DesignForInnovation_Dec2011

7/31/2019 DesignForInnovation_Dec2011

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D Cucl

34 Bow Street, London WC2E 7DLTelephone +44 (0)20 7420 5200Facsimile +44 (0)20 7420 5300

Email [email protected]

Design Council 2011Charity number 272099

Facts, gures and practical plans for growth

A Design Council paper published to coincide with the GovernmentsInnovation and Research Strategy for Growth

December 2011

Design orinnovation


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au h D Cucl

The Design Council places good design atthe heart of social and economic renewal.

As a centre of new thinking and insightinto the role of design in innovation,it is one of the worlds leading designorganisations. For more than 60 years,it has sought to provide evidence anddemonstrate how design can help build astronger economy and improve everydaylife through practical projects withindustry, public services and education.

The Design Council is a charity,incorporated by Royal Charter, that

promotes design and architecture forthe public good.

For more information please visit:www.designcouncil.org.uk

Contents

Foreword

1. Innovation and growth 2

2. Dening design within innovation 4

3. The expansion of design 5

4. The UK design sector 7

5. Economic evidence on the role of design 8

6. A business innovation infrastructure with design inside 10

7. A public innovation infrastructure with design inside 12

8. Planning for the next generation of innovators 14

9. Design for Innovation policy priorities 15

10. Design for Innovation actions 16

End notes 20

Design or inn ovation | CONTENTS


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The Design Council has produced thisDesign for Innovation plan to coincide

with the Innovation and Research Strategy

for Growth published in December 2011which sets out how the government will boostbusiness investment in innovation enablinggreater success in the global economy.

The purpose of this design plan is to bringthe design elements of the Innovation andResearch Strategy together in one place andto communicate these as widely as possibleacross design, industry, government and

education. Our aim is to provide a usefulstrategic framework for organisations,institutions and individual businesses

with an interest in making design-ledinnovation happen on the ground.

Throughout this plan we have tried to addvalue to what now sits within the governmentsstrategy. We have synthesised arguments,

brought the underlying facts and evidence tothe fore and set out the design priorities. In

addition we have laid out the specic designinitiatives and actions that the governmentis funding directly as part of its stimuluspackage in collaboration with the DesignCouncil and other innovation partners.

This design plan has its origins in theDesign for Growth Summit, hosted at theDesign Council on 23 June 2011. A broadconstituency of opinion-formers in areasof design, business, policy and educationparticipated in the event and suggestedideas for swift practical action. Wed liketo thank everyone who contributed.

Dd K, Ch ecu, D Cucl

Design can help organisations transformtheir performance, from business productinnovation, to the commercialisation

of science and the delivery of publicservices. That is why design formsan integral part of the Governments

plans for innovation and growth andfeatures strongly in our Innovationand Research Strategy for Growth.

The UK has the potential to succeedglobally but to do so we must harnessour strengths. Design is undoubtedly an

area where we are amongst the best in theworld, with potential to do even better.

r H Dd Wll MP, M

U d scc

oreWorD

Design or inn ovation | FOREWORD


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innovation anD groWtH 1The Innovation and Research Strategy

for Growth sets out the governmentsapproach to boosting business investment

in innovation and enabling UK success inthe global economy. This section providesa high-level summary of the main themes

of the governments strategy.

The Innovation and Research Strategyis focused on overcoming the economicchallenges facing the UK by stimulatinggrowth and employment, rebalancingthe economy and delivering effective

public services.

These goals have to be achieved ina challenging international context.

At the same time as the global economyis slowing, it is also becoming morecompetitive. More countries are seeking toproduce innovative products and servicesand to attract mobile investment capital andhigh value business activities. Global trendssuch as population growth, demographic

change, resource pressures and climatechange are also presenting challengesfor societies all around the world.

To thrive in the global economy, the UKmust rise to the challenge of achievingprosperity through increasing innovation.

The governments strategy is clear thatinnovation, across the public and privatesectors, is the only pathway to sustainable

economic growth, higher real incomes andgreater quality of life in the long term.

This is illustrated by research ndingson the impact of innovation on businessperformance. For instance, NESTAsInnovation Index shows that companies thatintroduced a new product between 2002 to2004 saw average employment growth of4.4% during the subsequent 3 years compared

to 2% for non-innovative businesses.

th i d rch sy u hw h m upp

wll d wh y dd fccl :

DisCoverY anD DeveLoPMent fostering scientic and technological

breakthroughs by prioritising investment inareas that have wide application and where

the UK has competitive strengths to exploitemerging global markets. The government

will back challenge-led innovation in thosetechnology areas requiring interdisciplinarycollaboration to develop new business modelsproducts and services. It is also establishingan elite national network of technologyand innovation centres, branded CatapultCentres, to support business innovation intechnology areas where the UK is stronginternationally. The capability to use design forcommercialising technology will be integrated

within the comprehensive support service thatthe Catapult Centres will provide to business.

Design or inn ovation | 1 INNOVATION AND GROWTH


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innovative bUsinesses supporting business innovation acrossall sectors of the economy. Technology-

based businesses are important but futureeconomic growth also depends on businessesacross the economy investing in their ownforms of innovation. Design, managerialand organisational competencies, humanresources and intellectual property areincreasingly important forms of innovation.The governments strategy recognises thetransformational role of design in leading orsupporting product and process innovation

across all businesses and announces theexpansion of the Designing Demandmentoring programme to build greater designcapability and understanding among SMEs.The government will also work with the designsector to raise awareness of the R&D Tax Credit.

KnoWLeDge LoWs in tHeinnovation eCosYsteM encouraging high-impact collaborations

between entrepreneurs, researchers and

experts in design, intellectual property,measurement and standards. The UKsinnovation ecosystem of institutions witha worldwide reputation is a source ofcompetitive advantage. The government

will build on this to provide incentives forgreater collaboration between businessesand universities, remove barriers to clusterdevelopment and strengthen essential partsof the infrastructure. This will includecontinuing support for the Design CouncilsInnovate for Universities programme to helppromote a greater understanding of how designcan help university Technology TransferOfces to commercialise academic research.

gLobaL CoLLaboration responding to the international challengesand opportunities of changing innovation

geography. Innovation and research areincreasingly international endeavours. Thegovernment will develop and support newforms of international partnership andcollaboration. It will promote UK expertisearound the world including attracting inwardinvestment and exploiting opportunities ingrowth markets. As part of this approach, thestrategy identies the work the Design Council

will undertake with UKTI to promote the use

of the UKs design strengths to support UKbusiness and to attract inward investment.

neW innovation CHaLLenges encouraging innovation in all parts ofour society, with the government actingas an innovation leader as a customerfor new products and through deliveringpublic services. The government can enableinnovation in a number of ways includingthrough mobilising resources and new

partnerships around big societal challenges,acting as a lead customer for innovativegoods and services, and through developingand promoting innovations that deliver

better and more efcient public services. Thegovernments strategy recognises the successof design-led open innovation competitionsthat address major societal challenges, andthe important role that design can play instrengthening the public sectors capacity to be

an intelligent customer delivering cost savingsand improved efciency. The integral rolethat design has to play in each of these areasis explored in greater detail in the followingsections of this paper and is reected in theDesign for Innovation Actions summarisedin section 10.

Design or inn ovation | 1 INNOVATION AND GROWTH


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Good design is essential to good business.It turns new ideas into practical products,environments and services around the

changing needs of users. This sectiondescribes design in the context of

business innovation i.

Cy u h w d.Creative ideas that may result in innovationcome from multiple sources including front-line staff within a business, specialists intechnological or scientic discovery that

may be external to a business, and from theengagement of citizens and consumers.

i u u d lu.Innovation applies ideas and new knowledgeto the production of goods and servicesto improve product quality and processperformance. It is driver of renewal andgrowth in an organisation and hence alsoin the wider economy.

D h cc wcy d .Design shapes ideas to become practicaland attractive propositions for users orcustomers. Design may be described ascreativity deployed to a specic end.

th cmm u d h :

a c d u-cd

ppch plm l.The idea of adopting design principlesat the heart of business culture andmanagement is linked to global businesssuccess stories such as at Apple, Dysonand Burberry. Design Thinking buildson theories around creative culture andthinking styles and deploys design methods

within strategic business management ii.

a mm pc hdlpm w pduc d c.The design process is a highly denedseries of actions and staged gateways thatguides and controls research, developmentand production in manufacturing andservice businesses. The design processtypically includes both technical design(such as engineering for manufacture)and non-technical design (such asexperience and identity).

a p lkdy cmm dcpl.Good design outcomes in business aresupported by professional designers anddesign managers, some who work inconsultancy and others within client rms.The professions of design have developed overmore than 150 years through the educationalroutes of art and design, engineering andarchitecture. They are closely linked andfrequently taught within the same schools.

Deining Design WitHin innovation 2

blchdChas A Blatchford & Sons

microprocessor-controlled

knee, the Intelligent Prosthesis,

led to the market accepting

electronic control of lower

limbs. It was a major step in

changing amputees lives. Saeed

Zahedi OBE, the companys

Technical Director and

shortlisted for the 2011 Prince

Philip Designers Prize,

has commented when

amputees say they can walk

nine miles without getting tired,

Im satised were on the right

path. Blatchfords experience

demonstrates the role of design

as a creative, user-centred

approach to problem solving

combining technical and

customer experience aspects

of product development.

Design or inn ovation | 2 DE FINING DESIGN WITHIN INNOVATION


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As areas for competitive advantage, suchas the use of technology, become moreglobally contested, design has become the

differentiator for business innovation. Thissection looks at the expansion of design in

policy, management and business education.

bu c udThe adage that if you cant compete on costall you have is design has been exempliedthrough powerful case-studies over the lastdecade. The turnaround of Apple from a loss-making computer company in the mid-90s

to the second biggest company in the worldis a consequence of a design-led approach toinnovation and a powerful partnership at thetop of the business between the late CEO, SteveJobs, and the Senior Vice President of Design,Jonathan Ive. Similar examples include theturnaround of the clothes retailer Burberryto become a top performing company in theFTSE 100 over the last six years. In this case,

business commentators credit the consistentgrowth to a similar style of partnership

between CEO Angela Ahrends and ChiefCreative Ofcer, Christopher Bailey.Leading UK manufacturers, such asDyson, JCB and Jaguar all regarddesign as essential to their expansionin highly competitive global markets.

Cmpy pdAnecdotal case studies of an expansion ofdesign are supported by wider evidence of

business spending. UK rms cite design asincreasing in importance when combatingthe effects of recessioniii. A 2008 reportfrom Cambridge Universitys Institute forManufacturing calculatesdesign expenditure in the UK at around50bn annuallyiv.

A rise in design for innovation spending is a keyaspect of a wider shift in business investment

over the last thirty years away from tangibles(such as plant and machinery) and towardsintangibles (such as knowledge-based servicesincluding design). OECD employment inknowledge-based services increased from 50million in 1970 to over 150 million by 2005v.

tHe exPansion o Design 3Design or inn ovation | 3 THE EXPANSION OF DESIGN

buyBurberry, under Chief Creative

Ofcer, Christopher Bailey

MBE, has used design-led

innovation to rejuvenate its

brand offer from a traditional

British clothes manufacturer

into leading luxury brand in less

than a decade. The company

fully integrates the fashion,

materials and process elements

of their operations with the useof the latest communication

tools, such as digital social

media, to extend its brand reach

and appeal to customers.

In the nal three months of

2010, Burberry enjoyed a 36

per cent increase in global

retail sales, driven largely

by high-end consumers

in emerging markets, and

posted record high share

prices in early 2011. The

companys turnaround shows

a UK business using design

to succeed in an increasinglycompetitive global market.


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ld pluSouth Korean-born Min-Kyu

Choi, an MA design graduate

from the Royal College of Art won

the Brit Insurance Designs of the

Year Award in 2010 for his folding

plug design concept. Folding at

for storage, the design reduced

the overall plug size by over 70%,

folding down to just 10mm wide

no thicker than a Macbook Air.

The original folding plug, shown

in the image, is now being

developed by Made in Mind, a

venture comprising of Choi and

London based businessman

Matthew Judkins rumoured

for release early 2012. The

folding plug illustrates how

design education, combining

appreciation of design with

creative engineering, can lead to

the development of products withstrong commercial potential.

Design or inn ovation | 3 THE EXPANSION OF DESIGN

D plcyAs businesses seek to trade in high-valuegoods and intellectual property, national

governments have thrown their weight behindefforts to strengthen and protect local designcapabilities. Respective plans reect the varyingcharacteristics of national innovation systems.The EU launched a design innovation policy in2010 with funding for projects that raise theperformance of SMEs. Most individual EUmember states have their own bespoke policiesand plans. For instance, this year the DanishDepartment of Construction and Enterprise

published its Design Vision 2020 with a strongemphasis on challenge-led innovation andpublic services. The Korean governmentcredits the success of its manufacturingindustry, including global players Samsungand LG, to investment in design. In 2009China announced a strategy to shift fromMade in China to Designed in China as partof its plan to reduce dependency on low-valuemanufacturing and develop original productsand brands. This has led to establishing

twenty-seven design zones with incubators,prototyping and research capabilities.

D u ducBusiness schools have responded quickly tothe rising demand for design teaching

within their curricula. As companies seekto integrate design and accelerate innovation,the requirement for bespoke courses andmodules within MBAs has proliferated.

The rst so-called D-School was establishedwithin Stanford in 2003. Now sited in the $35mHasso Plattner Institute of Design,

it is one of 60 D-Schools in a growingleague table recorded and monitored byBusinessWeek. Design is now integratedinto teaching at Harvard, MIT, Illinois Instituteof Technology, Carnegie Mellonand other leading US MBA schools. Some

business schools, such as the RotmanSchool of Management in Canada, haveplaced design at the centre of their pedagogy.

Design in business teaching has spreadfrom the US to Europe and the Far East.In Germany the complete model of theStanford D-School has been exported to theUniversity of Potsdam. The US educationalmodel is interdisciplinary with businesscourses adapting to integrate design.

Since 2005, some UK universities haveexperimented in multidisciplinary programmesstrengthening links between business schools

and design schools. At Imperial Collegedesign has been incorporated in to the MBAas part of a long-standing relationship withthe Royal College of Art. Other examplesinclude Northumbria University whichoffers a Masters in Multi-disciplinary DesignInnovation run by the School of Designin collaboration with Newcastle BusinessSchool and the School of Computing,Engineering and Information Sciences.


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Alongside strengths in science andtechnology, the UK has a world-class designindustry. This section provides an overview

of the shape and nature of UK design.

UK design is a global success story and apowerful sector to help accelerate innovationand growth. It is supported by one of thelargest design education systems with someof the most highly sought-after collegesglobally. British art and design colleges havedeveloped over 150 years and continue toeducate some of the worlds leading designers,

who in turn are sought internationally fortheir creativity and skill. Some of the best-known names in design are British and manyof the worlds best brands, buildings andproducts are designed from studios in the UK.

In 2010, the Design Councils sector surveymapped the industry calculating its size at230,000 designers, making it the largestdesign industry in Europevi. Despite therecession the sector continues to expand.

Since 2005 the design industry has grown29% with earnings up by 3.4bn. Itsturnover is calculated at 15bn includingconsultancy and in-house design teams.

Most UK design consultancies tend to bemicro businesses selling their servicesnationally. A high proportion of the

leading design rms, however, exporttheir services around the world. Someof the top consultancies in areas such asindustrial design and architecture nowreport few or even no UK clients.

The UK design infrastructure is well-regardedinternationally and includes strong culturalassets such as the Victoria and AlbertMuseum and the Design Museum, robust

trade and professional associations andstrong local networks. The infrastructureis well positioned to engage in nationalefforts for innovation and growth.

tHe UK Design seCtor 4

bh Pl shh ep, 2010The Shanghai Expo provided

a platform for countries to

demonstrate their strengths,

identity and creative abilities.

The Heatherwick design studio

and wider project team, rather

than creating a conventional

advertisement for the UK,

worked with Kew Gardens

Millennium Seedbank to design

the iconic Seed Cathedral.

Awarded the Gold Medal at

the Expo, the Pavilion shows

how design shapes ideas to

become practical and attractive

propositions for users or

customers that can break the

mould of traditional thinking.

The Pavilion was a powerful

advertisement for UK design as

a global success story.

Design or inn ovation | 4 THE UK DESIGN SECTOR


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The expansion of design into innovationmanagement and economic strategy has

provided the research base used by policy-

makers for insight and intervention. Thissection provides an overview of the economicrole of design.Design goes hand in hand with civilisationas it is a manifestation of the human impetusto make things better. As such design cannot

be reduced to a set of economic metrics asits value must be understood on many levelsincluding socially and culturally. For instance,

a well-designed building or public space, suchas the new Olympic Park, may deliver civicpride, build social cohesion or improve healthoutcomes, as well as providing jobs in theconstruction and engineering industry.

th lu d uThere is, however, a body of researchproviding numeric data on the value of

design to business. The headline numbersdemonstrate the potential of design forgrowth and innovation:

The Design Council tracked public quotedrms that use design intensively over aten-year period between 1994 and 2004and compared them to poorer design-users.The design intensive rms outperformedtheir peers by 200% through bull and

bear marketsvii

.

80% of UK businesses believe thatdesign will help them stay competitivein the current economic climate. Thisgure rises to 97% among rapidlygrowing companiesviii.

An in-depth Value of Design Survey of 503businesses by the Design Council showsthat every 100 a design alert business

spends on design increases turnover by225. The survey also reports businessesthat see design as integral are more thantwice as likely as others to see rapid growth ix.

UK rms consider design to be the sixthmost important factor driving businesssuccess higher than R&D and marketing.The number one slot was quality of staffand the second was nancial managementx.

eConoMiC eviDenCe on tHe roLe o Design 5

olympc vldmThe 6,000-seat Olympic

Velodrome, built by the Olympic

Delivery Authority (ODA)

and designed by a team led by

Hopkins Architects, has been

awarded the Prime Ministers

Better Public Building Award

which recognises new buildings,

places and spaces that improvethe delivery of public services,

give a sense of identity,

community and local pride, and

help build a sustainable future.

The Mayor of London, Boris

Johnson, commented that:

Not only does the Velodrome

represent a fantastic investment

in sport, its a world-class

achievement in British

architecture and design. The

Velodrome shows how good

design can promote economic,environmental and social

regeneration.

Design or inn ovation | 5 ECONOMIC EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF DESIGN


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ecmc mpc sMe

clud h-ch d -upEvidence from the Design Council andother international policy organisationsidenties high potential returns from raisingawareness of design with SMEs. Wherelarger companies benet from dedicateddesign managers, smaller companiesfrequently lack a strategic approach todesign in management, relevant designprocess for product or service development,as well as the condence and know-howto commission professional designers.

In the wake of the banking collapse in 2008,the Design Council completed its Designin Britain survey of 1,500 UK rms xi. Thishas been a longitudinal survey dating backtwenty years. Over the three-year periodsince the previous survey the value rmsplaced on design increased signicantly:

the proportion of rms who regarddesign as integral doubled to 30%

the use of the mix of design disciplinesrose by 15%

the majority of UK rms nowbelieve design will help them staycompetitive through the downturn.

The survey underlines many inherentweaknesses in the use of design by smallercompanies. The discrepancy between

large and small businesses commissioningdesign reects a broader issue aroundsmall businesses redesigning productsand innovating. For instance larger

businesses are almost twice as likely tocommission design (61%) compared to micro-

businesses who frequently view externaldesigners as high-risk and high cost.

Regional variations point to stronger know-

how and access to design in the South Eastwhile in some areas, such as the North Easta relatively high proportion of rms (23%)

view design, worryingly, as having no rolein their business. Similarly in some sectors

where innovation is traditionally viewed asweak, such as construction and agriculture,the value placed on design is half that in stronginnovation sectors such as manufacturing.This information may help policy-makersoptimise the advice and support given to

SMEs, including the use of incentives such asR&D Tax Credits and Innovation Vouchers.

Design or inn ovation | 5 ECONOMIC EVIDENCE ON THE ROLE OF DESIGN

suuSugru is a new air-curing

rubber made by Jane ni

Dhulchaointighs company,

FormFormForm, in East

London. Sugru can be moulded

into any shape, bonds like

a glue and cures at room

temperature to a tough exible

silicone rubber. It has beenenthusiastically adopted

by people looking to repair

and adapt their products

instead of buying new.

The Designing Demand

programme helped Sugru

commercialise the product

starting with being clear on

what differentiated it within its

eld. Sugru was listed as one

of The 50 Best Inventions of

2010 by TIME magazine and

demonstrates the importance ofraising the awareness of design

with start-ups and SMEs and

supporting them to adopt a

strategic approach to design.


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The UK has a sophisticated ecosystem oforganisations across the public, educationand private sectors providing expertise

in such areas as research, design, qualityassurance, technology development andintellectual property.

Part of the governments contributiontowards the ecosystem is through itsinnovation infrastructure made up ofspecialist institutions such as the DesignCouncil, Technology Strategy Board and

NESTA. This section provides evidence on

the role of government in strengtheningconnections to design and how this supports

innovation in business and science.

D DmdOver the last four years the Design Councilhas provided high-level design coaching toover 2,300 SMEs through a programme calledDesigning Demand, one of the governmentsSolutions for Business products. The purposeof this BIS-funded programme has been to

counteract a lack of design capability andcondence in SMEs. It has provided furtherevidence on the impact of design and alsothe benets of raising standards of designleadership at board level.

The service deploys trained Design Associatesto mentor the CEOs and management teams ofSMEs providing up to 10 days of coaching and

peer-to-peer support. Typically the Associateshelp the management team understand howdesign can be used strategically to boostcompany performance. Together they identifyopportunities, implement cultural and processchanges, and instigate projects includingcommissioning designers.

An independent evaluation of the service in2011 showed that every 1 invested in a design

project from the service returned over 25within a two-year period. Typical benetsfor participating rms have been accelerated

business growth, increased market share andsuccessful new product, service and branddevelopmentxii.

The priority for business supportprogrammes, such as Designing Demand,is to maximise the impact of governmentinvestment through targeting priority sectors

and incentivising businesses to contributetowards participation. As industry seekssimple and easily navigable services, the onusis on the providers to ensure that the diverseoffers, such as Business Coaching for Growthand the Manufacturing Advisory Service,are smartly linked and offer a exible andinterlinked mix of activities.

a bUsiness innovation inrastrUCtUreWitH Design insiDe 6Design or inn ovation | 6 A BUSINESS INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH DESIGN INSIDE

Wh LcWhite Logistics is a family

owned, medium sized haulage

business based in the West

Midlands. In 2010, with the

support of the Design Council,

Whites developed a strategic

plan for a clear, sector-leadingidentity that communicates

ambition and a distinctive

brand promise.

The wider plan also addressed

improved operational efciency,

a more focused customer/sales

strategy, and the development of

their people. The transformation

of White Logistics demonstrates

the role of design in areasthat have traditionally been

seen as lacking in innovation

with little to differentiate one

business from the other.


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n sm MThe University of Oxford

developed a new process for

measuring electricity usage

but needed design support to

take it to a stage where they

could raise seed investment for

a spinout company and fund

the next stage of development.

The Design Councils Innovate

for Universities programme

helped the team to develop the

product and identify market

opportunities. The original

spinout was bought by energy

management rm, Navetas.

Further investment of 4m

has been secured to enablethe company to continue

developing the product and

run national trials with a

major UK energy company.

Cmmcl ccThe high ratio of impact to cost of theDesigning Demand approach lends itself wellto targeting clusters or sectors where thereis high-growth opportunity. For instance,a version of the programme, called Innovatefor Universities, has helped universitiesto commercialise science research andtechnology. In this instance the Design

Associates are paired with programmeleaders in Technology Transfer Ofces.

The design advice builds capability within

research teams that tend to be strong onresearch, pure science and technology andweak on user-led design. Practical mentoringhas helped accelerate ventures to market.In the case of Oxford University the mentorsupported the universitys most successfulspinout in recent years ultimately attractingover 4m towards the smart-meteringtechnology. Typical benets of bringing designto early science and technology include de-risking projects through prototyping, sorting

usability issues through co-design withusers, and attracting investment through

visualisation and brand presentations.

t cluThe lessons from Innovate for Universitiesand Designing Demand re-enforce evidencethat technology intensive rms and start-ups

benet from strong embedded design skills.Mentoring is also an effective approach andcan be incorporated into existing supportmechanisms such as those to supporttechnology transfer, including the newCatapult technology and innovation centres,and other forms of support such as BusinessCoaching for Growth.

As well as targeting high-growth clusters,the design coaching approach has provedsuccessful in sectors where low rates ofinnovation and stubborn slow-growth areprevalent. For instance, Designing Demandhas demonstrated high impacts in terms ofprots and jobs in agriculture, haulage andlow-technology manufacturing.

Design or inn ovation | 6 A BUSINESS INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH DESIGN INSIDE


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a PUbLiC innovation inrastrUCtUreWitH Design insiDe 7To stimulate a culture of innovation, reform

public services and meet the needs of publicpolicy challenges, government has a role

as lead commissioner and innovator. Thissection provides evidence on the role ofdesign within public sector innovation.

To meet the needs of public service reformand address the many urgent public policychallenges, government must lead as aninnovator. From streamlining centralisedservices such as road taxation, improvinglocally administered housing benets, or

developing new solutions to the rising tide ofchronic disease and obesity, civil servants arecharged with achieving the NAO descriptionof public sector innovation new ideas that

work at creating public value.

Many good examples of transformation andinnovation within central and local authoritydelivery already exist. The redesign, for

instance, of the Passport Agency turned aservice that was in crisis in 1999 to the UKshighest rated private or public service for three

years in a row by 2006xiii. However, evidencefrom within and outside government points tolong-term systemic issues around public sectorinnovation, including the need for culturechange around risk and experimentation,

broader staff and customer engagement ininnovation, and improved skills in engaging

the private sector.

NESTA research points to public sectorinnovations happening despite ratherthan because of the organisational culturearound themxiv. The tendency is for agenciesto work in silos with new ideas failing to owacross departmental boundaries. Accordingto governments own research, the impact ofdesign on public sector organisations has also

been largely neglectedxv.

nw UK PpIn 1999, at least 500 holidays

were cancelled because of poor

performance at the UK Passport

Agency with applications taking

up to 10 times longer than they

were meant to. Yet in 2006,

for the third year running,

the agency ranked rst for

overall customer satisfaction

in the CompariSat surveys

of public and private sectororganisations, with a 97%

approval rate. This was achieved

by prioritising customer

relations and service design.

More recently, the UK Passport

has been redesigned and is

now one of the most secure and

trusted documents in the world,

meeting rigorous international

standards and providing a

more efcient service for UK

citizens travelling abroad.

Design or inn ovation | 7 A PUBLIC INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH DESIGN INSIDE


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The Design Councils demonstration projectsprovide an action research base on the impactof design in the public sector.

Pulc sc y DThe Public Services by Design programme,funded by BIS, has provided strategicsupport and mentoring to local and centralgovernment projects including a localauthority homelessness service and HMRCscompany registration scheme. Resultsover two years with 30 agencies point tosignicant potential efciencies and savings.

Independent evaluation estimates that forevery 1 spent raising design capability,26 has been saved by providersxvi.

D Cucl ChllThe Design Council Challenges programmehas demonstrated the value of openinnovation within the public sector. A keyfocus has been around security with a HomeOfce programme identifying innovations toDesign Out Crime and a range of preventative

healthcare challenges with the Departmentof Health, including infection control, patientdignity, assisted living for the ageing anddementia care.

Working frequently in collaboration withpartners such as the Technology StrategyBoard, the programmes have used design

techniques to engage citizens, front-line staffand specialists in bringing new ideas to market.The emphasis has been on maximising theearly participation and investment of theprivate sector combining design, technologyand producers. The consistent results havedelivered rapid acceleration and uptake ofcommercial ideas. Recent evaluation of twohealth projects identied over 25m of sales

within two years for SMEs who participated

in the programme and forecast returns of 23for every 1 spent by the public sector xvii.

Lessons from these demonstrations point tosignicant benets for the public sector inachieving innovation at scale, as well as inefciency through increasing its capabilityto use design as a strategic approach, embeddesign processes within leadership andmanagement and commissioning designprofessionals more effectively.

rduc vlc da a&eNHS staff experience more

than 150 incidents of violence

and aggression every day with

a nancial cost that exceeds

69m annually. Working with

the Department of Health,

the Design Council has run

a UK-wide open innovation

competition to tackle this issue.

This holistic design approach

has identied solutions to

improve the patient experience,

support frontline staff, and

inform and inspire key NHS

decision-makers. The solutions

are designed to give a clear

return on investment both

nancial and in the experience

of staff and patients.

Design or inn ovation | 7 A PUBLIC INNOVATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH DESIGN INSIDE


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As the dynamics of innovation change,government has a role in working withindustry to develop a workforce with relevant

design skills and capabilities. This sectionreects on the role of the education system.

apply h l ducSystemic issues of weak design capability

within organisational management couldpotentially be addressed over a longerperiod through the education system.The siloed approach to design education inschools results in many students lacking any

understanding of the basic business factsaround design. For instance, current GCSEstudies in business and economics fail to addressdesign for business competitiveness andinnovation. A limited number of schools benetfrom cross-curricular design programmesor have specialist status such as the JCB

Academy, where design and engineering arefully integrated into all subjects.

High quality Design & Technology teaching

in schools is also important to maintainingand growing a pipeline of students enteringdesign, architecture and engineering HEcourses and on into the professions. Involvingdesign and engineering practitioners inschools brings Design & Technology to life forstudents and teachers, enhances the qualityof teaching and learning and gives studentsaccess to professional role-models that mightencourage them to consider careers in design,architecture and engineering.

There are good current examples of suchcross-curricular design activity that aim to

broaden access to design within primary and

secondary education. These include theSorrell Foundations National Art & DesignSaturday Club which gives young peopleaged 1416 the opportunity to study art anddesign every Saturday morning at their localart and design college or university for free.The Design Councils Eco Design Challengeis a further example. This programme givesstudents the opportunity to make parts oftheir school more sustainable by working with

designers to calculate the size of their schoolsecological footprint and then to create ways tomake it smaller.

These initiatives help inform the educationand career decisions young people take. Inaddition, they demonstrate that students

who do not pursue design and the relateddisciplines further in their education andcareers still benet from the early developmentof decision-making and problem-solving

skills that design education brings, particularlywith an interdisciplinary approach.

Further research is needed to appraisethe impact that the development ofinterdisciplinary approaches to schooleducation could have on national innovationcapability.

PLanning or tHe next generation o innovators 8

th JCb acdmyThe JCB Academy is a

University Technical College

for 1419 year-old students

with a multidisciplinary

approach to providing high-

quality engineering and

business education to develop,

the engineers and business

leaders for the future.

The Academys specialist

programmes benet from

close links with industry

not just JCB, as the main

industry sponsor, but also

other major engineering

rms in the area including

Rolls-Royce and Toyota. This

ensures that curriculum

and teaching activities are

embedded in real industrialpractice and challenges.

Design or inn ovation | 8 PLANNING FOR THE NEXT GENER ATION OF INNOVATORS


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The Innovation and Research Strategy forGrowth provides a framework for investmentin economic growth. This section reects the

governments commitment to design as anessential element of this process.

or DisCoverY anD DeveLoPMentStrengthen the commercialisation ofscientic and technological breakthroughsthrough design.

New investment in infrastructure, such as theCatapult technology and innovation centres,provides opportunities to match design know-

how and talent to where its most needed.Existing research funding and knowledgepartnerships can be exploited to address gapsor provide new evidence on priorities that willhave an impact on our capacity to innovate,such as the competitive global environmentor the role of our design education system.

or innovative bUsinessesStrengthen design capabilities andaccess to design.

Where government investment is being madeor sustained in new technologies governmentcan provide the connections to tried and testeddesign advice and networks. Targeted supportfor clusters and sectors through DesigningDemand and other business support products,including the Manufacturing AdvisoryService and Business Coaching for Growth,provide opportunities to accelerate innovation

by using design and exploiting UK design

capabilities. The uptake of design can also beincentivised through R&D Tax Credits andInnovation Vouchers.

or KnoWLeDge LoWs in tHeinnovation eCosYsteMUse design to strengthen connections

between universities and the widerinnovation infrastructure.

A greater understanding within universitiesof the use of strategic design will speedup the commercialisation process byhelping identify market needs, making newconcepts viable and appealing, attracting newinvestment and reducing risk. An expansionof multidisciplinary approaches at post-graduate level in design, business, science

and engineering education would strengthenthe role of universities in the innovationecosystem.

or gLobaL CoLLaborationUse design to attract inward investmentand promote export opportunity.

Initiatives such as Tech City UK provide anopportunity to attract investment based onthe access to UK design and creative skills.The Olympics and wider programmes ofthe government and UKTI provide ongoingopportunities to establish connections fordesign rms and design-led businesses. Theexisting design sector infrastructure includingevents, cultural institutions and organisationscan help maximise trade and investment.

or neW innovation CHaLLengesDemonstrate design leadership incommissioning services and public policy.

The continued efforts to reform publicservices provide an ongoing opportunity toengage design in achieving transformationalchange and in delivering efciencies acrossthe system. Design leadership and skills can

be incorporated into broader managementand leadership training. Open innovationdesign projects on new policy challengescan incentivise early engagement betweengovernment, technology and business.

Design or innovation PoLiCY Priorities 9Design or inn ovation | 9 DESIGN FOR INNOVATION POLICY PRIORITIES


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Design is a cross-cutting theme in thegovernments Innovation and Research

Strategy for Growth. This section lists agreed

and funded design-related actions that theDesign Council will take forward workingwith partners.

aCtion or DisCoverYanD DeveLoPMentac 1:A stronger bridge will be builtbetween design and technology through theCatapult technology and innovation centres.

The new Catapult network being establishedby the Technology Strategy Board willstimulate innovation, accelerate growth andanchor high value development in the UK.The Catapults will provide access to the besttechnical expertise, infrastructure, skills andequipment resources which companies,particularly small ones, need to innovate andgrow. The use of design for commercialisingtechnology will be integrated within the role

and mission of the Catapults. To supportthe development of this approach, Catapults

will have access to expert help and adviceincluding, for example, high-level guidancefrom a panel of design experts of internationalstanding which the Design Council willhelp establish.

Each Catapult will be encouraged to workout the best approach to t their speciccircumstances. Examples of approaches

they should consider include:

offering a design mentoring servicetailored to meet the needs of theirtechnology and sector. The DesigningDemand and the Innovate for Universitiesprogrammes are good models to informsuch tailored services;

bringing together the design, technologyand manufacturing communities to

address particular major challengesand opportunities. This approach could

build on the TSBs Innovation Platformsprogramme by adding a specic designelement; and

participating in a design-based KnowledgeTransfer Partnership (KTP) scheme.Informed by the established KTPprogramme, this could involve placingdesign graduates (KTP Design Associates)

with Catapult business users. The businessusers would benet from both theexpertise of the Associate and the linkshe or she would bring to their parentuniversity or other research organisation.

Design or innovation aCtions 10Design or inn ovation | 10 DESIGN FOR INNOVATION ACTIONS


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aCtion or innovative bUsinessesac 2:Design will be made an integral

element of support for potential highgrowth SMEs through expanding the

Designing Demand programme anddelivering it in collaboration with otherbusiness support programmes.

The Design Council is delivering DesigningDemand, a BIS-funded mentoring programme,to build greater design capability andunderstanding among SMEs. Building on the

success of this programme, the government isincreasing its funding for Designing Demandto 1.3 million per annum. This expansionof the Designing Demand programme willenable up to 100 SMEs to receive supporteach year. Delivering it in collaboration

with other business support programmeswill help ensure that target businesses areprovided with an enhanced, more joined-upservice to help increase their productivity andcompetitiveness including through increasing

innovation. The Design Council will work withthe providers of Business Coaching for Growthand the Manufacturing Advisory Service toachieve this.

aCtion or KnoWLeDge LoWsin tHe innovation eCosYsteM

ac 3:The link between universitiesand design will be strengthened bybuilding on the success of the DesignCouncils Innovate for Universities

programme.

Funded by BIS, this programme haspromoted a greater understanding of howdesign can be integrated into TechnologyTransfer Ofce (TTO) projects and has

demonstrated how design can improve themarketability of new products includingthrough spinout companies. Benets include:reducing risk in the commercialisationprocess and maximising IP value, identifyingnew market opportunities, increasing speedof commercialisation, attracting newinvestment, success with competitive fundingapplications, improving team collaborationand providing new skills and methods. BISfunding is allowing a further seven university

TTOs around the UK to benet from thementoring programme in 2011/12.

ac 4: The Design Council will work withthe Arts and Humanities Research Council(AHRC) and other partners to develop aneffective and consistent means of measuringthe impact of design.

The Design Council and the AHRC will worktogether to develop a robust programme ofuniversity-led design research that will buildon previous design metrics work to improveunderstanding of how design, creativity andinnovation impact on economic performanceand social value creation. This will informexisting national and European metricsleading to greater adoption of design in theinnovation process.

Design or inn ovation | 10 DESIGN FOR INNOVATION ACTIONS


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aCtion or gLobaL CoLLaborationac 5: The Design Council will work

closely with UKTI to promote the use of theUKs design strengths to attract inwardinvestment and increase exports. This willinclude ensuring design is an integralelement of the support available forbusinesses in established and emergingclusters, such as Tech City UK, that provideconcentrations of opportunity to build onUK competitive strengths.

In taking this action forward, full advantagewill be taken of opportunities presented by theLondon Olympics including the associated UKBusiness Ambassadors initiative.

The Tech City UK initiative in East Londonprovides a good example of an opportunityto build on an existing cluster of technologycompanies. The initiative aims to support thearea to become the digital capital of Europeand location of choice for technology-based

entrepreneurs and companies. As well ascommitment and assistance from government,it has active support from major globaltechnology companies including Cisco, Inteland Google.

Design support should be an integral part of

the services offered to entrepreneurs settingup and growing businesses in the area. Toachieve this, the Design Council will:

work closely with UKTIs Tech CityInvestment Organisation to help overseas-

based, early stage technology entrepreneursand high growth innovative companiesrst to locate or expand in East Londonand then to access practical support to helpthem scale; and

partner with the Technology StrategyBoard and the UKTI to provide designsupport alongside the Tech City Launchpadinitiative to support and extend the existingEast London tech community.



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aCtion or neWinnovation CHaLLenges

ac 6:A toolkit and coaching programmewill be developed to support government tobecome a design leader in the commissioningof services and public policy.

In order to drive value for money in thecurrent scal climate government must enlistinnovative solutions. The lessons learnt fromexisting successful programmes now needto be drawn together to develop a design/

innovation-led approach to commissioningthat will be far more widely adopted acrossthe public sector. The approach needs to

be embedded in the culture of senior civilservants so that they provide design andinnovation leadership and can act as anintelligent customer.

Drawing from the success of their existingprogrammes and working with BIS, theCabinet Ofce and innovation partners,

the Design Council will develop:

a design/innovation-led commissioningtoolkit for adoption by governmentdepartments and more widely across thepublic sector; and

a supporting coaching programme forsenior civil servants. This could initially

be aimed at the Top 200 group andpotentially delivered in collaboration

with the Institute for Government.

With the benet of this support, the intentionis that each government department with amajor commissioning role will be encouragedto run at least one design/innovation-ledcommissioning competition over the next12 months.

ac 7:The Design Council will workwith government departments and

partners to develop further design-ledopen innovation competitions that addressmajor societal challenges.

The Design Council has developed andrun a number of successful design-ledopen innovation competitions to addressmajor societal challenges such as crime,

reducing the risk of infection in hospitals anddiscouraging violence and aggression in A&Edepartments. Building on this experience, theDesign Council will work with governmentdepartments, innovation partners and thedesign industry to identify further challengesthat would benet from this approach. Theaim will be to develop and test design-ledsolutions, including those best developedinitially at a local level, that can be deployedat a scale that matches the scope and severity

of the major public challenge addressed.



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enD notes

i Denition from HMT Cox Report onCreativity in Business (2005)

ii Design Thinking is a term developedby Prof David Kelly and theconsultancy IDEO at Stanford

iii Driving Recovery with Design,Design Council brieng (July 2009)

iv Livesey, F., Moultrie. J., Company spendingon design: Exploratory survey of UKrms 2008, Cambridge: University ofCambridge/Design Council (2009)

v Hutton, Will. Design in the KnowledgeEconomy 2020, Design Council (2010)

vi Design Industry Research,Design Council (2010)

vii Multidisciplinary design education inthe UK: Report and recommendations

from Multidisciplinary DesignNetwork, Design Council (2010)

viii Design in Britain 2008, DesignCouncil (2009)

ix The Value of Design Factnderreport, Design Council (2007)

x Design in Britain 2008, Design Council (2009)xi Design in Britain 2008, Design Council (2009)xii Independent evaluation of Designing

Demand, Eden Partners (2011)xiii Design Council Magazine, Issue

4, September 2008xiv Hughes, A., Moore, K., and Kataria,

N. Innovation in Public SectorOrganisations, NESTA (2010)

xv Acha, V. Open by Design: The Role ofDesign in Open Innovation. DIUS (2008)

xvi Independent evaluation of Public Servicesby Design, Centrifuge Consulting (2010)

xvii Independent evaluation ofDesign Bugs Out, Ekosgen (2009)

aCKnoWLeDgeMents

im cdP.4 Endolite Foot Range 2011,

designed by Saeed Zahedi OBECourtesy of Chas. A. Blatchford

P.6 ISS12 nale and runway shotsCourtesy of Burberry;Folding plugPhotographed by Ifeyinwa Onugha

P.7 UK Pavilion, Seed Cathedral at the ShanghaiExpo 2010, designed by Heatherwick StudioPhotographed by Iwan Baan

P.8 Velodrome, designed by Hopkins ArchitectsCourtesy of the Olympic Delivery AuthorityPhotographed by David Poultney

P.9 Sugru air-curing rubber,designed by FormFormFormCourtesy of Sugru

P.11 Navetas Smart Meter

Courtesy of NavetasPhotographed by Mike OakesP.11 White Logistics

Courtesy of Allotment Brand DesignPhotographed by Jonathan Oakes

P.12 2011 UK PassportCourtesy of Home Ofce

P.13 A&E full height panel slicesImage by Pearson Lloyd

P.14 Students at JCB AcademyCourtesy of JCB Academy

Design or inn ovation | END NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Documents

DesignForInnovation_Dec2011