Page 287 - The Design Thinking Playbook

HOW MIGHT WE...

act if “digital” is not yet enshrined
in the core of our business?

In a digital economy, the challenges are similar across all indus- The second challenge is multidimensional business models. They usually serve several customer seg-
tries. The four most prominent are dealing with uncertainty, the ments with completely different value propositions. We know such approaches in the form of multisided
multidimensionality of the business models, participation in models such as Google. The customer usually “pays” with his digital traces in the network,such as with
business ecosystems, and the scaling (growth) that is necessary to data he leaves in transactions and interactions. Other business models (e.g., freemium models) might be
achieve significant sales in these models. We have already shown free of charge at the outset, and payment is only required for the use of additional offers. Such digital rev-
possibilities for the definition of a forward-looking strategy. However, enue models are somewhat complex; for many traditional companies, they are uncharted territory. In most
the question remains: What strategies can we apply in the short term cases, IT platforms, APIs, data analytics, and business ecosystems with the right partners for a target-
if we have not yet managed to leap over the digital divide and the oriented implementation are needed.
digital tsunami is already looming near.
The third challenge, namely the handling and the design of ecosystems, was described in Chapter 3.3.
The first challenge is uncertainty about how the future will develop.
Uncertainty seems to rise in all industries. The good news is that The fourth challenge consists of scaling the models and generating sustainable growth. Digitized
“embrace ambiguity” is a crucial element in design thinking and its business models are often not limited to national borders. Due to the shorter cycles, growth must be faster
mindset can help us in dealing with it. and have a broad basis. This also means that the infrastructure, structures, and processes must grow
accordingly.

DIGITAL
TSUNAMI

Traditional
business

286