The purpose of this article is to report on an ongoing suite of research that aims to develop a design‐led approach to help small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) understand their innovation readiness. At present, a number of tools are available to organizations when carrying out an audit to determine their innovation readiness; however, none of these methodologies have been connected to the practice of design‐led innovation. This article begins to address this gap by presenting a review of a 12‐hour intervention carried out in collaboration with a fund‐management organization located in northeast England as part of a European Union–funded research and innovation program, Creative Fuse. The article utilizes a qualitative approach guided by case study principles, semi‐structured interviews, and action research to reflect on the proposed design‐led approach to assessing innovation readiness. Advantages and challenges to the approach are considered with the intention of developing a practical approach to assessing innovation readiness within SMEs, which builds on design principles in order to rapidly outline the opportunities and potential barriers facing organizations when it comes to identifying areas for future innovation.

The main aim of this paper is to consider the way in which reflective practice can assist practitioners in better understanding their individual knowledge and experience. Transitioning from a design novice to a design expert is described as a vague process, in which reflective practice can offer a level of understanding that provides an important insight into professional development within design. Through a comparison of two methods of reflection and analysis of reflective practice data, it is argued that repertory grid interviews have the potential to be a catalyst for doubleloop learning within individuals; providing people with a platform to reflect on their beliefs and values in addition to their approach towards problem solving. This argument is based on the ability of repertory grids to uncover some of the implicit knowledge developed by designers, which is a distinct advantage to alternative methods of reflection and which is necessary to improve professional practice understanding and learning.

This paper aims to advance understanding about design's unique contributions within collaborations between the disciplines of design and business. Collaboration between design and business functions is increasingly utilised as organisations seek to capitalise on a variety of knowledge and perspectives during the innovation process. Despite this increasing prevalence, the discipline of design can often be misunderstood by other disciplines within this particular interdisciplinary scenario due to the implicit knowledge that is central to the nature of design, which is often intangible and tacit in nature, yet provides designers with the capability to propose novel solutions to complex problem situations. This paper takes a deeper look at design attitude, which has previously been suggested to be one of the differentiators between design and other disciplines. The paper reflects on the results of a case study focusing on a collaboration between a multinational consumer goods company and a team of postgraduate students working out of a UK University. Data was obtained through observation, a reflective workshop and repertory grid based interviews. The originality of the paper lies in the way in which it categorises attitudes of different disciplines, in order to capture aspects of the design attitude that appear to be both unique and difficult for business focused people to adopt.

Native huts, Ox/am style. An aluminium shell is lowered into place (left) and removed after serving as a mould (right).