Why Hire An Architect? Why Hire a Designer? -AIA Los Angeles, 'Work With Architects'

• Empathy - architects imagine the world from multiple perspectives.
• Optimism - no matter how challenging the constraints of a given problem, architects possess the determination to seek an optimal solution.
• Innovation - architects pose questions and explore limitations through an analytical process to see all of the salient (and sometimes contradictory) aspects of a problem to create novel solutions that go beyond and dramatically improve on existing alternatives.
• Collaboration - the increasing complexity of our world has replaced the myth of the lone creative genius with the reality of the enthusiastic interdisciplinary collaborator - the best design thinkers do not simply work alongside other disciplines; many of them have direct experience in more than one discipline.
• Strategic Value - architects blend art, sophisticated computer skills, craft, science, estimating, business savvy, and an astute understanding of human needs and markets, with an emphasis on putting people first.

"Architects possess "design thinking": innovation powered by a thorough understanding of what people want and need in their lives and what they like or dislike about the way particular products are made, packaged, marketed, sold, and supported. Design thinking has much to offer a business world in which most management ideas and best practices can be copied freely. Leaders look to innovation as a principal source of differentiation and competitive advantage." -Harvard Business Review, 'Design Thinking', Tim Brown, June 2008

“Design thinking is an approach that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods for problem solving to meet people’s needs in a technologically feasible and commercially viable way. In other words, design thinking is human-centered innovation.” -Tim Brown

“Design as an innovative problem solving methodology is fast becoming an imperative business strategy”-David Burney of Red Hat (Linux)

“Design is art people use”-Ellen Lupton