What is design management?

Simply put, design management is the business side of design. Design management encompasses the ongoing processes, business decisions, and strategies that enable innovation and create effectively-designed products, services, communications, environments, and brands that enhance our quality of life and provide organizational success. On a deeper level, design management seeks to link design, innovation, technology, management and customers to provide competitive advantage across the triple bottom line: economic, social/cultural, and environmental factors. It is the art and science of empowering design to enhance collaboration and synergy between design and business to improve design effectiveness.

What is design management?

Design management plays three key roles in the interface of design, organisation, and market. The three key roles are to: Align design strategy with corporate or brand strategy, or both Manage quality and consistency of design outcomes across and within different design disciplines (design classes) Enhance new methods of user experience, create new solutions for user needs and differentiation from competitor's designs

Types of design management

Product design management helps to create a distinctive design. In product-focused companies, design management focuses mainly on product design management, including strong interactions with product design, product marketing, research and development, and new product development. This perspective of design management is mainly focused on the aesthetic, semiotic, and ergonomic aspects of the product to express the product's qualities and to manage diverse product groups and product design platforms

Brand design management helps align products within the product range and establishes a clear design language.
In market and brand focused companies, design management focuses mainly on brand design management, including corporate brand management and product brand management. Focusing on the brand as the core for design decisions results in a strong focus on the brand experience, customer touch points, reliability, recognition, and trust relations. The design is driven by the brand vision and strategy

Types of design management

Corporate brand design management Market and brand focused organisations are concerned with the expression and perception of the corporate brand. Corporate design management implements, develops, and maintains the corporate identity, or brand. This type of brand management is strongly anchored in the organisation to control and influence corporate design activities. The design programme plays the role of a quality programme within many fields of the organisation to achieve uniform internal branding. It is strongly linked to strategy, corporate culture, product development, marketing, organisational structure, and technological development. Achieving a consistent corporate brand requires the involvement of designers and a widespread design awareness among employees. A creative culture, knowledge sharing processes, determination, design leadership, and good work relations support the work of corporate brand management.

Types of design management

Service design management deals with the newly-emerging discipline of service design. Service design management deals with the newly-emerging field of service design. It is planning and organizing People, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service. The aim is to improve the quality of the service, the interaction between the service provider and its customers and the customers experience

Types of design management

Business Design Management Since 2006, the term Business Design is trademarked by the Rotman school of management.They define business design as the application of design thinking principles to business practice.The designerly way of problem solving in an integrative way of thinking that is charatetrised by a deep understanding of the user,creative resolution of tensions,collaborative prototyping and continuous modification and enhancement of ideas and solutions.This approach to problem solving can be applied to all components of business and the management of the problem solving process forms the core business design activity.

TYPES OF DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Urban design management involves mediation among a range of self-interested stakeholders engaged in the production of the built environment. Such mediation can encourage a joint search for mutually beneficial outcomes or integrative development. Integrative development aims to produce sustainable solutions by increasing stakeholder satisfaction with the process and with the resulting urban development. Architectural management can be defined as an ordered way of thinking which helps to realise a quality building for an acceptable cost or as a process function with the aim of delivering greater architectural value to the client and society.

APPLICATION OF DESIGN MANAGEMENT

Strategic level: by influencing and contributing directly to company vision Functional level: achieving a competitive advantage. Creation of new products/markets Operational Level: improve a system or operation. Marketing/engineering/communications

DESIGN BARRIERS
Design illiteracy Design segregation Lack of vision Poor communication Perceived risk Sourcing expertise Cost constraints Tradition bound behaviour Company politics

Design Management Process

Research Every design project starts with information gathering. You will want to ask your client for a list of goals and preferences to guide you in the decision making process. Ask whether this project will be a simple revision of existing designs or an innovative approach that involves creating new, groundbreaking solutions. Research what others have done to solve similar design problems. Determine the bottom-line budget number. Planning Use your design project goals to create a design management plan that sets policies for creating and delivering all design-associated information. This plan should include a delivery schedule, an explanation of the design process, a list of assigned internal tasks and the client's responsibilities. The design management plan maps out how the design will be created and by whom, so list all design team members and their functions. Work with any outside suppliers to discuss how your design process will interface with their business, including what deliverables they need from you and when they should be delivered. By detailing the design process in writing, you create measurable milestones and can assess your performance during and after the project.

Design Management Process

Communication Discuss your design management plan with your client to make sure you agree about project goals and specifics before beginning design production. Your customer, as the primary stakeholder in the outcome of the design project, has the most to lose if any information is missing or incorrect. Project management tools can help you collaborate effectively as you progress through the design process by offering your client access to whiteboards, discussion forums and relevant project documents. You should also provide regular progress updates and opportunities for feedback throughout the design development. Accountability Your client is ultimately responsible for the outcome of the design project, since he knows his organization's wants and needs. As the designer, however, you are responsible for managing the process. This includes delivering project components in a timely manner and effectively managing your design team. Choose team members based on their abilities and assign tasks according to their strengths. Make sure you have one main contact person on the client side and one project manager as a point of contact on the design side. This lessens the chance for communication errors created by too many people giving different directions for the same project

Design management process-auditing

Audit refers to a range of activities aimed at improving how an organization operates. Strategic: current and past plans eveluated against the results. Operational: from compliance view point where range of goals may be located against what actually happens Functional: aspects of the intangible process may be considered.

Audit Process
Observing practice Information research Setting standards Compliance testing Complementary change Monitoring Change effects Re audit

Benefits of Audit process

Provision of knowledge of current practice Improvements in standards of process High lighting of non compliance Identification of potentially damaging practices Promotion of higher standards Facilitation of further planning Stimulation of learning

Design Audit
Strategic design management is the process of planning product design, promotion, and management with the overall best interests of the company in mind. It is a method of creating one unified group of product designs rather than a disconnected collection of offerings. The process also includes creating designs with future needs in mind, such as upgrades, new innovation, and ease of production. Strategic design management incorporates a variety of forms of field research such as feedback from customers. The goal of the process is to create a strong, unified brand image that can be clearly communicated. Some of the specific things that are addressed in strategic design management include the design of the product and packaging. Promotional efforts such as advertising and marketing are incorporated into the strategic process. The method also includes post-sale elements such as how to approach customer service so that it promotes, supports, and embodies the brand. Customer opinions are considered in the development of new products as well. While strategic design management is typically pursued with the overall brand in mind, it also includes the creation of individual processes for building its various parts. This includes optimizing the design and production of each product in order to encourage customer loyalty and repeat sales. While strategic design may be applied to individual products, this is always done with the brand in mind so that the company is communicating a consistent message.

Design Management standards BS- 7000

Key contributor to these standards: Alan Topalian Standards are a comprehensive framework on the management of design, addressing issues of responsibility and consideration throughout all the levels of the organisation. BS-7000:1999 :Guide to mananging innovation BS-7000-2:1997:Guide to managing the design of manufactured products BS-7000-3:1994 :Guide to managing service design BS-7000-4:1996 Guide to managing design in construction BS 7000-5:2001 Guide to managing obsolescence BS 7000-6:2005 Guide to managing inclusive design BS 7000-10:1995 Glossary of terms used in design management

Design Management standards

Design in Business Organization along with Design Council(London) has taken a 3 part framework-The Design Atlas. It focuses on how the organization can develop innovative product and service offerings
Part-I:frame of reference covered by the audit tool and how it can be utilised to review the design capability within an organisation Part-II:gives detailed description of the questions that constitute the three part framework Part-III:provides examples of the actions that can be taken to develop and augment organisational design capability in response to the audit

Buying Seasons(1)
Season Spring Summer Autumn Holiday In In DC* Ex Ex Place Store Country Factory Buy
Early Feb Early May Early Sep End Mid Jan Mid Dec Early Dec Early Mar End Aug End Dec End April End July

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End Oct End Sep -Early Nov -Early Oct

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Dec

Design Process & Time lines(Summer12)

1.Concept Meeting Mid Sep 2.Handover of color standards, concept sheets, all yardage artworks, placement of Prints, sketches & style descriptions 3.Initial Sample Worksheets Mid Oct 4.Initial price for Proto type meeting 5.Proto Type Samples inhouse 6.Prototype Meeting Mid Nov 7.Proto Type fitting Updation of the sampleworksheets& Comments 8.Production and Buying Schedule Mid Dec confirmed

9.Sample distribution list Mid Dec &Final Sample Order to be sent 10.Final Price Quotations End Dec 11.Salesman samples to be sent to buyers Early-Mid Jan 13 Fabric Testing/Garment Testing done 14 Costing Meeting 15 Production Fitting and sample worksheets updated 15 Sales meeting Mid Jan 16 Order Finalization Mid Jan 17 Delivery End Mar 18 In DC End April 18 In store Mid May

Design Process Flow chart

Inspiration board Idea board

Mood board
Brand signature Theme/Concept board Forecast/trends Market analysis/research

Color board

Fabric board

Trim board
Style board

Client board

Design development Technical package

Sampling