There’s a groundswell of interest in the role that design and design thinking is playing in the fortunes of companies that establish a premium position in their markets and continue to grow and prosper over time.
Such business advantage is not isolated to particular sectors; the success stories are coming from across an increasing range of industries. A consistent factor seems to be that design in these companies is used as a strategic resource, championed at the highest levels of management and embraced across the organization.
‘Design for Business’ is a multi-platform program that presents business and design researchers and practitioners, who are leading the way in building knowledge and skills in the application of design and design thinking to improve business performance. The program explores design as it is being applied not only to product development but also to the re-imagining of existing products, enhancing the customer experience, improving work place environments, right through to re-imagining strategic direction and the future vision of companies and businesses.
The program content here is generated from business seminars and a research program. The Business seminar ‘Design Advantage’ provides new ways of thinking about design and the role it can play in ensuring business maintains a strong competitive advantage from business leaders whose case studies present effective strategies for integrating design into business models, and applies design to the marketplace across a broad range of industry sectors.
The research program provides a double blind peer review program for researchers to share rigorous research in the area of design as a strategic resource for business. Selected papers are shared at an annual research conference, through a publication partnership with Intellect Books & Journals includes a book series and an association with the Journal of Design, Business & Society and through a bimonthly news bulletin that distributes executive summaries of research to the business community.
Business Advantage 2015
We heard from past editor at BusinessWeek and world-renowned author, Jay Greene, whose latest book, Design Is How It Works, presents in-depth discussions with CEO’s from design driven corporations and SME’s across the world.
Business Advantage 2014
Søren Ingomar Petersen has a PhD in Design Research from Stanford University, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from The Technical University of Denmark and a Bachelor of Science in Transportation Design from the Art Centre College of Design. His research areas are design strategy, methods and tools for bridging business and design using design quantification.
Business Advantage 2013
Dan discusses the value of design in business strategy, and how building a strong relationship – between designers and their clients, and businesses and their consumers – can unlock possibilities not otherwise attainable; providing an edge in a rapidly changing consumer driven marketplace.
Business Advantage 2012
Dana Arnett – founding principal and CEO of the Chicago-based branding collective VSA Partners, and Mauro Porcini – SVP & Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo previously head of Global Design at 3M, come together in 2012 to discuss the importance of design for business development and strategies.
Design for Business Book Series
One of very few books to bring together business and design, this collection features essays sourced from the Design for Business: Research conference presented by agideas, on topics ranging from branding and sustainability to business-driven design education. The centerpiece of Design for Business is an essay on simplicity in design by Per Mollerup, a distinguished Scandinavian designer, professor, and author.
Executive Summaries
A free bi-monthly bulletin sharing executive summaries of international research papers about design for business. Sourced from papers published in the Design for Business: Research book series and Journal of Design, Business & Society publication.