Supporting Problem-Solving skills through Strategic Design tools: an exploratory study

Strategic Design is nowadays a very important lever for companies that want to innovate in the market. This is possible thanks to its ability to observe the problem from different perspectives and give unconventional answers, leveraging on problem-solving skills. The above activities are possible also thanks to the adoption of several tools on a daily base. However, what Strategic Design tools are the best to fully explore the problem-solving attitude? Are they existing tools or tools that are created ad hoc by organizations? Through an interview with 20 companies, an investigation was performed on which tools are best suited for the work of the Strategic Designer by allowing the application of problem-solving. The study also offers a reflection on which strategies companies should perform to define new tools that are in line with the logic of problem-solving and the relative benefits that they can achieve.