Design strategy is a discipline which helps firms determine what to make and do, why do it and how to innovate contextually, both immediately and over the long-term. This process involves the interplay between design and business strategy.
While not always required, design strategy often uses social research methods to help ground the results and mitigate the risk of any course of action. The approach has proved useful for companies in a variety of strategic scenarios.
Design strategy can play a role in helping to resolve the following common problems:
Promoting the adoption of a technology (Example: Toyota designing the hybrid Prius to resemble the conservative Echo instead of making the Prius look high-tech and adventuresome)
Identifying the most important questions that a company's products and services should address (Example: John Rheinfrank of Fitch Design showed Kodak that its disposable cameras didn't exist to replace traditional cameras, but instead to meet specific needs, like weddings, underwater photography and others)
Translating insights into actionable solutions (Example: Jump Associates helped Target turn an understanding of college students into a dorm room line designed by Todd Oldham)
Prioritizing the order in which a portfolio of products and services should be launched (Example: Apple Inc. laid out the iPod+iTunes ecosystem slowly over time, rather than launching all of its pieces at once)
Connecting design efforts to an organization's business strategy (Example: Hewlett-Packard's global design division is focused most intently on designs that simplify technology experiences. This leads to lower manufacturing costs at a time when CEO Mark Hurd is pushing for cost-cutting.) Mark Hurd discussed HP's design strategy for determining environmental footprint of their supply chain.
Integrating design as a fundamental aspect of strategic brand intent (Example: Tom Hardy, Design Strategist, developed the core brand-design principle ″Balance of Reason & Feeling″ for Samsung Electronics, together with rational and emotional attributes, to guide design language within a comprehensive brand-design program that inspired differentiation and elevated the company's global image.)
Many schools have pioneered the thinking that has contributed to the theory and practice of design strategy, most notably IIT Institute of Design which offers a Dual Degree program in which students receive both a Masters of Design and an MBA, The California College of the Arts' MBA in Design Strategy, Parsons School of Design MS in Strategic Design and Management, The Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm (The Ulm School of Design: 1953-1968), Centre for Design Management - The London Business School, Stanford Joint Program in Design, Strategic Product Design at Delft University of Technology. Those in academia having a significant influence on the field include: Tomás Maldonado (1921- ) at Ulm, Peter Gorb at The London Business School, Jay Doblin and Patrick Whitney (1937–present) at IIT Institute of Design and Rolf Fäste (1943-2003) at Stanford. 1994 onwards Naomi Gornick and David Walker MA Design Strategy & Innovation at Brunel University, UK.
It is important to note that traditional art and design schools typically will not offer programs based on strategy.
Several notable design-related consulting firms have made design strategy part of their overall practice.
Designit
Todd Bracher
INSITUM
Design Concepts
Fahrenheit 212
Veryday
IDEO
Ziba
Meld Studios
Doblin
MAYA Design
gravitytank
frog design
Tom Hardy (designer)
LPK
Elephant Strategy+Design
Continuum (design consultancy)
Fuseproject
Strategic Design Master at the design akademie berlin
Gensler
