Delivering Competitive Advantage Through Design

published Nov 17, 2007
Delivering Competitive Advantage Through Design
Design plays a fundamental role in the success of many of the world's leading companies.

But how do those firms ensure that they are getting the best return on their investment in design?

Design Council researchers visited the design departments of eleven companies, all world-leaders in their fields and all with a public commitment to the use of design to improve their brand strength and product and service offerings.

The study looked at the way design is used in these firms, how designers work with staff from other disciplines and how the design process is managed to deliver consistently successful results.

"How is design managed across complex, global, product and brand portfolios, we wanted to know.

So we asked leading design teams how they select and organise their designers, and when they bring designers into the product or service development process.

We also wanted to find out what skills today's designers need in order to succeed.

From this in-depth examination we aimed to draw out some of the key features that define the state-of-the-art in modern design practice, as well as the unique approaches that set some firms apart."