Member Article

Design Partners appoints Robert Bau as Chief Service Innovation Officer

Product design and innovation agency, Design Partners, has strengthened its senior team with the addition of Robert Bau as Chief Service Innovation Officer.

Bau will use his expertise in service innovation, service design, service branding, and UX strategy to grow and nurture Design Partners’ service design capability – an emerging design discipline revamping and reimagining business models, value propositions, end-to-end experiences, and operating models for service organizations.

Bau has a proven track record for driving growth through innovation, having led over 250 multi-disciplinary innovation and design teams across multiple continents, for world-class companies including Ascension, CarMax, Exelon, Ford, and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).

He has also built innovation capabilities and creative confidence for students and professionals around the world, having held teaching positions at major institutions including Berghs School of Communications (Sweden, Finland); Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design (Sweden) and Umeå Institute of Design (Sweden). Between 2011-2014, he was Professor of Service Design at SCAD (US) and played an instrumental role in building the world’s first BFA in Service Design and the US’ first MFA in Service Design.

Design Partners’ CEO, Trevor O’Reilly, said of Bau’s appointment: “Design Partners offers a unique balance of Advanced Thinking to Innovation Delivered™ – a hybrid model of uncovering exciting new possibilities for our clients, then bringing them to life. We have seen a growing demand for our particular approach to service design over the past few years, with clients looking to solve highly complex challenges in a more holistic, human-centred and harmonious way.

“Welcoming Robert as CSIO felt like the natural next step to meet this growing demand. He has a wealth of knowledge across many industry sectors and brings an invaluable cross-cultural sensitivity and a global mindset to the table. Most importantly, he shares the same values as we do when it comes to service design and business innovation. We are delighted to welcome him to the team.”

Bau added: “Design Partners has a fantastic track record of designing solutions for global clients that demonstrably change lives and livelihoods for the better. I was particularly attracted to the agility and ‘maker mentality’ of people with a relentless focus on rapid prototyping, continuous experimentation, and iterative design and development. I sincerely look forward to bringing this approach to service design projects at the agency.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Design Partners .