Design Management

Design management is concerned with the integration of design

into management and vice versa. It is an approach whereby
organisations make design-relevant decisions in a market and
customer-oriented way as well as optimising design-relevant
processes. It is a comprehensive activity on all levels of business
performance that effect design, from the front-end to the
execution of design.

Design management acts as an the interface of management

and design and functions as link between the platforms of
technology, design, designing, corporate management, brand
management and marketing management at internal and
external interfaces of the enterprise.
Design Management is the effective deployment by line managers of the
design resources available to an organization in the pursuance of its
corporate objectives. It is therefore directly concerned with the
organizational place of design, with the identification with specific design
disciplines which are relevant to the resolution of key management issues,
and with the training of managers to use design effectively.

Design Management is a complex and multi-faceted activity that goes right

to the heart of what a company is or does it is not something susceptible to
formulas, a few bullet points or a manual. Every company's structure and
internal culture is different; design management is no exception. But the fact
that every firm is different does not diminish the importance of managing
design tightly and effectively.
Design management plays three integrative key roles in the interface of
design, organisation and market.

Design management is not limited on a single design discipline. In his

'Classification of Design' (1976), Peter Gorb’s divided design into three
different classes; design management operates in and across all three
categories :
Product (e.g. Industrial Design, packaging design, service design)

Information (e.g. graphic design, branding, media design, web design)

Environment (e.g. retail design, exhibition design, interior design)

Design management is not independent from the organizational and
product situational context, and plays three integrative key roles in the
interface of design, organisation and market :
Align design strategy with corporate and/or brand strategy

Manage quality and consistency of design outcomes across and within

different design disciplines (design classes)

Enhance new ways of user experience and differentiation from

competitors
What is Design ?
•The word Design means plan or a scheme for an artefact or a system of
artefacts. The word is also used to denote the end result, particularly
appearance, of a design process – as when we refer to the ‘design of a
car’.
•It can be thought of it as the outward appearance or physical
arrangement of objects involving shapes, layouts, colours, textures,
patterns and so on.
•Sometimes design might be thought of in terms of the technology that
goes into a product or its convenience in use, including ergonomic
aspects.
•Economics as represented by purchase price or service costs, might be
correctly seen to be in some way related to design.
•A frequent reason for using design is to help turn an invention into a
successful innovation – or to extend the usefulness of an existing
innovation.
What Do Designers Do ?

1.A goal directed problem solving activity.

2.Relating product with situation to give satisfaction.
3.The imaginative jump from present facts to future possibilities.
4.The conditioning factor for those parts of the product which come into
contact with people.

Designing may be viewed as being concerned with the preparation of

appropriate solutions to marketing problems or opportunities. A key activity
in designing is to review the associated symptoms or circumstances and to
accurately define the problem. Then analysis, iteration and simulation are
used to derive a feasible solution.
In designing products, specific skills required include the ability to
understand users’ needs, wants, tastes and priorities :

The ability to select the right materials and manufacturing processes

The ability to create products which fully meet aesthetic, ergonomic,

quality and economic expectations

The ability to produce drawings and explanations which communicate the

final design solution to others working in the enterprise or outside.
Models of the Design Process

Formulation Evolution Transfer of results

of problem of solution to production and the market

Fig 1 : A simple linear model of the design process

The main weakness of this model is that its linear form suggests that a
perfect design result can be achieved – that the design process has a clear
end point beyond which no further work is required. In real life this is not
true; designs are never perfect and there is always some extra benefit to be
found. Constant changing markets would soon create a need for some
further design attention ; the linear model lacks any indication of market
reaction.
Fig : 2 A spiral model of the design process
It is more realistic to represent designing as a circular or a spiral process
which stresses that design is an evolving activity. The converging spiral
model emphasizes two points.

Firstly, as each subsequent design cycle is completed, more knowledge is

gained as familiar territory is covered, leading to quicker, more efficient
designing – although major discontinuities may occur sometimes causing a
jump inwards or outwards to another part of the spiral.

Secondly, the spiral form also acknowledges that new technology is forcing
previously separate activities closer together.
Computer aided design (CAD) linked with other computer controlled
processes can already combine much of the evolution and transfer stages.

Eventually, technology will permit very rapid design processes with far
reaching consequences; extreme product or service diversity will be
possible, allowing the needs of individual consumers to be satisfied
precisely and uniquely.

Within the four stages in the figure 2 there are a number of distinct activities.
Formulation
• Problem Investigation
• Problem definition
• Design specification
• Project brief

Evolution
• Idea generation
• Solution refinement
• Prototype development
• Design freeze
Transfer
• Manufacturing drawings, data compilation
• Operating system modifications
• Start-up tests
• Full-scale operation / production
• Delivery to customers

Reaction
• Customer appraisal
• After-sales service demands
• Problem investigation
Design Terminology

Package design : Most products are presented to the customer in some

kind of container; often this is so important that the package is effectively a
part of the product. Services, also are increasingly packaged in the sense
that they are accompanied by instructions.

Thus sales performance depends more on package than on basic product

or service. Thus package designers are concerned with choice of material
(plastic, paper, glass, etc.) and manufacturing processes, together with
shape, colour, decoration and lettering.
Graphic Design

Specialists in graphic design may be involved in many types of projects

(including the design of packages) such as the layouts of brochures,
company stationery, point-of-sale materials etc.

As in all design work, an element of creative flair is necessary, but graphic

designers must possess important technical skills as well. The appropriate
use of upper and / or lower case type, what messages different colours and
shapes can convey, how to balance the layout of print to achieve an easily
legible result – all are basic graphic principles.
Building Design

This is another specialism of design, often further subdivided into interior and
exterior work. Buildings are only special types of products and most of the
producers are similar to those in other branches of design. The expectations
of the customers and users are such that the design of a building may be as
critical as the business which is transacted within it. Public houses and wine
bars are good examples of how building design may have far greater
influence on commercial success than the basic products (beer, wine, food
etc.) offered for sale.

In the retail sector, more and more companies not only pay great attention to
the design of their premises but also seek to ensure that there is a consistent
link with other aspects of design including product packaging.