new jobs and more importantly see a positive change in econom-
ic growth and in society itself.

5.2 Limitations of the study

Throughout the research study there were a number of limitations that arose, the three main
limitations are outlined below.

60
• A number of entrepreneurs were contacted in the hope of securing an interview, due to the
busy nature of running a company most of the entrepreneurs that were contacted were una-
ble to partake in the research study. Consequently only six entrepreneurs agreed to be inter-
viewed out as a small sample of a huge population. This to can be said for the students that
agreed to be interviewed.

• In relation to the survey that was conducted, the survey was posted in closed private groups
on social media platforms and has to be accessed by the member to view the post as it isn't
displayed on the users newsfeed, this limited the amount of responses that could of been
gathered.

• In relation to the video that accompanies this document, the researcher was limited by the
capabilities of the equipment that was available to him. With over one hundred gigabytes of
video data captured it took a huge amount of time for the video files to be compressed be-
fore editing could be done.

61
5.3 Recommendations

After a detailed analysis of the findings throughout this research study the researcher has
identified a number of recommendations and are presented below;

• Due to the little number of participants in comparison to the size of the population the re-
searcher suggested the need for further research to be conducted on the research topic. As
the perceptions of the sample of the population cannot be taken as the perceptions of the
whole population.

• The research has shown evidence of the importance of design thinking methodology in
business and the applications to which it can be applied. It could be recommended that de-
sign thinking methodologies should be introduced as a module to multiple college courses
and not only within the design department.

• It was identified throughout the research that 50% of the entrepreneurs that were inter-
viewed had outsider influence and advice from family members who were also entrepre-
neurs. The knowledge that they gained in relation to new venture creation was not acquired
through education. Although there has also been evidence that Maynooth University does

62
 equip design students with a grounding on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship this wasn't
consistent throughout other educational institutes teaching product/industrial design. It
could be recommended that all educational institutes that teach product design incorporate
the skills necessary to pursue an entrepreneurial path and the fundamentals of venture crea-
tion to increase the likeliness of designers pursuing a path of self-employment.

5.4 Conclusion

To conclude, the role of a product designer is constantly evolving and so must the educational
system to meet this demand. Designers have a number of but not all the skills required to suc-
cessfully establish a new business venture. Product designers share a lot of the skills and
traits of successful entrepreneurs due to being trained in design thinking methodologies. De-
sign thinking is hugely important in the successful creation of a new business venture and
maintaining a successful company. The educational system needs to adapt in order to suc-
cessfully create new entrepreneurs to meet the increasing demand of society. Implementing
entrepreneurial skills and design thinking methodologies into all third level education could
see a rise in the number of new business ventures being established and in turn lead to growth
in the economy.

63
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Appendix One: Participant Profile

71
Appendix Two: Interview Topic Guide

72
Background

• Who are you?

Please state your name and position / job title for the record
What background do you have ? Education / Work Experience

• How did you personal experiences influence the development of the concept?

• What was the biggest outside influences during your journey?Did you friends / family
affect decision making? Why?

• Did your colleagues at the time have any affect or influence on you? Why? Did you
have any negative influences on your throughout your journey?

Education

• What skills were you taught during college that helped in the creation of your ven-
ture?

• What skills weren’t you taught in college that would of helped throughout the devel-
opment of your venture.

• Where and how did you pick up these skills to make your concept a reality.

• were you taught anything related to entrepreneurship?

• As a lecturer here in maynooth can you talk about the importance of multidiscipli-
nary skills being taught in a design course?

• Did you go straight into employment once you left college ? and where ? was it a de-
sign consultancy?

Concept Development

73
What is ..........?
How did the idea come about?
Can you explain the development of the concept?
Did you seek feedback throughout concept development?
Whats issues arose from this?
How did you deal with negative feedback?
Did you feel biased at any point ? and How did this affect decision making? How many
iterations of the initial design did you make?
How did you go about prototyping the concept?
What problems arose during prototyping?
How did you fund prototyping?
What problems did you identify with the concept at this stage?

Business Development:

• When did you realise that your idea could be turned into a business opportunity?

• What steps did you take to develop the business ?

• Did you feel that you were equipped with the right skills to develop your business?
Were you taught this in college?

• How did you equip yourself with what it takes to to successfully set up this business?

• Did you know anything about setting up a business ?

• Did you outsource or seek help in areas of setting up the business that you felt you
weren't entirely confident doing yourself?

• What partnerships if any did you make on your journey to ensure successful devel-
opment of your product?

• As a design student do you feel you had any advantage in creating a business over
business or engineering students?

Lecturer
74
• How did you get your job here in maynooth and did it add to the progress of your
business?

• do you feel that design thinking and entrepreneurship should be taught in other
courses here in the college and why?

• As a lecturer here in maynooth can you talk about the importance of multidiscipli-
nary skills being taught in a design course?

Now and Future:

• Has creating this business improved on your skills or create new skills and if so what
skills and why?

• What is the future of ……?

• Where do you see yourself in five years ?

• Do you have any other business ventures in the works?

General

• Do you think ........... was successful ? Why ? Why not?

What characteristics do you think think you need to be a successful entrepreneur?

• How does being a design entrepreneur give you an advantage over other entrepreneur
if any?

• What do you think is the key to becoming a successful business?

What advice can you give future entrepreneurs?
What have you learnt throughout your journey creating this company or developing
your concept?
What was you motivation to succeed? Why ?

Finance

75
• How did you source funding for this venture?
Why? What type of Funding?
Did you get back what you put in?
How did you go about making estimates for funding?

• How did you know how to create these estimates ?

How much of your own time and money did you put into this venture?

• What problems arose during prototyping?

How did you fund prototyping?
What problems did you identify with the concept at this stage?

Intellectual Property

Do you have a patent for ...........?

How did you go about securing a patent ?
Did you search similar patents prior to submitting your patent request?
Was there any issues that arose while securing a patent?
Do you have a copyright or trademark issued for ..........?
Was there any legal issues that arose when developing your company ? i.e Trading
Laws / Employment Laws etc.

Challenges

What were the biggest challenges you faced?

Do you have any regrets while creating your company?
Did you ever feel like giving up and failing? Why? How did you overcome this?
What was the hardest part of your journey ? Why ?
What do you think is the biggest reason for failure when developing a business/ con-
cept? What was the most enjoyable part of your journey ? Why?
At what points of your journey did you have a sense of relief ? Why?

Business Plan

76
How did you formulate a business plan?
What do you think is needed in a successful business plan?
Did you make any risk assessments when creating your business plan? What issues
arose during execution of the business plan?
What questions did you ask yourself while creating a business plan?

Market Research

Did you conduct any market research before developing your concept? How did you go
about it ?
What market trends did you identify from market research?
Was there a need of a gap in the market for ............?

Partnerships ??? Key Resources??? Key Activities??? Target Market???

Appendix Three: Informed Consent Form

77
 Design and Success
An Exploration into Product Design and Entrepreneurship

Study Aim

As a Maynooth University Design Innovation Master’s student my goal is to identify the key
characteristics of Entrepreneurs and the key to being successful. My aim is to use the infor-
mation obtained through this interview to create a documentary exploring every aspect of be-
ing a successful entrepreneur and the journey they take in order to have a successful business.

Procedure

This research will consist of an interview style discussion or observational study which will
also be recorded and/or video-recorded. This interview will be approximately 45-60 minutes.

In order to partake in this study you must be at least 18 years of age and also a voluntary par-
ticipant. Participants will be able to terminate their participation at any time even during the
actual interview.

All materials and information will be stored securely and in accordance with Maynooth Uni-
versity’s Good Research Practice Guidelines.
Only those researchers who are part of the project will be allowed access to the research in-
formation that we collect.

The audio, video and text files will be securely stored in accordance with university protocol,
and destroyed after transcriptions are completed.

Further Information
For further information or for answers to your questions please feel free to contact us at:

Gerard Wylie gerardwyliedesign@gmail.com or (087) - 4223448

Informed Consent Form

78
Study Title: Design and Success : Video Documentary on Design Entrepreneurs.

This study and the attached consent form have been thoroughly explained to me. The inter-
viewer has given me an opportunity to ask questions and has thus answered all my questions
to my satisfaction. I understand that upon agreeing to partake in this study subsequent infor-
mation from the interview process can potentially be used. By signing this consent form I am
stating that I have read, or had read to me, said consent form.

I freely and voluntarily agree, to be part of this research study, to allow the use of recorded
audio and video.
I have received a copy of this agreement.

Participant's Name: ________________________________________

Participant's Signature: _____________________________________ Date: _________

Date on which the participant was first presented this form: _________

Statement of Investigator’s Responsibility

I have explained the nature, purpose, and procedures of this research study. I have offered to
answer any questions and fully answered such questions. I believe that the participant under-
stands my explanation and has freely given informed consent.

Researcher’s Signature: _________________________________ Date:

___________

79
Appendix Four: Survey

Survey results and questions

What college did you study Product/Industrial design in?

Maynooth 51.22%
NCAD 12.20%
DIT 36.59%

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Do you feel you learnt a blended mix of business, design, technology and marketing?
YES 73.81%
NO 26.19%

Do you feel your education equipped you with the skills required to set up your own
business?
YES 44.19%
NO 55.81%

81
Have you ever had an idea for a marketable product or service that you feel would
create value and that could sell?
YES 88.37%
NO 11.63%

Did you ever try to set up your own business? or develop a product to market?
YES 46.51%
NO 53.49%

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What was the reason for not trying to create your own business?
FINANCE 84.38%
LACK OF RESOURCES 50%
LACK OF BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE 43.75%

What do you think is the most important skill to become a successful entrepreneur?

83
Do you want to become an entrepreneur?

Do you think entrepreneurial skills should be taught to designers?

84
Do you think design thinking methodology should be taught to multiple college
course?

85
Appendix Five: Coded Interviews (Themes)

Main Quotes and Themes Identified from the Interviews Conducted

The numbers displayed beside each quote is for the researchers use only, they are used to cor-
respond with there position with the video accompanying this document.

SIMILARITIES AND CONNECTIONS (BLUE)

(10)being a designer gives you another take on things a lot of it is problem solving , and
problem solving that entrepreneurs come up against all the time , I think as a small business
you have to think of things in a more creative way..

(11)as an entrepreneur starting out I think some of the skills that you learn and develop as a
designer you definitely aid you in the ability to solve problems in different ways

(12) dealing with people in a sales arena , they appreciate that your not a sales man and they
feel like they can trust you more , and as a product designer you tend to give things as they
are and nit gloss over things

―I think its definitely something that is overlooked‖

in your study of design and people pursuit of a business venture , their is a lot in common

in studying a design field..you may be hit with a brick wall and have to adapt around a prob-
lem , completely change a product and and I think work ethic and ability to
adapt…(Similarities and comparison )

(3) they also share a lot of skills …in order to bring a product to market you have to have
study visual skills as well‖

86
0.30 ―decision making is another massive one, weather need to choose the material for a pro-
ject as a designer , in a business you need to make 100 decisions a day …they need to be the
right choice at the right time‖

(4)2.25 another skill that is very important in business is visual design skills..its something
that designers are great at.. people in business that needs brand logos, client presenta-
tions..visual skills make them stand out…there is a lot of entrepreneurs and business people
can learn from designers ―

(5) ― I believe we have a wide spectrum of skills that are conducive to entrepreneurship ―

(6) ― what we brought to that business was an element of basing the design around the user
base so I think they actually learnt something from us‖

(8) ―I think that entrepreneurs are risk takers and as designers we take risks in the name of
discovery and learning and we threat failure as a learning curve rather than a negative‖ AND
GREEN

(9) ― I think that entrepreneurs can learn the art of not rushing into something from design-
ers…Quite a few entrepreneurs latch onto an idea because it suits them..where a designer will
actually go to a population of people and conduct design research to find the insights that fuel
that design‖

(10) ―I think that designers can teach entrepreneurs how to slow down scan the landscape and
make sure the user is at the centre of everything that they do‖

(18) ― I think empathy is the most important tool in the arsenal of a designer‖

• ―Designers coming out of college I don't think their equipped with the right skills to be en-
trepreneurs‖

(25) ―I don't know if you can be both successfully because your either designing all the time
if your design gets famous and you become CEO and you don't have time to be a designer‖

87
(7:53)(17) " design is the toolbox to understand your user and then to provide a solution to
their need and thats just the centre of entrepreneurship and business, your selling a service to
a user"

(16) I think it goes both ways , I think the two things shouldn't be operate , I think there is an
opportunity in many peoples industries to take in people who are designers who can fit in
and work well within a team and I don't think there is any reason why they should be exclu-
sive

(17) from what I understand about your course in Maynooth , the two things are considered
all most in parallel

(16) I think it goes both ways , I think the two things shouldn't be operate , I think there is an
opportunity in many peoples industries to take in people who are designers who can fit in
and work well within a team and I don't think there is any reason why they should be exclu-
sive

(17) from what I understand about your course in Maynooth , the two things are considered
all most in parallel

(8)If your a designer your not thinking about logistics of a products or how its going to be
sold or marketed or advertised

(12)― being trained as an industrial designer you certainly have a great skillset you have an
advantage over people who don't have this kind of skillset …If I was studying business you
would fall down a lot easier than someone that had a design background probably would ―

(13) ― creative people or designers obviously they have this desire to create stuffy so It makes
sense that they would also want to create their own business ―

(19)‖ I think entrepreneurs want to create something new and thats where designers are at as
well‖

88
(20)‖ I think all the traits of a good designer would be inclusion with an entrepreneur …there
is very little that will differentiate them ..the best designer would make the best entrepreneur‖

(21) ― There is definitely a lot in common‖

EDUCATION(PINK)

1:50 ―I fell if you throw yourself in and you have to learn to do it you learn a lot quicker be-
ing practical with it ―

1:50 ―I fell if you throw yourself in and you have to learn to do it you learn a lot quicker be-
ing practical with it ―

―I think in every aspect of every degree you do in college, I think there should be a break off
section where you learn that of you want to go self employed you need to learn the basics to
set up your own business because … they might have it in their main aim when they leave
college to set up their own company but its a great thing to know and if you do end up falling
back and go off doing something different like setting up your own company your always
gonna have those skills and your always gonna use them so 100% I think that it should be
taught in school before you even go to college‖……4.50 I think it should be compulsory
through secondary school and definitely in college‖.

00;30 People are afraid of not knowing what to do so they will just hold onto the idea and it
will never go anywhere. I heard a stat that each person in there life will always have a 1 mil-
lion dollar idea but nobody acts on it .. I think having the platform in college that people get
an insight into the steps that you take to learn how to become an entrepreneur and set up your
own business I think thats the key. everybody has good ideas its just weather you act on it or
not.‖

Your taught to be part of the rat race your taught to work the 9-5 this is gonna be your job
you learn one thing you go in get a job and you work till your 65 and I don't see it that way

(2) One failing of when I did the course …there wasn't really anything to do with even under-
standing patents and design registration ….which I think would of been worth while‖.

89
(3)Things like patenting you have to outsource, we outsourced marketing , graphic design
and sales.

(13)a lot of designer come out off college and want to set up and make their own money , and
some level of commercial grounding would benefit

(14) a grounding in commercial understanding, drawing up agreements and protecting your

designs and patents…even having a basic understanding so when do start to research it its not
completely new to you

(15) I studied business studies in secondary school and it gives knowledge of how things
work like buying a selling ..but as far as college was concerned they didn't cover any of that
and I think it would have been very beneficial

(16)7.30 by bringing in entrepreneurial and design projects at a younger age..it exposes them
to how things work in the real world..and problem solving and looking at things in different
ways and allows them to come up with creative solutions to things…I think its a huge bene-
fit..

(17)8.30 when you empower kids as early as possible that you can come up with something
and you can do this and easier than ever to create things

(5) 3.55 its very important for all courses or people in all different fields to have experience
in entrepreneurship ..I think everyone should look around to see new opportunities‖

(5.5) 5.39 I definitely think entrepreneurial skills should be taught to a wide range of courses
.in every field there is room for advancements ‖

(1) ―we covered a very broad spectrum of subjects ..even by its name it stands out from other
design colleges because they include learning innovation and marketing …we were taught the
whole product development process from start to finish … the role of an entrepreneur taking
an idea from early conception all the way too creating value and profitability from it‖

90
(2) Its heavily based around design thinking which in its nature is a fantastic methodology for
disproving new growth and business ventures all of which surrounds the user ..we did a lot of
critical and creative thinking‖

(3) ―everything we learned was applicable to a design project‖

(4) ― I think Maynooth in particular ahead of some other design courses , because we have the
whole business element of the course ingrained deeply in what we do to make sure that any
product we design is marketed to an end user‖

(19) ― were very lucky here in Maynooth to have the department of anthropology so we get a
deeper understanding of techniques around empathy and interviewing end users…I think oth-
er courses are lacking that and its the most important thing ―

(21) ― A lot of people I know that tried to start a business don't have a design background ..I
think that critical thinking , design thinking methodologies would be used and go along way
in other courses‖

(22) ― I think entrepreneurial skills should be taught in a wider range of college courses than
there are at the moment , there skills for life a lot of people try to set up their own business at
some point and they may take inspiration from the subject they studied …entrepreneurial and
designer skills would go along way in helping these people set up their own businesses‖

• In product design we learnt a lot of technical skills , being an engineering college a lot
of it was geared towards the engineering side of product design , not enough on the
likes of design thinking modules ―

• ―we had marketing modules in 4th year , they were very good but they could of been
linked closer to the course itself in a more entrepreneurial fashion‖

• ―we certainly weren't taught that much about using the entire process of using design
thinking in college, it was only since doing the masters in Maynooth that Ive gotten a full
handle on the whole process and used it in its entirety‖

91
• (7) ―we certainly weren't taught that much about using the entire process of using design
thinking in college ; it was only since doing the masters in Maynooth that Ive gotten a full
handle on the whole process and used it in its entirety‖

• (11) ―a lot of the skills I learnt in DIT were the hard skills and Maynooth has given me the
softer skills which are actually now becoming more and more important .

• (12) Maynooth has taught me to use proper ethnographic skills and there is far more value
in that now in the industry‖
• 21 ―I did 6 years of engineering in college , prototyping and modelling , I never considered
it design I considered it engineering , metal work from 1st-3rd year and engineering 4th
to 6th year‖

(2:23)(1) "in NCAD it was very unstructured, which was positive and negative‖

(4:00)(2) research.....it was very unstructured and you learn by doing, rather than being
taught any formal techniques, it would of definitely helped to get a little more formal training
and structured training.‖

(4:20)(3) " there wasn't that much emphasise on business and obviously when you create a
product you have to be ver aware and have an understanding of the commercial reality..... I
think that that was something that was missing‖

(5:30)(4) " to acquire the business skills, I did a course with enterprise Ireland that was very
helpful‖

(13:30)(8) "I think a lot of my class mates had a lot of excellent ideas and maybe they didn't
have the surrounding support to see it as an option to pursue them forward into entrepreneur-
ship.....if they had some of these courses in entrepreneurship or marketing maybe more peo-
ple would pursue an entrepreneurial rote‖

92
(18:16)(10) "we have made a number of changes to the course since its existence of about ten
years. initially we were picking stand alone subjects that seemed really exciting so we had
phycology subjects more science subjects and technology subject and a reasonable number of
design. we learnt over the years that it was to fragmented and it was missing a strong core to
help the students understand how all these things work together.....so we paired back on
some of the science subjects and some of the phycology subjects and increased big pro-
jects.....to try and demonstrate to the students more how these skills come in together..... and
focused on harmonising those and making sense of these for the students‖

(11) I think the business skills that I gained in New Frontiers are essential to running a busi-
ness and I totally agree that they should be part of any course ―

(6) I think thats what college was lacking the most ..the kind of business insight into all of the
behind the scenes stuff

(10) ―when we were in college , from my point of view you designed a product , you kinda
done it in a bubble where you just concentrated on the design , the manufacturing , the form
and function and it just stopped there‖

(23) ―Not even in college courses but in secondary level swell ―

(24) ―If they had a mini business in college maybe if there was a Christmas fair and you have
to design a product for it and fulfil it it would give people the confidence to design, launch
and sell a product‖

(1) NCAD was a place where you really focused on refining your ideas from a technical point
of view more than a while design process of going from initial concept through to develop-
ment‖

(7) The course when we did it , I found a very traditional route of where you develop your
skills to become a designer then you go and work for someone else or become part of an
agency …. I think that business skills are needed more than ever now in design teaching‖

93
(23) ―Not even in college courses but in secondary level swell ―

(24) ―If they had a mini business in college maybe if there was a Christmas fair and you have
to design a product for it and fulfil it it would give people the confidence to design, launch
and sell a product‖

FAMILY INFLUENCE (ORANGE)

2:50 I kind of taught myself but my dad always taught me as well, I looked up to him because
he set up his own business from a young age he kind of came from nothing and worked his
way up, rather than school I don't think they teach you any entrepreneurial or setting up your
won business in school, I didn‘t learn any of it in school ……But in college it was straight up
your learning one thing.. there was no outside of that business wise so if your representing
yourself or self employed there was none of that how to set up your own business when you
leave college‖

4.33
―Now because I grew up under a family business and because of dinner table talk I already
had heard a lot of stuff ―

(1) I have to give credit to my dad for that , he is always very influential in what we do we
still work with him….he has always been quite entrepreneurial himself …and he saw it and
he syses there defiantly has to be a market for this so he actually asked around and spoke to
some people that he knew on the periphery of the toy industry‖

IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN THINKING (CYAN)

―I had an idea for an app prior to golf birdie while I was travelling and I left it too long and
when I came home at that stage someone had done the exact same idea and I as worth and the
investors came out and said it was worth 12 million , that was the first moment I realised you
need to act on your ideas and don‘t wait around, so the day we came up with the idea I had
emailed 10 developers around Ireland and we had a meeting with a guy 2 days later‖
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(13) ― There is definitely learnings that can be taken from design thinking in how people
might run there businesses‖

(14) ― Design thinking at its essence is the generalised rules of a designers mind pout into a
process for those that aren't that way inclined ―

(15) we always emphasise with the end users and thats important ..It gives you the validation
of a hypothesis you might of had in your mind about what a customer needs, whats viable and
feasible to you to undertake, having that bed of knowledge beginning a project or business is
gonna validate things and mitigate the amount of risk associated with failure down the line ―

(16) ― The techniques that were taught in ideation in design thinking are conducive to creativ-
ity so that we can come up with multiple concepts instead of running with the one you've al-
ways had in your mind and screen the best ideas‖

(17) ― Most important to me is user testing , to be constantly testing what your making is
something that people want to buy and is going to effect them in the way you aimed to
change their lives‖

(20) ―If you cant understand your end user , then you cant understand their needs ..its like
playing darts blindfolded in regards to your business succeeding‖

• ―The use of design thinking methods is really useful for companies providing its used cor-
rectly ―

• ― a lot of people think its the saviour to to failing companies but it has to be used
properly‖

• (10) ―Design thinking and these tools are far more valuable nowadays with the
amount of jobs they can apply too and how important they are ―
• 20 ― I think design thinking process should be in schools‖

95
(24) ― I think designing experiences and designing for business and innovation , I think thats
where the biggest jobs in the world are gonna be in the next 5 years‖

(5) "yeah in business the key thing for a business is to identify a market need and the market
need comes down to people and understanding what they want and what they need to make
their life easier and design really emphasise a focus on the user and on the customer and un-
derstanding that need when you get that right then you have potential to start a business‖

(9)" I think product design principles should be taught wider than just product designers, I
think every discipline both science based and business, they would benefit from that applica-
tion for the end user and person that your creating a new tech for. if the person creating can
understand and empathise with people going to use it, so I think it definitely merits being
taught wider‖

(12) "so the biggest reason for a company failing.....its because they haven't identified a worth
while problem‖

(16) "you don‘t need to be a genius its fairly straight forward .... its a number of steps if they
could see and talk to people who have done it they can realise its a number of mundane
steps...because anyone can do it once their motivated by an idea.‖

(17) " they say the next competitive advantage in business is user experience and user experi-
ence gets to the point of delighting the user and understanding deeply what your user needs,
wants and how to provide it to them in a pleasing way. thats what design is all about.

(5) its the biggest reason for failing is not understanding what the customer wants , I think if
you make a beautiful product or a beautiful app …it has to be something that people want and
not just yourself

(15) It surprises me sometimes how people don't understand that creativity can change and
shape how a business operates on all levels …its very surprising to me that other businesses
don‘t take on the ability to think through and rationalise all aspects of what they do

96
(2) at the start we did about 10% design when we started the company and were probably up-
to about 30%…but there is so many other aspects to the business that a design thinking ap-
proach that we can apply that too…even to the point where were trying yo get other people
that were involved in the business that don't have a design background …we have them fol-
lowing the same kind of process and they realise ‗ow that makes sense‘

(3) I don‘t think people realises there is a design process in actual work

(5) We walked into a coffee shop in town we did the order process of how somebody orders a
cup of coffee from then and there mind was kinda and there mind was kinda blown just to
see…and that informed the whole layout design to the cafe ….I guess it going beyond indus-
trial design but it shows you can apply the design process

(15) ―we try to put design first in pretty much every case ..we try and design everything so
that its efficient so that it mitigates the risk ― (IMPORTANT CONNECTION TO EFFEC-
TUATION)

(25) ―Just the design thinking process should be instilled on people in someway ..because if
people knew that from an early age and applied that to everything they encounter I think the
world would be way better off , everything would be more considered , there would be a lot
less waste..If everyone taught like that everything would run smoother‖

ENTREPRENEURIAL TRIATS (GREEN)

(4)people regard entrepreneurs as big risk takers…. I don't think were big risk takers we are

quite measured about our approach about doing things‖

(5)Idea is to grow it as much as we can within our capabilities

97
(7)don't go in thinking its going to be easy nothing is very easy ….it takes a lot of determina-

tion and you have to be passionate about what you do …you need to be really dedicated to

what your doing

(8) making the transition between designer and starting a business you need to dig deep and

believe in what your doing

(18) we have always been very risk adverse about how we operate things…. you don't need to

be a massive risk taker …you don't need to have strong belief in what your doing

(19) don't be fooled into thinking comic up with an idea and taking it to market is going to be

easy cause its not it takes a lot of persistence

(21) I long for us to be larger and have more people on board so I can focus on concept de-

velopment because… the truth is thats the fun stuff

one of the main barriers is going to be self belief and believing in the idea

(7) ―I think we have higher tolerance for ambiguity and risk taking and I think thats very im-

portant because without risk its hard to find opportunity‖

 16 ―entrepreneurs need to be grounded in reality and ready to take risks‖

• 17 ―they need to be really clued into the market and their customer ―

98
• 18 ― when i meet with entrepreneurs the most valuable skills i can point them towards is

the whole people, insight , research aspect‖

• 19 ― whenever I meet with entrepreneurs I try to impart the early stage soft skills stuff of

interviewing and data analysis and hunting for insights and meaning cause it will improve

the product and help sell the product

(11) "I made a prototype I got it wrong .... when that happens it can sometimes lead you to

the pressure to give up... their are certainly low moments but often are quickly followed by a

positive moment...like a surprise approach from investors to sat their interested and that

builds up confidence again.‖

(14) "the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur are drive, determination and stubborn-

ness to some effect..... I think everybody no matter who you are, are going to face big doors

that are shut in front of your face and you got to persist‖

(1)it takes a lot of commitment from yourself in terms of both time and money ..it meant

working for free for the last two years

(2) Done of the problems being an entrepreneur is the constant feeling of failing , everyday

there is the question if your doing the right thing.

(3) I've come by a lot of challenges and at the time wasn't sure how I would get past them and

I work on the basis that nothing has ever stopped me before ..I need that certainty to keep on

going.

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(4) its a very selfish process being an entrepreneur you have to make a lot of sacrifices both

on behalf of yourself and your family and friends …and it takes a certain degree of single

mindfulness

(7) ―to be a successful entrepreneur you need to incredibly selfish …you need to rely on the

good will of people…determination and selfishness are unfortunately the two characteristics

you need‖

(8) ―I'm entirely motivated to wanting to complete and finish what I set out to do‖

(11) I think to be an employer you need to be a certain type of person , its not for everyone

(14) ― We want to spend more time designing , we hate having to do all the other stuff behind

the scenes but its just a matter of life at the moment ―

(22)‖ Endurance, resilience, you cant be easily knocked , its hard its not on easy job to do you

need unlimited enthusiasm because it will get destroyed , you just turn it back on again ―

ROLE OF DESIGNER (BROWN)

(20) my role begins with conception the whole way through to development , pricing , mar-
keting , factory visits , quality control ..it covers almost everything apart from the commercial
side of what we do

(22) the role of a designer in a small company takes up at least 50% if not more‖

100
its pretty broad role in a small company , in a larger company its less so, its more focused on
concept development ….its a much more focused type of a role in large organisations

(6) "a designer years back were unstructured in their approach....they had and innate talent for
drawing, for spacial awareness and creating stuff, they had good ideas that they projected on-
to markets and often styled them nicely. Now the designer is a more social science researcher
as well as theses skills they have to work harder to see new opportunities‖

(7)"a designer now is a trained more intensely on the research side of things and try to under-
stand people and dig deep into their needs and opportunities‖

(9) ―The core of what I think being an industrial designer is about creating something new
that people need or fulfil a purpose ..all that other stuff (Business) are things that are neces-
sary to get that out there , there the things you don't realise until you try and go and do it all
…you think its just about design but it isn't ―

BENEFITS (BLACK)

(6)It has become more of a business than a hobby …if we had the opportunity …to outsource
and move back into design … it is more enjoyable‖

(9) as a design company we would like to ideally take people into manage and run the busi-
ness end, to free us up to do more design projects

• with the elements like marketing and entrepreneurship you learn to bring that across
in a business sense

(6) any new technology or new ways to do things, not only provides personal fulfilment , it
makes the world a better place and increase economics , it can make new jobs

(7) I think its really important that everyone should understand the need to develop things not
only for big companies but for themselves

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I went to a guidance councillor and scored high in creative ability ..which I didn't thinks I had
before that‖

(9)(5 years ) I‘d love to have my own design consultancy ..and work on new creative pro-
jects‖

(10) with entrepreneurship and design , working in Love-in-robots which had a very entre-
preneurial buzz, and picking up the ability to work hard and adapt definitely helped me for
my final year‖

(11) ― I think you need a bit more experience in the industry to realise all of the specialist
skills that you've learnt over the 4 years ―

(12) ― Id love to be my own boss and have ownership over something that i know is mine and
to be able to work as hard as i can to make it a success …and to influence the world in a way
to have a mark of some sort‖. .‖if the right idea came along id love to start my own busi-
ness and thats where my skills that i have learnt in product design would compliment bring
able to start a business‖

• ―it had to put to us to be an entrepreneurial thing , I don't think any of us had it in us to do

it on our own ―

• 22 ―the classes that should be taught are the classes that leads to critical thinking . we had
one class like that in one semester and it was fantastic , building models and solving prob-
lems …that should be a full time class in every secondary school‖

(3:50)(13) "in five years I see myself being a strong part of a bigger team in BUA saddles
where I'm focusing more on research and development‖

(5:46)(15) " for future entrepreneurs I would say just make sure you have a good understand-
ing of who your user is and are you solving a real need. make sure you have talked to your

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user and don‘t just talk to family and friends cause they will just tell you what you want to
hear"

(6) ―when we did our original testing we focused on professionals , the king of people that
would use a stylus day in day out … we also realised that they weren't necessarily our target
market … for the enthusiast we added value to the tablet.‖

(10) to identify a problem with the products I had , I had a couple of different styluses but
gradually they were improving but the didn't add anything to being more than dumb stick ―

(13) I was looking for an opportunity as much as solving a problem

(18) Coming out of college you have certain degree of skills, you have the ability to think
abstractly and rationally but I think to put them into practice its better to do ti on someone
else time

(19) I identified a frustration , I took my frustration and wanted to find out if other people had
the same frustrations and I developed early on some concepts and prototypes of what I taught
a product might be and this is something I carried around and let people hold and test and
touch before I even tried to make the product itself

(25) ―Just the design thinking process should be instilled on people in some way ...because if
people knew that from an early age and applied that to everything they encounter I think the
world would be way better off , everything would be more considered , there would be a lot
less waste. If everyone taught like that everything would run smoother‖

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