This is a bimonthly series of book recommendations by the President*s Design Award, brought to you by DesignSingapore Council, Urban Redevelopment Authority, and library@orchard.

This month, we invite the President*s Design Award (P*DA) 2018 Knowledge Partner to share their favourite reads with us. As part of the P*DA’s continued efforts to revamp and improve the award, a Knowledge Partner team was invited to be an independent investigator for shortlisted design submissions. This year’s team comes from the SUTD-MIT International Design Centre. The team has put together book reviews spanning the disciplines of product design, experience design, organisational design, and innovation and creativity. Contributors include Prof Kristin Wood, Dr Dan Jensen, Prof Arlindo Silva, Dr Brad Camburn, Blake Perez, David Anderson, Delane Foo, Edward Tiong, and Olivia Seow. Read on for the team’s picks on innovation and design:

Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All

Author: Tom Kelley & David Kelley
Location: People Design, Entrepreneurs
Call no.: English 658.314 KEL – [BIZ]

A great primer for understanding creative problem-solving and human-centred design. This book contains an inspiring narrative that draws on stories from IDEO, Stanford d.school, and other top companies, revealing how creativity and innovation is possible for everyone.

Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions

Author: Bruce Hanington
Location: Central Public Library, Adult Lending
Call no.: English 001.42 MAR

Universal Methods is an excellent introduction to design methodology. Beginning with a succinct summary of the different approaches to design, this book provides an overview of the process and objectives of each method, supplemented with visual examples. Covering the basics of product, service and user experience design, Universal Methods offers an accessible preface to the way the design industry works. Useful for non-designers and practitioners alike.

Design by Use: The Everyday Metamorphosis of Things

Author: Uta Brandes
Location: Lee Kong Chian Reference Library Level 7, Reference
Call no.: English 600 BRA

This book provides visual and narrative ethnographic explorations of the contextual ‘hacking’ of everyday products. It highlights the ways objects get transformed by users who adapt them to different uses, according to real needs. This is a strong empirical argument for the critical importance of inclusive design, and how design should better understand user needs. It also paves the way for leveraging the power of observation and hacking in design as tools to connect the designer and user, and ultimately support meaningful design outcomes though reflection.

Grabbing Lightning: Building a Capability for Breakthrough Innovation

Author: G. Colarelli O’Connor
Location: Lee Kong Chian Reference Library Level 7, Reference Business
Call no.: English 658.4062 GRA

A look at innovation based on two decades of research by a team at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). This book reports on the types and aspects of innovation, and ultimately produces very insightful principles for the development and sustainability of innovation.

Seamless: A Hero’s Journey of Digital Disruption, Adaptation and Human Transformation

Author: Anders Sorman-Nilsson
Location: People Design, Entrepreneurs
Call no.: 658.4063 SOR – [BIZ]

Anders Sorman-Nilsson uses the framework of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to weave a narrative of how people and companies adopt digitisation in the global economy. With numerous case studies, Seamless illustrates the ways digital companies transform the way we live, and the creative methods used to combine technology with analogue channels. This book serves as an insightful guide to branding for a rapidly-changing digital industry, by designing experiences with a human touch.

Inventing the Medium: Principles of Interaction Design as a Cultural Practice

Author: Janet H. Murray
Location: Product Design, Game/Comp Design
Call no.: English 004.019 MUR – [COM]

It is a human trait to derive patterns from experiences and present them in ways to be shared with and understood by other people. Through examples of interactive media projects across the world, Inventing the Medium draws a thoughtful and compelling case for the importance of designing for the digital medium, where its capacity for new representations can be harnessed to expand cross-cultural empathy and understanding.

The recommended titles are available from library@orchard and other public libraries, unless otherwise stated.

Head over to www.designsingapore.org/pda to read more book recommendations from P*DA!