improving quality in design-focused services dr. terence love design-focused research group curtin...

Improving Quality in Design-focused Services

Dr. Terence LoveDesign-focused Research GroupCurtin UniversityPerth, Western [email protected]

Visiting ProfessorIADE/UNIDCOMLisbon, Portugal

Pride & Predesign, Cumulus IADE/UNIDCOM, Lisbon, 2005 © T. Love 2005

Why focus on Quality?

Design services shape economic and social development.

Design services are complex involving multiple constituents with differing quality interests

Significant problems and an extensive history of failure.


Why important?

Quality is important : To businesses buying in design services To businesses with in-house design services To students buying design education To governments - it impacts directly upon

national competitiveness, fulfilling economic and social development agendas, and the innovation benefits from investment into research.


Constituencies – internal design services


Constituencies – external design services


Problems in Quality Improvement

Evidence indicates typical quality improvements are fundamentally flawed

Three problem areas : Terminology: difference between 'every day'

discourse on quality, and technical discourses on quality.

Failures in understanding complexity and significance of feedback loops that shape quality processes.

Failure to understand the sophistication of human responses to attempts to improve quality.


Insights from Systems Mental models of managers are frequently wrong Many solutions are counter-intuitive Causes of quality failure are misattributed Insufficient time and resources to find root

process improvements and undertake them Managers confused by self-confirming false

attributes Exogenous variables, boundary definitions and

primary assumptions are more important than obvious quality factors

Local sub-optimisation compromises overall quality.


Definitions of QualityConcept of quality Definition:

Transcendent (1) Quality can not be defined but can be recognised

Product-based (2) ‘unpriced attributes contained in each unit of priced attribute’

User-based (3) Fitness for use. Satisfies customers

Production based (4) Conforms to specifications

Value based (5) Best for price; Best for actual use

System-based (6) System to produce services that satisfy customers

Cultural (7) Organisation’s culture supports the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through integrated use of training, techniques and tools


Where can quality be improved?

Element of product development process (Ford & Sterman, 1997)


Local Sub-optimisation problem

Local sub-optimisation - where a constituency attempts to improve things to their own advantage rather than optimise the whole.


Human behaviour problemExample: to improve quality:

Managers measure attributes of processes and outputs People continue as normal with some effort to improve

outcomes. People transfer attention to achieving the required

metrics at the expense of other quality issues. This usually results in an overall reduction in quality.

Another significant human behavioural issue is that neither designers nor design managers obtain sufficient credit for successful quality improvement.

There is little credit for managing to avoid problems that do not happen!


The Design quality problem

Focusing on reducing defects seen by the customers Is inefficient Increases defects in longer term.


Reducing defect production Focus on root causes of defect production:

reduces resources used in rework reduces resources needed by many of the

feedback loops that comprise an organisation. In the short-term, requires allocating

resources from repairing defects to improving the underlying systems so that fewer defects originate.

Where resources are limited, this is likely to increase the number of defects seen by the customers.


Actions Identify all constituents of an intended quality improvement

initiative. Is the quality improvement situation at a real supplier-

customer boundary? Identify all aspects of the process for which quality

improvement is required. Model this process. System Dynamics is a suitable tool

Pay specific attention to boundary issues, counterintuitive causal loops, impacts of exogenous variables, false self-confirming attributes.

Focus on addressing roots causes of defects and reducing the rate of defects production.

Review literature on the success and failure of established quality improvement approaches such as TQM.


Conclusions Improving quality in design services is important There is no easy fix to improving quality in design

services. Improving quality in design services:

Will require substantial changes to individual and organisational practices to reduce the rate of defect production

Is unlikely to be successful if undertaken naively or simplistically.

If additional resources are not available, quality improvement will reduce quality in short term until improvement propagates through the system of design production.

improving quality in design-focused services dr. terence love design-focused research group curtin...

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