Kipum Lee, PhD, is a strategy and design executive at University Hospitals Health System. His work and research interests focus on bringing transformational strategies to life and experiences in complex systems. At University Hospitals, he leads enterprise innovation within the Office of Strategy & Innovation and UH Ventures—the innovation and commercialization arm of the system—where a team of innovators build and support new products and services for patients, families, and caregivers.
Lee also engages in fusing research and practice via two faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve University. As Assistant Professor of Design & Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine, he promotes and participates in a transdisciplinary approach to innovation discovery, development, and diffusion. He has also taught design and innovation to engineering, MBA, and Executive MBA students since 2012.
Lee started his career at two product innovation firms, IDEO and frog design, with projects focused on health and wellness. At Marriott International, he was the product architect for the launch of the organization’s mobile app offering. Marriott Mobile (now Marriott Bonvoy) debuted at #4 on the iTunes App Store top charts (#1 in the travel category) and soon thereafter accounted for over 40% of mobile transactions by enabling same-day booking for guests. At that time, it was also the third largest mobile commerce platform in the world based on sales, after Amazon and Apple, and as of year-end 2022, with more than 177 million members. The human-centered design work of Lee and the team is recognized in a 2017 CIO.com article, “How Design Thinking Drives Marriott’s Digital Strategy.”
Outside of work, Lee serves as a board member on several non-profit organizations, including JumpStart, Inc., the nationally recognized venture development organization that unlocks the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs by combining the principles of private venture capital and non-profit economic development. He also serves as an editor of Design Issues, a peer-reviewed journal published by MIT Press, where current and emerging issues in design theory, history, criticism and practice help ground and shape the field.
Education
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
- Identifying Design Opportunities
- Information Technology & Systems
- Design in Management
Research Information
Research Interests
- Complex systems and social change by design
- Institutional entrepreneurship and agency within and across organizations; institutions as formation systems
- Healthcare innovation via human-centered design and intrapreneurship
- Practical and prudential action (doing) as a form of creative knowledge separate from and beyond production (making artifacts, i.e., organizational aesthetics) and cognition (‘design thinking’)
- Philosophy of design
- Unorthodox methods of research, insights, and interpretation of data
Awards and Honors
- Finalist, Service Design Network (SDN) Award2022University Hospitals (UH) Cutler Center for Men
- 2nd Place, Design Value Awards2022via Design Management Institute (DMI) for UH Cutler Center for Men customer experience strategy
- Finalist, Smart Healthy@Home project (1 of 8 projects, part of the 60 finalists across the US)2021US Economic Development Agency (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge
- Semi-finalist, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Emergency Response2020Health Care System Innovation Challenge
- Stephanie Tubbs Jones Neighborhood Leadership Award2020University Circle, Inc. and the Greater University Circle Neighborhoods
- Design 730 Award in partnership with Little Jacket2019AIGA Cleveland
- New Agency Change Agent of Cleveland2019Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa)
- Core77 Design Award for Patient Experience & Service Design2012Core 77
External Appointments
• Editor, Design Issues, 2017 - Present
• Board Member, JumpStart, Inc., 2022 – Present
• Advisory Board Member, Heritage Classical Academy, 2023 – Present
• Board of Trustees, Valley Art Center, 2022 – 2023
Publications
• Griffin P., Polito, P., Brownlee, L., Ustin, J., Lee, K., Connor, C. (2024). Human Factors Usability Analysis of the ArthroFree Wireless Surgical Camera, Journal of Orthopaedic Experience & Innovation
• Runnels, P., Schreiber, S., Penman, J., Dolber, T., Lee, K., Pronovost, P. (2023). A Conceptual Framework for Building Individual and Team Capabilities to Provide Effective Longitudinal, Relationship-based Clinical Case Management, Population Health Management
• Lee, K. (2021). Critique of Design Thinking in Organizations: Strongholds and Shortcomings of the Making Paradigm, She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation
• Runnels, P., Webbe, H., Lee, K., Jernejcic, R., Pronovost, P. (2021). Designing for Value in Specialty Referrals: A New Framework for Eliminating Defects and Wicked Problems, NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery
• Lee, K., Merkle, B., Zenker, M., Colella, P. (2021). Touchless Touchpoints: Redrafting the Service Blueprint for a Post-Pandemic World, Touchpoint
• Lee, K. (2020). From Margin to Institution: Design as a Marketplace for Action in Organizations, Design Issues
• John, A.R., Raju, S., Cadnum, J.L., Lee, K., McClellan, P., Akkus, O., Miller, S.K., Jennings, W.D., Buehler, J.A., Li, D.F., Redmond, S.N., Braskie, M., Hoyen, C., Donskey, C.J. (2020). Scalable In-hospital Decontamination of N95 Filtering Face-piece Respirator with a Peracetic Acid Room Disinfection System, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
• Tokayer, M., Lee, K. (2017). Cultivating Healthcare Innovation through On-the-Job Design Education, Touchpoint
• Lee, K. (2014). Discovering the Beautiful in ‘Service as Expression’, Touchpoint
• Lee, K. (2012). Hospitality Service as Science and Art: The Luxury Hotel Idea from a Century Ago, Touchpoint
• Lee, K. (2011). Beyond Blueprints and Basics: A Service Design Conference Report, Design Issues
• Lee, K. (2011). Designing for Doctor-Patient Interactions During Leave-taking, Touchpoint
• Lee, K., Evenson, S., Buchanan, R. (2009). More Than Kimchi and Cash: Designing for Cultural Identity, Proceedings of Computer-Human Interaction (CHI)
Presentations
• Lee, K., Jacono, J., Federman, T., Karp, E. The Center for Health Affairs, “Innovation Showcase,” Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, Cleveland, OH (2023).
• Lee, K. Design & Innovation Executive Exchange, “From Expendable to Essential Design: Building for Durability and Legitimacy,” Tampa, FL (2023).
• Lee, K. Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), “Design Thinking for Proactive Care,” The MetroHealth System, Cleveland, OH (2023).
• Lee, K. Boler College of Business, “Design and Marketing in Healthcare Systems,” John Carroll University, Shaker Heights, OH (2023).
• Lee, K. Radiology Artificial Intelligence Lab and Collaborative, “Fusing Data and Design Thinking in Healthcare,” University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH (2023).
• Lee, K., Belovich, J., Jacono, J., Jankowski, J., Erzurum, S., Koehler, W. Connecting Innovation Policy & Practice Ohio (CIPPO) Summit sponsored by US Economic Development Agency and JobsOhio, “Cleveland Innovation District,” Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH (2022).
• Lee, K. British-American Business Network’s (BABN) Transatlantic Business Conference, “Instilling Innovation in the Organizational Ethos,” British-American Chamber of Commerce (BACC Ohio), Cleveland, OH (2022).
• Lee, K. Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Conference, “Best Practices in Evaluating Healthcare Innovations,” HFMA Central Ohio Chapter, Westerville, OH (2022).
• Lee, K. UH Graduate Medical Education (GME), “Design Thinking for Proactive Care,” University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH (2022).
• Lee, K. Customer Experience Summit, “Design Thinking for Better Organizational Doing,” Progressive Insurance headquarters, Cleveland, OH (2017).
• Lee, K. Belcher-Weir Pediatric & Family Innovation Day, “Perpetual Wonder: Innovation Inspired by Children,” Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, OH (2016).
• Lee, K. Progressive Insurance Acquisition Team annual conference, “The Power of ‘In a Sense’: Topical Thinking for Organizations,” Progressive Insurance headquarters, Cleveland, OH (2014).
• Lee, K., Sheldon, S., Coleman, J., Shiori-Clark, M., Abrahamson, M. American Institute of Architects (AIA) ‘Speaker on the Square’ series, “identityCLE,” Playhouse Square, Cleveland, OH (2014).
• Lee, K. TEDxCLE, “Master Builders for the 21st Century,” Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2013).
• Lee, K. Design for America’s Speaker Series, “Cicero on Systems & Social Design,” Cleveland Institute of Art and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (2013).
• Lee, K. Swagelok Global Communication Summit, “Designing for Service and Experience,” Swagelok corporate headquarters, Solon, OH (2012).
• Lee, K. The International Conference on Service Design & Tourism (SDT), “Service as Science and Art: Service Design from 100 Years Ago,” Innsbruck, Austria (2012).
• Lee, K. Managing Experience Conference, “Four Meta-Strategies for Design & Management,” Adaptive Path (now Capital One), San Francisco, CA (2012).
• Lee, K. 6th Jeju Forum: New Asia for Peace & Prosperity, “Design & Management,” Jeju Special Self-Governing Province & Jeju Peace Institute, Jeju Island, South Korea (2011).
• Lee, K. Service Design Global Conference, “Strategic Planning Sandwiched by Sketchbooks and Spreadsheets,” Service Design Network (SDN), San Francisco, CA (2011).
• Lee, K. Convergence: Managing + Designing International Conference, “Multiple Products of a Product,” Weatherhead School of Management, Cleveland, OH (2010).
• Lee, K. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, “Designing for Cultural Identity,” Association of Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI), Boston, MA (2009).