This insight generally describes an argument that the C-level position is not the best place for designers to lead design, that there are too many matters and practices that impact design’s effectiveness in the company, too many so-called ‘distractions’. The term effectiveness was purposefully chosen instead of efficiency, following a classic definition the effectiveness is […]
Research
How did you arrive to the list of insights?
Since the 1:1 interviews started with the broader question, we began collecting insights, and these started to populate a list that was clustered into several topics. For every 3 guests that mentioned the same insight, we created a shortlist which at a certain point had 3 main insights. As the conversations with guests proceeded, so […]
Were you satisfied with the sample composition and size in his research?
We believe we formulated a focused research question, and what was apparently a good idea, to research design leadership in F50 corporations because they have a lot of credible public data due to the intense scrutiny they are under, turned out to be a limiting factor for exactly the same reasons. These corporations, exactly because […]
Was there misalignment between the two surveys?
Both surveys had a number of questions in common, and though they were not written in the exact same way, the data collected is comparable and allows juxtaposing and insight generation. The three areas that both surveys addressed were: • State of design in the company they worked in • design definitions • Insights impacting […]
What was the research methodology?
The research of the doctoral thesis was focused on the development of knowledge of a particular context that impacts design, and the expectation is that the knowledge produced may later transform in different forms of practice. The research started with a given statement describing a situation, and has ended in specification to implement a solution, […]
What is the state of design leadership in large corporations?
Research on the state of leadership found that effective leadership development programs are a major force driving organizations’ ability to successfully transform, but when comparing findings from previous year, studies found that while many organizations intended to give Leadership and Development a more strategic role, the objective hasn’t necessarily been achieved. When asked why they […]
Has the value of design in business improved in the last 30 years?
In 1988 Peter Lawrence, co-founder of the DMI Design Management Institute and the Corporate Design Foundation, stated that design was a corporate asset requiring management like any other asset, commenting on the fact that many executives still treated design as superficial and expendable and suggesting designers need to participate in the customer research process. Though […]
Who is this research for?
The result of this research is aimed at a mid-level senior designer, who has had formal design education, who has already done some people management and enjoyed it, who believes in the power of large companies and desires to be in a position where she can influence the design direction of the company throughout its […]
What were your research objectives and hypothesis?
Objective 1: Discover existing research specifically dedicated to reasons why trained designers do not occupy high level positions in large corporations; Objective 2: Establish via engagement with designers and executives, insights that might be impeding designers from assuming high level positions in large corporations; Objective 3: Generate a number of hypothesis that could be researched […]
Sharing the PhD thesis
The thesis has > 200 pages + bibliography, we were required per PhD guidelines to go through the necessary literature review, research methodology and procedures, research findings, insights, final considerations and limitations of future work. Instead of sharing the raw document, we chose to break it down into posts of 300 words or less around […]