Managing design

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Not sure how design could fit into your business? Want to find out how other people do it?

Read our in-depth articles on how design is managed, with practical ideas and real-life examples of design being used for business success

LEGO was among eleven companies who have shared their design processes

Eleven lessons: managing design in eleven global brands

How do leading companies manage design in their businesses? Our in-depth study of the design processes used in eleven global brands gives real insights into the way design operates in these firms, and delivers usable lessons for all designers and managers

 
LEGO is just one leading company that has a formalised design process

The design process

Different designers manage the process of design in different ways. But when we studied the design process in eleven leading companies, we found striking similarities and shared approaches among the designers we talked to. In this section we show one way of mapping the design process, and give more detail on the key activities in each of the process's four stages

 
BT is just one company which uses design to connect with its users

Meeting business challenges

Find out how leading companies use sophisticated design management techniques to compete in crowded marketplaces, connect with their customers and capitalise on the power of their brands...

 
Managing designers at Whirlpool

Managing for design excellence

Find out how some of the world's leading design teams are managed, how design teams work within global businesses, and why leadership matters...

 
Design has always been at the heart of Alessi's business

Design at Alessi

Alessi, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of designer kitchen and tableware, puts design at the very heart of its business and has developed sophisticated processes for finding, commissioning and developing new designs from a worldwide network of talented designers and architects

 
BSkyB has focused on building a strong relationship with external design consultancy for the design of products like this set top box

Design at BSkyB

A pioneer in the delivery of multi-channel television in the UK, BSkyB has recognised the potential to use design as a market differentiator. While continuing to evolve its product offering, BSkyB has focused on developing in-house design management capability while building a strong relationship with an external design consultancy for the execution of product designs.

 
BT uses external design suppliers and has developed tools and processes to help manage the process

Design at BT

Communications service provider BT is one of the UK’s best known companies. A diverse and rapidly evolving organisation, it makes extensive use of design in many aspects of its business, closely integrating it with the BT brand. The company has developed tools and processes to manage an extensive roster of external design suppliers and help them communicate the brand

 
LEGO has transformed the process of its design function in recent years to help in compete in the toy market

Design at LEGO

Danish company LEGO, the world’s sixth largest toy maker, has transformed the processes of its design function in recent years. These changes have streamlined product development and the processes developed by the in-house design function are now being used as a method to improve innovation across the entire business

 
Designers at Microsoft work on software and computer products to ensure they meet users' needs

Design at Microsoft

Microsoft, the world’s leading supplier of operating system software, has completed a significant evolution in its attitudes to design. Having once been a technologically-driven organisation, Microsoft now uses design thinking to focus on developing products that answer users’ needs. With management support, this focus on user-experience is also influencing Microsoft’s organisational structure...

 
Sony has used design since the 1960s to set products like this PlayStation 3 apart from its competitors

Design at Sony

Electronics, games and entertainment giant Sony has used design since the 1960s to differentiate its products and maximise the usefulness of its advanced technologies. Sony Design Group across the world employs around 250 designers and has developed a set of core design values against which the company judges the success of all its products

 
Starbucks uses design to manage its brand around the globe

Design at Starbucks

From its beginnings as a single coffee shop in Seattle 35 years ago, Starbucks is now a global brand which uses design to aid the delivery of a distinctive service experience to its customers. The Starbucks Global Creative team manages regularly changing design themes while working within a global brand

 
The look of this Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747 is determined by an in-house design team

Design at Virgin Atlantic Airways

Virgin Atlantic Airways, founded in 1984 by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, has innovation as a core brand value and uses design as a key competitive differentiator. The in-house design team manages many aspects of design for the airline, including service concepts as well as interiors, uniforms and airport lounge architecture, and works with a number of agencies worldwide

 
Whirlpool's Duet washing machine is an example of the success of the company's approach to design

Design at Whirlpool

Whirlpool Corporation is a leading manufacturer of major home appliances. The Global Consumer Design unit at Whirlpool has a staff of over 150 people and has developed expertise and processes that help the company respond to the demand for increasingly sophisticated and complex appliances and develop individual products under different brand umbrellas worldwide

 
Design plays an increasingly important role at Xerox as it broadens the scope of its photocopier and printing technologies

Design at Xerox

Xerox was founded in 1906 and has been developing pioneering office automation technologies since it introduced the first photocopier in1949. The design function at Xerox plays an increasingly important role in the organisation, and has recently been implementing a significant programme to broaden the breadth and scope of design input into new and existing product development

 
Yahoo! operates a customer-centric design process to ensure its search engine remains one of the most popular Internet portals

Design at Yahoo!

Founded in 1994, Yahoo! has grown from a pioneering search engine to become one of the most popular portals on the Internet. An organisation that uses technology to focus on customer needs, Yahoo! operates a highly customer-centric design process, with user research instrumental in the development of new products and the evolution of existing ones