This is a really interesting thread. I never realized that there was such a rift between traditional ID and “Design thinking” firms. (even though I’ve seen it as a rift in trying to come up with my own path) It also never occurred to me that a company like IDEO would be considered “fluff”.
I guess as a follow up to the dialog here, I’m curious if you guys think there could be a better model for integrating the interdisciplinary “design thinking” branch with more traditional product design. I wonder what that would look like…
Or is the output the determining factor between these two types of business? Can you do service/environment design without it being fluff? Is physical product design already as informed as it should/could be?