A New Management Role: The Designer as Strategist
Naomi Gornick, Director, MA Design, Strategy, and Innovation, Brunel University
This one-year master’s degree program in the UK has been developed to strengthen management capabilities of designers. Four months of traditional management coursework serves as preparation for design audit and internship experiences, which are...

A New Perspective on Design: Focusing on Customer Experience
Darrel K. Rhea, President, Cheskin+Masten
Darrel Rhea is convinced that organizations need to shift their focus from designing products to designing a cycle of customer experiences. The dynamic model of this process—one that is reiterated to varying degrees with each consumer decision...

A Paradigm for New Brands at Sony: Creating FREQ
Michael Jager, Creative Director, Jager DiPaola Kemp Design; David Phillips, Mgr, Corporate ID & Entertainment Design, Sony Corporation of America
Sony is such a strong corporate brand, and so well know for its emphasis on product features, that it seemed a bit heretical when senior management decided to create a new brand for a style-rich product for the 10-14 year-old Generation Y group...

A Research Agenda from the Design Manager’s Perspective
Linda Keefe, Manager of Corporate Identity and Design, 3M; Ted Shida, Industry Consultant and former Design Principal, Xerox Corporation; Gary Van Deursen, Director of New Product Concepts and Industrial Design, Black & Decker Household Products
A fundamental debate in any research forum is the appropriate balance between theoretical/speculative research and projects with pragmatic or applied objectives, and design- management research is no exception. Some want exploration of generic...

A Survey of Design Education in Business Schools
Richard S. Blackburn, Associate Professor of Management, Kenan-Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
As a corporate resource, design can be part of a strategy to lower costs, improve quality, enhance innovation, and speed the introduction of new products. In spite of this potential, the management focus on design is poorly represented in business...

A User-Centered Approach to Ergonomic Seating: A Case Study
Bryce G. Rutter, Principal, Metaphase Design Group; Anne Marie Becka, Communications Consultant; David Jenkins, Design Director, Seating, Steelcase Inc.
If, in design, little things make the difference, then research is a key pathway to making sure those little things are done right. Co-authored by Bryce Rutter, Anne Marie Becka, and David Jenkins, this case study on the development of Steelcase’s...

A Virtual Design Studio: Today’s Opportunity for Effective Electronic Creativity
Eugene Sulek, Chief Industrial Designer, Texas Instruments
Information technology can make vital contributions to the creative interface among people and organizations. Over the past fifteen years, the design group at Texas Instruments (TI) has invested in computers as a pathway linking various divisions...

A new Brand for a New Category: Paint it Orange
Doug Hamilton, Executive Creative Director/Principal, Wolff Olins; Keith Kirby, Project Director/Consultant, Wolff Olins
After investing hundreds of millions in the latest technology, a UK-based company is about to launch a wireless telephone service. There are already a few well-established competitors in the market. Nevertheless, the new entry creates a unique...

AB Bahco Tools: The Development of a Design Strategy at a Tool Company
Lisbeth Svengren, Lecturer, Lund University Department of Business Administration, Sweden
Focuses on the role of a radically new, ergonomic screwdriver design in the development of a Swedish company's design strategy. Shows how outside design consultants dramatically change an old, conservative company's product development process, and...

AB Bahco Tools: The Development of a Design Strategy at a Tool Company, Epilogue
Lisbeth Svengren, Lecturer, Lund University Department of Business Administration, Sweden
Describes Bahco's (9-991-028) new strategy and follows its progress through 1991. Part of the Design Management Institute collection. Also available: Teaching Note (5-992-030).