Cima Desing

ISSN 1744 - 7038 (online)

ISSN 1744 - 702X (print)

Research Executive Summaries Series

Designing value and valuing design

Vol. 2, No. 5

By

Dr. Myfanwy Trueman

and

Professor Richard Pike

Bradford University School of Management

Designing value and valuing design

Introduction

Businesses recognise that good design can have a powerful

impact on competitive advantage and profitability. It can

differentiate products and services and enhance their value –

while poor design can threaten the survival of an organisation.

It has been argued that good design can improve

communication and integration throughout the organisation,

help to reduce complexity and cost, and enhance brand value.

It can also help companies to balance the needs of managers

and shareholders with the cost, value and quality requirements

of customers. However, good design rarely just happens, but

stems from an effective development process. In the 1997

House of Lords debate on design, Lord Currie emphasised that

design is a multi-skilled, multidisciplinary function:

‘Design involves not just designers and not just those working

for design consultancies but also engineers, scientists and all

those including senior management and – dare I mention it? –

finance directors and accountants who contribute and

influence the process of innovation and new product

development (Lord Currie, House of Lords, 1997).’ 1

There is growing recognition of the importance of people

outside the formal design process in influencing the nature and

2

form of new products. Nixon et al (1997) acknowledged the

role of ‘silent designers’ – including specialists from R&D,

production, marketing and accounting, who can influence the

nature and form of new products.These silent designers

provide ‘essential information and strategic links in managing

design parameters.’ Research has also shown that most of a

product’s life cycle cost is ‘locked in’ at the early design stage,

and that any...