Is Good Design Good Business?

Design for Business, Volume 3

A recent analysis commissioned by our colleagues at the Design Management Institute (DMI) concluded that design-driven businesses have economically outperformed Standard & Poor’s Top 500 companies by a staggering 228%. According to the business magazine Fast Company, who reflected on this study, investments in design, user experience, branding and creative advertising have clearly paid off for companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Ford, Herman Miller, IBM, Nike, P&G, Starbucks, Target, Walt Disney and Whirlpool. As a result, these companies have gained significant stock market advantage over their competitors. Fast Company’s interpretation of this study is that when there is a senior-level commitment to design leadership, design can be effectively used as an innovation resource and as a force for positive change. To us at Design for Business, this is merely a confirmation of what we already knew: that design is good for business. After all, the core theme of our conference and this subsequent publication is the role of design in business and its use as a strategic resource.

Design and Culture, 2019

to-complex design projects are inadequate for training the designers of the twenty-first century. To problem-solve and communicate visually in the global market of objects, ideas, and continuous innovation, students must learn to tap their personal experience, build new knowledge from research, curate failure, and gain exposure to a wide range of disciplines. Preparation is key; without plans to align design education accordingly, she argued, design graduates would find themselves ill-prepared for the marketplace, and

2020

This book argues the business case for design excellence in organizationwhether your mission is to develop new products, services, or procedures or to change existing ones into something better. Although design thinking has reigned for some years now, design management has been left in the shadows. However, design thinking without design making-skillfully integrated and properly managed-easily becomes hollow and meaningless. Design excellence requires knowledge, as well as end-to-end management, of the resources and the creative energy that go into development and change processes. Design thinking-made up of the acknowledgment of design skills, of methodological choices, the right mindset, and a conducive culture-is dynamic and adaptable to the project itself and the people involved. Design thinking is a framework developed to ensure C-suite endorsement, strategic coherence, stakeholder engagement, and design excellence in all actions undertaken by the organization. Design management is a rigorous and strategically anchored mechanism to capitalize on the investment in design as intellectual capital. And design-as we've always known it-is the skills and methods and creative capabilities needed to embody ideas and direction. Design thinking inspires, design management enables, design embodies. Only when the three play together as a team, the result is design excellence. Design: A Business Case challenges you to stimulate innovation in your own organization, to make design a dialogue between complementary skills, to see design as a bridge between mind and matter, image and identity.

2010

In this small essay I will explore the notion of the design value of business. Interpreted as merely a play with words, such a statement may be regarded as a bearer of little value. But, taken as seriously as the more common question, what the business value of design is, it turns into a critical examination of basic conceptions of what design is for. It also paves the way for the critical claim that design value precedes business value

Corporate cultures' prevailing attitudes towards design have begun to shift. Financial companies and management consultancies now have design teams, and include “design” in their service portfolios. Large corporations are bolstering their in-house design capabilities, and appointing designers to executive roles. Venture capitalist firms and startups increasingly recognize the value of including designers in the early stages of business development. Even global organizations and international foundations now list design on their agendas. A paradigm shift is taking place in the field of design. This study examines some of the latest corporate investments in design, and reflects on what this phenomenon means for the wider field of design. The focus of this study is on the key trend indicators that are defining the current landscape of design, and its changing role in business and society.

This paper addresses a psychological approach to creativity use as a decision in order to understand design management capabilities absorption within small businesses throughout three design policy programs focused on the integration of design into MSMEs in the Brazilian furniture industry. The issue is: What are the different companies' attitudes and prior knowledge (or conditions) that contribute to or block the absorption of design management capabilities throughout these projects? Literature review and participant observation were employed in a qualitative perspective. The integration of design into business has been more related to the organisational culture than to an economic reasoning. The main contribution is to start better understanding different businesses' attitudes and prior knowledge that support the absorption or improvement of design management capabilities within MSMEs. The findings are summed up in a map that shows the perceived businesses' conditions and attitudes and their impact on design management capabilities absorption.

The Design Journal, 2017

This paper addresses a psychological approach to creativity use as a decision in order to understand design management capabilities absorption within small businesses throughout three design policy programs focused on the integration of design into MSMEs in the Brazilian furniture industry. The issue is: What are the different companies' attitudes and prior knowledge (or conditions) that contribute to or block the absorption of design management capabilities throughout these projects? Literature review and participant observation were employed in a qualitative perspective. The integration of design into business has been more related to the organisational culture than to an economic reasoning. The main contribution is to start better understanding different businesses' attitudes and prior knowledge that support the absorption or improvement of design management capabilities within MSMEs. The findings are summed up in a map that shows the perceived businesses' conditions and attitudes and their impact on design management capabilities absorption.

What is the value of design? Why should firms invest in design? The paper aims at clarifying the value of design, its dimensions and its variables (qualitative and quantitative) throughout a literature review and analysis. The premise is that firms invest in design to create value. Design has evolved, becoming closely related to innovation, and the need to clarify its dimensions and relationships to value within firms and society rises. Despite the global growing interest in design, it is not fully understood how it brings benefits to the company. The concept of value is found in a fragmented literature including economics, marketing, business, management, value engineering, design domains, social and environmental sustainability. In conclusion, the value of design still is under-researched and new dimensions emerge. It is shaped by designers and companies visions, creativity and interpretations. Better cross-fertilization is required to identify the mechanisms of value creation by design.

This report makes an attempt to illustrate the innovation in design thinking which can be applied in a business perspective in order to enhance the business process and model. This report has chosen one of the highly successful businesses of the modern age which have solved the most painful problem for any traveller which is accommodation. It critically analyses the business model of Airbnb and the innovations it has brought in the home rental industry. Airbnb has solved on of the pertinent problems for travellers throughout the world since it becomes extremely difficult to find a home at affordable prices in unknown localities. This article elaborates the present scenario and how it has been able to solve an existing problem through design thinking. It also tries to identify the elements in the business model of Airbnb where improvements can be made and can be driven by a design thinking. At last, the articles try to give some recommendations for the improvement of the design process and the problems faced by Airbnb at present. It is justified to mention that the report makes an attempt to generate a framework for a thorough evaluation of the business model of Airbnb and the problems it presently faces from a design perspective which can be utilised in similar other academic researches concerning other organizations.

DRS2018: Catalyst, 2018

Radical innovations are designs that alter the meaning of our life experiences. In order to realize such innovation, a designer needs a vision, a strong personal view on the world. The identity and values of designers however, are often denied in modern design processes. Consequently, (junior) designers have difficulties in connecting with their values and standing for their ideals, especially when designing within a corporate setting. We report a case study that demonstrates how nurturing a designer's personal understanding of 'good design' and integration of this understanding in his work, influences a design-driven innovation project and outcome. Our findings suggest that a designer's principles for good design, enable him to design more in tune with his identity and related ideals. Personal principles for good design empowered the designer's creativity, decision making, process planning, and drive to design and promote the acceptance of a radical idea within a corporate setting. We hope to inspire designers to use personal values and identity for design-driven innovation, and would like to start a discussion with design research and education communities to ponder on how designers can be supported in this journey. Design-Driven Innovation; Good Design; Principles for Good Design; Designer's Identity Gray Dawdy is a product designer originally from California, now living in Munich, Germany. His work focuses on innovation strategy, interaction design, and development of consumer and health-tech products. Nick Sturkenboom is a design research-practitioner and is concerned with designled digital innovations. His interests include Web 3.0, design thinking, and design philosophy (in particular dialogic activity theory). Rebecca Price is a researcher, forming part of the Horizon 2020 research project, PASSME. Her research explores the application of design on problems that concern organisations, systems and industries. In particular, she is interested in forthcoming digital innovation challenges that accompany the ever-changing society we live in. Dirk Snelders has a background in the social sciences yet mostly worked at design schools. Dirk has published on aesthetics, novelty and branding in design, and service and strategic design. His current research interest is on the professionalization of design.