As chairman of the Graphic Design department and acting Chief Academic Officer at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Nik provides creative leadership for 14 graduate and undergraduate Art and Design departments at one of the leading design schools of the world.

At Art Center Nik has created a new Communication Design curriculum. Promoting the concept of the 'wall-less classroom', he regularly hosts trans-disciplinary studio abroad projects that send students to work in places like Berlin, Copenhagen, and Tokyo. Recently, Nik hosted a series of funded educational projects for NASA, where students from various design disciplines conceived communication design solutions for the space agency. Together with ESADE, the leading European business school in Barcelona, Nik is developing a new executive education program that focuses on Design Thinking.

Nik is also currently working on permanent installation artworks for San Jose International Airport, and Midtown Crossing in Los Angeles. And with his L.A –based company Uebersee, he recently designed and produced a major architectural show for Vitra Design Museum in a former supersonic wind tunnel. His large-scale environmental artwork Powerplants for the city of Pasadena was featured in The Design Dozen of NEWSWEEK. Ana María LlopisDecir innovación es pronunciar el nombre de Ana María Llopis, consejera delegada y fundadora de Ideas4all.
Ana María es, ante todo, una emprendedora y todo en lo que se ha involucrado ha resultado ser un éxito rotundo. Fundadora de OpenBank, precursor de los bancos online en España y referente en Europa. Defensora a ultranza de la meritocracia, ella es, sin duda alguna, quien ha forjado su camino lleno de éxitos y de retos superados. Jordi MontañaJordi es Director de la Cátedra de Gestión del Diseño en ESADE además de profesor ordinario del Departamento de Dirección de Marketing en la misma institución. La pasión de Jordi es la investigación de los aspectos relacionados con el diseño y la empresa, así como su impacto en la economía y en la sociedad Elisa SainzElisa es Consejera Delegada de ddi–Sociedad estatal para el desarrollo del diseño y la innovación. La misión de Elisa consiste en poner en marcha políticas públicas de promoción y difusión del diseño y la innovación, considerando ambos factores estratégicos para la competitividad de las empresas españolas. Kike SarasolaKike Sarasola, fundador de la exitosa cadena Room-Mate Hotels, se ha convertido en uno de los líderes del sector hostelero en nuestro país. En estos momentos, la cadena está en pleno proceso de internacionalización, con aperturas recientes en Nueva York y Miami. Nikolaus Hafermaas Chief Academic Officer “Successful Design Thinking weaves together elements of demographic research, environmental factors, psychology, anthropology and sociology to generate genuinely new solutions to some of the most demanding challenges in business.” Soulsight – Nik, as a "Design Hero", we want you to share with us your personal view on Design Thinking. As you know in USA and in many European countries “design” is perceived as a powerful strategic tool. But in Spain, when people hear about “design” they just think about the aesthetic dimension. How could you explain to a company how design can help them from a strategic point of view?

NIK – Design is more than skin deep, a good design strategy looks at products, services and at entire organizations in a holistic way — and it increasingly becomes a key differentiating factor in a highly competitive marketplace. Design does not only determine the shelf-presence of any given product, but also how it is conceived, produced and how well it fits within the overall perception of a brand. Design considerations help to shape a positive consumer experience across all touch points of a brand. Design helps to visualize a corporation’s identity, which helps to motivate an entire organization and all its stakeholders. Design also helps to optimize the use of energy and material resources in the production and distribution process, which is essential especially in times of greater environmental pressures. Design is both good for the quality of life and for the bottom line.

Soulsight – The term “Design Thinking” is really new in Spain. How would you define it?

NIK – Design Thinking is about blending what people want, what technology makes possible and what’s viable for the business to create new product or service solutions that go beyond superficial aesthetics. It’s about capturing insights to inspire human-centered solutions, combining products, services, spaces and information into ideas that work and that people will love.As a process, Design Thinking involves a period of field research — usually close observation of people — to generate inspiration and a better understanding of what is needed, followed by open, nonjudgmental generation of ideas. After a brief analysis, a number of the more promising ideas are combined and expanded to go into “rapid prototyping,” which can vary from a simple drawing or text description to a three-dimensional mock-up. Feedback on the prototypes helps hone the ideas so that a select few can be used.

Successful Design Thinking weaves together elements of demographic research, environmental factors, psychology, anthropology and sociology to generate genuinely new solutions to some of the most demanding challenges in business.

Soulsight – There are some examples of companies that embody design thinking as a competitive advantage. In your opinion, what is the impact that Design Thinking has on the way businesses operate? And which would you say are the companies who are doing a really good job in this field?

NIK - Well, the name that almost always comes up first is Apple: the absolutely seamless consumer experience spanning from online services across all material and virtual products to packaging, promotion and the Apple stores embodies Design Thinking par excellence. This strategy manifest itself in true product and service innovations that have helped to create entirely new categories like iPod, iPhone and the app store which has morphed into a social phenomenon. However, nowadays almost every category of commerce has successful brands that embrace Design Thinking: from Virgin and Jet Blue Airways, Target, Volkswagen, Hewlett Packard, to Johnson & Johnson — these and many other brands are claiming leadership through applied Design Thinking

Soulsight – During crisis, all the organizations are really worried about the way of creating more value among their clients. We continuously hear about the need of being innovative. But the fact is innovation must be "lived" and managed. How does design lead to innovation?

NIK - Innovation within organizations has to start with the organization themselves: how can you create a situation among all stakeholders that actually promotes a climate in which new ideas and solutions can be generated, developed and tested. How can employees and management be motivated and organized to thrive beyond the tried and safe solutions. If you define the term ‘design’ also as ‘giving shape’ to an organization it becomes one of the most effective tools and drivers for innovation.

Soulsight – And how can corporations take advantage of design thinking?

NIK - Design Thinking is a creative process that needs to be experienced first hand by the individual — it generates surprising solutions to even the most complex challenges and can be applied to virtually any problem. To the participants it can be a truly transformative experience that generates a set of individual tools and strategies that can then be tested, adapted and applied in the own organization. The most important thing to realize is that Design Thinking is not exclusive to so-called ‘creatives’ — everyone with any specific skillset can benefit from it.