Claudia Acklin

Concrete applications or methods for design approaches from system theory are few and far between. This paper describes the development of a modular cocoon based on system theory methods, a place of retreat for a Swiss psychiatric clinic. The project looked for answer to the question: What design interventions are appropriate to enable a retreat and individual shielding for psychologically traumatized patients and to reduce stress? On the theoretical level this project reflects on the extent to which systemic approaches can be translated into design practice. The system theorist Dirk Baecker (2002) describes design as a practice that can inform different interfaces between systems of technology, body, psyche and communication (Baecker, 2002). He expands design’s area of influence into pedagogy, therapy and medicine. According to Jonas (2004), design research is aimed at fitting artifacts to the surroundings (organic, psychic, social), at overcoming gaps and creating connections. A d...

Concrete applications or methods for design approaches from system theory are few and far between. This paper describes the development of a modular cocoon based on system theory methods, a place of retreat for a Swiss psychiatric clinic. The project looked for answer to the question: What design interventions are appropriate to enable a retreat and individual shielding for psychologically traumatized patients and to reduce stress? On the theoretical level this project reflects on the extent to which systemic approaches can be translated into design practice. The system theorist Dirk Baecker (2002) describes design as a practice that can inform different interfaces between systems of technology, body, psyche and communication (Baecker, 2002). He expands design’s area of influence into pedagogy, therapy and medicine. According to Jonas (2004), design research is aimed at fitting artifacts to the surroundings (organic, psychic, social), at overcoming gaps and creating connections. A d...

Two applied research projects undertaken in Central Switzerland aimed to introduce design and design management into the strategy building and innovation processes of firms with little or no design experience and—on a theoretical level—to introduce design management ...

In the past, design support programmes for companies with little or no design experience have focused on match-making between designers and SMEs. In addition, it has been recognised that design support should be about the business and leadership role of design and about promoting design tools as well as design management methods. However, a sustainable introduction of new design knowledge involves a process of organisational learning on the side of the SME. How exactly companies absorb new design knowledge has been underinvestigated. There is also a lack of a tool to analyse or guide such a learning process. Based on the Absorptive Capacity and the Dynamic Capability constructs, this paper proposes a Design Management Absorption Model to measure the progression of new design knowledge absorption. This model, which connects the three streams of innovation, strategic management and design studies, makes a contribution to practitioners from national design support programmes, to the de...

This thesis studies, how eight SMEs with little or no design experience absorb new design management knowledge, how they build design management capabilities during innovation processes, and how able or unable they are to turn potential into realised absorptive capacity. Furthermore, this thesis investigates, why some SMEs absorb design knowledge more easily than others. – To answer these questions the literature review explores several building blocks from strategic management, innovation, and organisational studies, and connects them to design and design management studies to understand this fundamentally interdisciplinary topic. The empirical foundation of this thesis is an action research project conducted with eight SMEs in Switzerland from different trades. During cooperation with the author of this thesis and through collaboration with external designers, different design and design management approaches and tools were introduced to support the absorption of new knowledge. In...

In the past, design support programmes for companies with little or no design experience have focused on match-making between designers and SMEs. In addition, it has been recognised that design support should be about the business and leadership role of design and about promoting design tools as well as design management methods. However, a sustainable introduction of new design knowledge involves a process of organisational learning on the side of the SME. How exactly companies absorb new design knowledge has been underinvestigated. There is also a lack of a tool to analyse or guide such a learning process. Based on the Absorptive Capacity and the Dynamic Capability constructs, this article proposes a Design Management Absorption Model to measure the progression of new design knowledge absorption. This model, which connects the three streams of innovation, strategic management and design studies, makes a contribution to practitioners from national design support programmes, to the ...

Design management, for many years, has been proclaiming the benefits of using design as a strategic resource and trying to introduce it to companies through sourcing design skills, putting them to work in specific (innovation) projects, and managing and controlling design processes. However, many organisations, namely small and medium-sized companies, do not have any intermediary such as a design manager to take care of design activities; they will have to find other ways of integrating new design knowledge with its value creating and innovative powers, once they get aware of the benefits of design. To understand how companies “learn” new knowledge the absorptive capacity construct from innovation studies puts forth that the new knowledge source needs to connect to prior knowledge of the company as well as to be complementary to it. So there is a fine line between being too similar to prior knowledge and too divergent to be perceived as complementary. There is a lot of anecdotal evi...

In 1965, the need for design management as project management was voiced at a time when new forms of consumerism became affordable for the masses. However, in an environment of disruptive change, in which "age of less" consumption is propagated, when digital technologies allow for new business models and distribution channels without intermediaries, design as a company resource can also become "sticky". Today, firms have to continuously absorb new knowledge and quickly socialise it throughout the company. Design management may need to lead the way towards more dynamic ways of doing business. Furthermore, design management may have to venture strongly into the entrepreneurial side of business, recognizing, evaluating, and exploiting new business opportunities. This conceptual paper will look at three different modes of design management: simple design management or the management of design activities within organisations; integrated design management or the coordi...

Design management, for many years, has been proclaiming the benefits of using design as a strategic resource and trying to introduce it to companies through sourcing design skills, putting
them to work in specific (innovation) projects, and managing and controlling design processes. However, many organisations, namely small and medium-sized companies, do not have any
intermediary such as a design manager to take care of design activities; they will have to find other ways of integrating new design knowledge with its value creating and innovative powers,
once they get aware of the benefits of design. To understand how companies “learn” new knowledge the absorptive capacity construct from innovation studies puts forth that the new
knowledge source needs to connect to prior knowledge of the company as well as to be complementary to it. So there is a fine line between being too similar to prior knowledge and too
divergent to be perceived as complementary. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that this paradox is the cause of many of the challenges designers face when working with companies with
little or no prior design experience. Based on applied research with eight SMEs in Switzerland, this paper describes these challenges in more detail using a Design Management Absorption
Model that allows for a more systematic analysis of design management absorption. This paper argues that companies with little or no prior design knowledge are more able to cope with
designers and the challenges of absorbing new design knowledge if they themselves build up design management capabilities.

Neun Firmen aus der Schweiz, Deutschland und Österreich – acht grosse Dienstleister und ein mittelständischer produzierender Betrieb – haben sich im Sommer 2011 an einer Studie des CX-Forums beteiligt. Es sollte der Stand von Design Thinking und /oder Customer Experience Management erhoben werden. Dabei wurde unter anderem nach Erfolgsgeschichten und typischen Herausforderungen gefragt, nach neuen Prozessen und Strukturen, Ausbildungsprogrammen oder nach Treibern der Entwicklung in Richtung von mehr Empathie und
kundenzentrierter Innovation.

The introduction of new design knowledge or design resources in companies with little or no design experience has been at the core of design support programmes in different countries. Scholars investigated the use of design and identified different design and design management capabilities to deploy design effectively in companies of all sizes. However, how design and design management capability is built in SMEs with little or
no prior design experience is insufficiently investigated. Based on the absorptive capacity construct from the broader field of innovation studies, this paper proposes that the absorption of new design knowledge or resources is an organisational learning and capability building process. It introduces a comprehensive design management absorption model that includes design and design management capabilities that enable design absorption in SMEs with little or no prior design experience as well as indicators to measure the progress of absorption. The model allows for analysing the process companies go through when using design as a strategic resource for the first time.

In the past, design support programmes for companies with little or no design experience have focused on match-making between designers and SMEs. In addition, it has been recognised that design support should be about the business and leadership role of design and about promoting design tools as well as design management methods. However, a sustainable introduction of new design knowledge involves a process of organisational learning on the side of the SME. How exactly companies absorb new design knowledge has been underinvestigated. There is also a lack of a tool to analyse or guide such a learning process. Based on the Absorptive Capacity and the Dynamic Capability constructs, this paper proposes a Design Management Absorption Model to measure the progression of new design knowledge absorption. This model, which connects the three streams of innovation, strategic management and design studies, makes a contribution to practitioners from national design support programmes, to the design practice working with SMEs as well as to companies themselves. It represents a blueprint and an instrument for the analysis of a learning journey to introduce design management capabilities in companies with little or no design experience.

In 2005, the Cox-Review (Cox 2005) identified barriers of innovation as well as obstacles regarding the use of design for SME. It proposed design support to help companies use design in order to strengthen their innovation capabilities and competitiveness.
Current design support focuses on design projects, advice or endorsements. Recent proposals (Boult 2006) favor a more strategic approach. They suggest providing the thinking and tools aimed at integrating design into strategic R&D and decision-making processes, which requires to frame design on the level of design management.
However, research shows that current design support tools and methods are not sufficiently suited for supporting companies to adopt design on a managerial level. Tools and methods are either too general (e.g. SWOT analysis) or limited to a certain phase of an adoption process (e.g. auditing design capability, “Design Atlas”); they support rather specific areas and target groups (e.g. entrepreneurs, new product and service development) or are proprietary (e.g. „Matchbox“, Design Council). Furthermore, they do not connect with specific implicit or explicit concepts of design that guide design decisions of companies. According to the maturity scale model of the Danish Design Council, these concepts can be mapped on design maturity scales, ranging from no design to styling, process and up to innovation. (Friedman 2004)
Design support should support companies in the adoption of design in relation to their actual understanding and practice of design. Therefore it seems reasonable aiming at developing a guide for the integration of design and design management considering maturity levels.
The method is to put design-related questions of the participating firms at the beginning of the research process and to help them develop individual implementation scenarios that fit their specific situation. In a second step, these scenarios inform the development of a DM-guide, using the maturity scale model as a structuring method. The result and outcome is envisaged as a visual orientation device. Similar to a map, it offers pathways, steps and instruments that enable to adopt design and design management.
Further research should verify the DM-guide and refine it. It is planned to do this through a spin-off by the research team that puts it into practice through projects in the context of a regional innovation support system.

Two applied research projects undertaken in Central Switzerland were aimed to introduce design and design management into the strategy building and innovation processes of firms with little or no design experience and – on a theoretical level – at introducing design management into a generic innovation management model. Research with the eleven companies from different trades and sizes revealed that many of the small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) do not engage in innovation activities in a systematic and pro‐active way in order to understand market and customer needs. These SMEs do not have an innovation strategy as an integral part of their overall business or design strategy and they encounter problems to carry their innovation projects through to implementation; small companies also lack a design management function that would coordinate the processes of product and service development, brand design and communication to create a coherent market entry and customer experience for their new products or services. During theory building, we explored the contribution of design research, design leadership and design management to a generic innovation management model. In a second step we developed a design‐driven innovation process model with the six phases impulse, research, development, strategy, implementation and evolution. Our model is integrative, multidisciplinary and permeable in order to meet the needs of SMEs for easy implementation and cost and risk reduction. The present formulation of a design‐driven innovation process model will have to be validated through further applied research with companies.

In literature plenty of definitions of design management (DM) can be found; many of them have been formulated by practitioners (Design Management Journal, 1998; Best, 2006) and are reflecting a whole array of different ways of looking at DM, others from academic authors (Farr, 1995; Gorb, 1990; Topalian & Turner, 2002) are manifold as well and have been evolving over the last 50 years. But there is little to be found in the area of models or visualisations of core concepts of DM. Since DM is an interfacing activity of design and management and is at the core an interdisciplinary discipline a design management model needs to be rooted in an organisational environment. Therefore, the first framework has been developed further by taking advantage of Anthony’s Triangle (1965), a model from the business sciences that allows for the combination of different perspectives of a problem and thus combines complex relationships into one framework. The resulting visualisation is a work in progress called “Lucerne Design Management Model”.