The ROI of Design

2. Company Selection. Companies will be selected to participate in the first year of the program based on their potential to upgrade the use of design in their innovation process and on their geographic location.

3. Design Audit.  For each company selected, the DIAC program team will conduct a one-day Design Audit – this is essentially a snapshot of current business activities and identification of areas in which the use of design (in development of products, environments, and communications) can address specific strategic goals and improve commercialization success. The client company will receive a report detailing the opportunities and a preliminary design brief for a demonstration project.

4. Design Project. DIAC will then match the SME clients with a design team to conduct a one-week project based on the brief and on the recommendations from the Design Audit. It is not expected that a full design project can be completed in this time frame. Rather, the one-week service is intended to introduce the company to the strategic design process and establish a conceptual direction to capture the design opportunity. Projects will be determined based on observed need and each SME’s objectives.

5. Evaluation and Design Strategy Recommendations. The DIAC team will assess the results of the project and follow up with design strategy recommendations to help the SME Client leverage the value of the experience and integrate design with ongoing business strategy.

6. Design Case Study. The DIAC team will write a case study focusing on the business impact of the design intervention for each project completed. Case Studies will be posted on the DIAC web site (diac.on.ca) to serve as benchmarks and reference material for SMEs across Canada.

DIAC is also planning to develop an online Design Toolkit to take the Design Advisory Service to a wider target audience across the country.
www.diac.on.ca

Arlene Gould is the Strategic Director for the Design Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) and the Association of Chartered Industrial Designers of Ontario (ACIDO). Tim Poupore is Chairman of DIAC and a former ACIDO president.