Economic development

Design Management Review, Fall 2004 by Powell, Earl N

Economic development Now there's a phrase you can define almost as broadly as the word design. And its implications are equally broad.

When I was eight years old, I participated in my own sort of economic development. Each month I would deliver the monthly movie calendar to the houses in our neighborhood. My payment was free passes to see the Saturday afternoon movies. This experience taught me that there were some benefits to having a job that didn't involve money.

From the perspective of design management, economic development has several implications and benefits. Although successful design managers benefit financially from their employment, the responsibility they have to add value through design is important to their future, the success of their organization, and to all of us in a variety of ways. Over the years, DMI has tried to understand the role of design management on many different levels, ranging from the individual to the nation to the planet we all inhabit.

At the project level, people work together to make decisions around the development of a new product or service that will be purchased by other people if the perceived and functional value of the product or service warrants a purchase. Design's contribution needs to add perceptual, as well as functional, value; and these added values serve two purposes: to make the sale, and to optimize the use experience. Although I'm confident that this is obvious to most of you, there are several related benefits and measurements that combine for success, and particularly economic development.

In product development, design should add value by increasing usefulness, safety, sustainability, and many other features. Where economic development is concerned, effective design can improve the viability of an organization. Viewed from a national perspective, more viable organizations increase a country's exports and improve levels of employment, and so that nation's standard of living.

Journalists often ask me to compare countries in terms of quality of design. Some nations have a reputation for design flair, some for engineering, and others for design in specific industries. I am not comfortable with sweeping generalizations or judgments, so I usually suggest to the journalist that to me a more interesting question is: Which nation or economy creates jobs and a high standard of living through the utilization of design? For, in fact, some countries that are known for cutting-edge design don't reflect that in their economies. Consequently, their material culture and standard of living is actually at a different level than their quality of design.

It makes sense to me to say that design makes a significant contribution to economic development when its impact is pervasive throughout a society. This seems similar to the idea that good design is evident when all the details of a product or service are well thought out and essential. Think of it as food for thought-and the platform for many more challenges for you and for us at DMI.

Earl N. Powell