Design management…
The term “design management” has been used to describe a range of micro and macro-level practices for planning and implementing design processes within the context of business performance.
At the micro level, design management encompasses tasks relevant to the completion of individual projects. Spanning the life cycle of a project, these tasks can include proposal writing, design briefing, contracting, budgeting, staffing, scheduling, sketching, prototyping, day-to-day workflow management, production oversight, quality control, documentation, and archiving. At the macro level, design management encompasses tasks relevant to the utilization of design for competitive advantage and the fulfillment of business objectives (Strategic Design).
These tasks can include strategic planning, organizational design, branding and identity, marketing communications, standards and policies, initiatives (sustainability), and various forms of research (customer, competitor, materials, and technologies). Some tasks pertain to both levels (budgeting, staffing) but differ in scale and degree of authority. Given this spectrum of tasks, the distinction between “management” and “design management” might seem indistinguishable.
A critical distinction is the disciplinary heritage of design, which embraces values, practices, and legacies unique to it (as with all disciplines). Design is poised between humanism and technology, between art and craft, and between customers and businesses. As a peculiarly intermediary practice, design synthesizes inputs from many sources to fulfill the technical, ergonomic, financial, and aesthetic criteria that comprise a proposed solution.
The combination of creativity, collaboration, advocacy, and humanism that is at the heart of design education and practice distinguishes it from management education and practice, which emphasizes financial performance and operational efficiency. The significance of design management is also underscored by the prominence of the visual in contemporary life, particularly within the context of business and commerce. The scenario of consumption typically includes many visual aspects: the product itself, its packaging, logo, associated advertising, an adjunct web site, point of purchase displays, the surrounding retail environment, and so on. Thus, visual literacy becomes essential in product development, brand identity, and marketing communications. Designers are trained as visual experts and, acting as “cultural barometers,” sense the cultural climate in order to inscribe artifacts and processes with symbolic as well as pragmatic significance. The visual expertise required to undertake this process of cultural inscription is necessary for businesses to communicate successfully within the increasingly competitive visual landscape. This is yet another distinguishing feature of design management visual literacy and its role in supporting business performance. Design literally helps companies stay visible in the marketplace to both customers and competitors. Advocates of design manageme
nt generally propose the integration of “design awareness” into all aspects of the business and at every organizational level, whether the company delivers goods or services.
While this can present cultural challenges due to differences in language, priorities, and values between those trained as “designers” and those trained as “businesspeople,” cultivation of design awareness can help senior decisionmakers recognize and make use of design’s potential to enhance business performance along many dimensions innovation, strengthened brand identity, and increased product ease-of-use among them. For planning purposes, design strategies are often mapped against business strategies in order to coordinate, integrate, and align design activities with core objectives. Discrete design tasks are specified to fulfill top level design and business strategies (for example “research and develop new typographic and color standards suitable for a target customer segment”).
Whether design activities are undertaken internally by a large firm or outsourced to smaller studios, knowledge of design values, methods, and genres is necessary to successfully contract and manage these resources (Knowledge Management). Companies who have chosen to prioritize design activities internally have benefited from increased innovation and creativity. Such design- driven companies select organizational structures and procedures that ensure advocacy at senior management levels and multidisciplinary (interdepartmental) collaboration (Discipline). Recent concepts in design management have included a focus on “customer experience,” a term which describes the complete orchestration of the interaction between a consumer, product (or service), and manufacturer (or provider).
Multi-media, multi-modal design strategies are typically employed to direct the prospective customer through immersive sales and media environments both persuasive and comprehensive in their “theatrical” totality. An outgrowth of the widespread adoption of digital technology in business, design, and culture during the 1990s, experience design acknowledges consumption itself as a pervasive “site,” and exploits virtual and physical channels (retail stores, the World Wide Web) to strengthen brand presence and loyalty (Retail Design).
While the discipline of design management remains formally under-represented in educational institutions, undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs and courses exist, typically within design schools and business schools. Training is also available through professional organizations and through independent consultants.
As competition increases in the global marketplace, and as electronic communications provide ever greater opportunities for sales and marketing (e-commerce), design becomes an increasingly critical component for achieving competitive differentiation and advantage. Design management provides the concepts, tools, and values necessary for stewarding creative activities in the business arena.