THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ : PERSPECTIVES ON DESIGN INDUSTRY BUSINESS

MODELS

Dr Emma Murphy, Glasgow School of Art, UK Dr Martyn Evans, Lancaster University, UK

#1 EVOLVING CONTEXTS

#2 IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

#3 DESIGN 2020

#4 DESIGN BUSINESS MODELS [X4]

#5 REFLECTIONS

BUSINESS MODEL

…how to create, capture and capitalise upon organisational value…

EVOLVING CONTEXTS

• Focus on design consultancy in the UK • From the tangible to intangible, from tactical to strategic • More, more, more… • Less, less, less… • Increasingly design-savvy clients and consumers • Increasingly distributed design ecosystem

EMERGING ISSUES (in 2008)

1. Changing attitudes towards materialism and the refocus of design towards quality of life.

2. Design and self-actualisation with a focus on the top layers of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and an emphasis on socialisation, tribal connectivity and quality of life.

3. Ecological design in which designers are looking at systems/structures and solutions to enable us to live more sustainably.

4. The emergence of two types of designers: designers who continue to design products, and facilitation designers who design the systems, processes, software, that enable people to make their own things.

5. Bespoke design with products that evolve and adapt with you and your life changes and that reflect your personal requirements.

6. Localisation of manufacturing increasing digital design and rapid manufacturing enabling designers to help people design and manufacture for themselves; and consumers even taking charge of their own design process.

Cooper et al (2009)

EMERGING ISSUES (in 2008)

MORE, MORE, MORE

The ever evolving context design operates in…

BENEFICIARIES OF DESIGN: CLIENTS, CITIZENS, POLICY, SOCIETY…

USERS OF DESIGN: THINKING, SILENT, CO-OPEN, ORGANISATIONAL…

DESIGNERS & THE DESIGN DISCIPLINE

DESIGN BUSINESS MODELS

Money makes the (design) world go round…

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN BUSINESS MODELS?

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SKILLS OF DESIGNERS?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE TIME-FOR-FEES MODEL?

DESIGN 2020

The future of the UK design industry…

DESIGN 2020

The future of the UK design industry…

THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING THE UK DESIGN INDUSTRY

DESIGNERS, CLIENTS, POLICY MAKERS

10 POTENTIAL BUSINESS MODELS FOR DESIGN

Top-level service designers resonate with this model as the focus is on strategic innovation and design management leadership. The extension into non-design and service sectors means greater engagement with other business disciplines and therefore there is opportunity to nurture ‘designerly skills’ in non-designers. Aligning this model (but not pigeonholing it) with service design may enable a coherent approach to teaching these skills. For example, by recognising this business models as aligned to service design, this could give it a place on the curriculum and CPD as a skill set that designers should develop in themselves and in others. Examples: Snook, IDEO, LiveWork, Engine, Participle, DUCO

DESIGN STRATEGISTS

Independent micro enterprises (1-10 employees) working with specialist freelancers that are often personality led and regionally or sector focused. They work with diverse yet specialist disciplines such as engineering, software development, and service design. Highly focused aimed at niches with fewer clients and maintain leading edge capabilities to ensure their sustainability. Adopt a loose aff iliation model, e.g. where these businesses can co exists as independents, but could collectively come together to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop. Not specif ic to any design sector but has parallels with the traditional fees-for-time model. Examples: Scott Sherwood, Dynamically Loaded

INDEPENDENT SPECIALISED INNOVATION SERVICES

Design-led entrepreneurs who operate design-manufacturing collaborations around luxury, craft, homeware and apparel sectors. The focus is on early stage design-led start-ups that increasingly utilise the Internet to secure investment via crowdfunding - funding a project by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people. Often based around a personal passion or ‘pet-project’ these design-led entrepreneurs can supplement their income via freelance or consultancy roles and develop their own-brand on a part-time basis. Collaboration with manufactures to develop own brands often in niche areas can complement crowdfunding models. This model resonates with the open design movement. Example: INSTRMNT

OWN BRAND ENTPRENEURS

Based on the expertise of special interest groups (SIG) – a community with a shared interest in advancing a specif ic area of knowledge - this model exploits social media to support communication creating hubs and communities. Involves co-design and participation between design communities and special interest groups. The designers’ role is as facilitator and mediator. Income model would be based on scale of contribution and would be reliant on long tail economics, outsourcing production and distribution. High public sector engagement such as the redesign of services, empowered communities, and local authorities. This approach is aligned with the co-design movement. Example:

SIG NICHE NETWORK

IMPLICATIONS

Changing contexts = implications for the design industry…

FLEXIBILITY, COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS, EMERGING SPECIALISMS

CONSOLIDATION LEADS TO NEW BUSINESS MODELS

RECOGNITION OF DESIGN AS STRATEGIC RESOURCE INCREASING

IMPLICATIONS

Changing contexts = implications for the design industry…

SAY YES, THEN FIGURE OUT HOW?

EVOLUTION Vs. REVOLUTION

BARRIERS TO ENTRY LOWER THAN EVER BEFORE

REFLECTIONS

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW…

• Power of the crowd and democratisation of design • Non-hierarchal fluid collaborations • Increasing need for agility and fluidity • Designers assisting clients in the development of new-

business models (business model canvas, business model generator)

• Designers as strategists, change managers and improvers of quality of life

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW…

• Recognition of design as strategic innovation tool – integration into corporate strategy…

• In-house vs. Consultancy – manufacturing to service (and experience) – from tangible to intangible

• Increasing concentration of design as a ‘conductor of experiences’ – ever changing digital landscape

• Blurring boundaries between design business models • Development of design awareness in business including in

non-designers = ‘design attitude’

DESIGN ATTITUDE

• Embracing uncertainty and ambiguity; • Using the power of f ive senses; • Engaging deep empathy; • Playfully bringing ideas to life; • Creating new meaning from complexity. Bason (2014) citing Michlewski (2015)

DESIGN ATTITUDE

• A passion for seeing ideas brought into concrete form; • Delight in engaging all the senses when exploring a

problem; • Risk taking; • An ability to see the whole situation; • Empathy for the organisation as well as the user. Buchanan (2014) citing Michlewski (2015)

SO… BACK TO BUSINESS MODELS

The four business models outlined can be likened to particular movements in design: • traditional design practice • co-design models • service design models • open design models Part of our ongoing research – the development of a taxonomy of design business models

CONCLUDING REMARKS

• A additional aspect of design attitude… taking the time to understand the context before reacting

• The rise of the importance and involvement of the non-designer

• The skills needed to support these emerging business models are vast – how to we educate designers in this way?

• Impact of digital technologies profound

SO… A FINAL REFLECTION

• Design as a strategic resource a ‘megatrend’ • Designers becoming increasingly entrepreneurial– starting

design and non-design businesses • Need for in-house design teams will grow • Need for small boutique design studios – serving a niche • Freelance designers will continue to serve small businesses • Digital vs. print- digital dominant force • Digital design – shift from responsive to modular • Sharing digital data with the public

SO… A FINAL REFLECTION

• Design becoming increasingly multidisciplinary – crowdsourcing increasingly important – from visionary creative to facilitator of ideas

• From problem solving to problem finding – using designers in strategic foresight

• Reduction of technical design curriculum while number of design courses grow

• Designers need to continually upgrade technical skills – importance of masters of design

• Professional doctorate in design – next step for MBAs to embed design thinking and innovation

SO… A FINAL REFLECTION

• Design as a strategic resource and design-driven solutions will grow and address societal challenges of global significance

• Highly specialised services provided to governments and multinational-NGOs

• Design in social innovation and contemporary global problems

• Need for designers that can apply research in the definition of strategy – what should we do rather than how we do it? – move up change of management

SO… A FINAL REFLECTION

• Design at a crossroad – designers as social scientists and strategic entrepreneurs

Gjoko Muratovski—Auckland University of Technology, “The future of design and business: a global perspective”

THANK YOU

Dr Martyn Evans, Lancaster University, UK @martyn_evans | m.evans@lancaster.ac.uk

Dr Emma Murphy, Glasgow School of Art, UK

@emmaleemurphy | e.murphy@gsa.ac.uk