For much of the modern economy, businesses competed by making products better, services faster and transactions more convenient. Design played an important role in that progression. It improved functionality, refined aesthetics, simplified interfaces and helped organizations create products that people could use with less effort. Service innovation then extended the same logic into customer journeys, making booking, purchasing, travelling, eating and communicating increasingly seamless.

That model is not disappearing, but it is no longer enough to explain where value is being created.