Meanings and Uses of Design for Innovation: Conversations with UK Companies

Abstract

In this paper we discuss how design can have different meanings and uses in practice and what of those are related to innovation processes. The paper looks at diverse theoretical stances in regard to the meaning of design. Later on, the paper describes data collected through in-depth interviews with fifteen UK companies in the manufacturing, engineering, transport, urban living and digital services areas. The findings inform our understanding about definitions and uses of design. In addition, we identify some of the difficulties companies experience in measuring the value and contributions of design, and illustrate alternative methods companies use for that purpose. The paper concludes with a synthesis of the findings from this research.

Keywords:

• Design
• design ontology
• design in industry
• design epistemology
• design and innovation

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ricardo J. Hernandez

Ricardo J. Hernandez is currently Assistant Professor on Engineering Design at DILAB – Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Previously, he was Research Associate and Lecturer in Design and Innovation at ImaginationLancaster within Lancaster University, UK. His research interests cover sustainable design, innovation, design process, and digital fabrication.

Rachel Cooper

Rachel Cooper OBE is Distinguished Professor of Design Management and Policy at Lancaster University. She is a director of ImaginationLancaster, an open and exploratory design-led research centre conducting applied and theoretical research into people, products, places and their interactions. She is also Visiting Professor of the Royal College of Art. She was founding editor of The Design Journal and is president of the Design Research Society.

Constanza Miranda

Constanza Miranda is a multidisciplinary academic interested in the intersection between the creativity of design, the ethics of cultural anthropology and the tech aspects of engineering. With a PhD in Design from NCSU she is now faculty at Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering Department and does research in design education.

Julian Goñi

Julian Goñi is a psychologist specialized in interdisciplinary research. As a lecturer and researcher at the Engineering Design Initiative, Universidad Católica de Chile (DILAB UC), he researches the intersection between engineering design, social research and responsible innovation.