According to many, even if design requires clarification, there is enough evidence to state that design is a major driver of innovation, critical to differentiation and branding and positively affecting companies’ financial and non-financial performance.
For some, while end-to-end experiences expand the role of design, they see it more as a requirement of more consumer facing industries, necessary to the embellishment and materialization of the offer. For others, design is a component of strategy and vision, a way of thinking that allows integration of innovation with customer experience and brand value throughout the entire process.
Even if not seen as very comprehensive, more impactful in some industries, hard to quantify, consensus is that design has a part to play in innovation and there is not only correlation but causation. The level of understanding of design dictates the extent to which design is applied and also to the proximity to the C-Suite that design and designers may have, as the place where innovation strategy and growth is discussed, prioritized and ultimately budgeted.
