The Danish Design Center and Dansk Industri carried out a study in 2016 entitled Exploring Design Impact. The results show that more than half of Danish companies use design methodology in their activities and that those that use design systematically in the development of products and services increase their profits.
Of these companies, an entire 74 percent state that design has had a positive effect on their bottom line and 80 percent believe that design strengthens their brand. Close to 70 percent claim that design provides user insight and leads to increased customer satisfaction. Of those companies that use design, 67 percent say that they expect to increase their competitiveness through design over the next five years.
Seventy-four percent of companies that use design report a positive effect on their bottom line.
Analysing the Norwegian market
Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) is currently conducting a comparable study to determine how the Norwegian business community uses design services and the value this adds to their activities. The results will be available in the autumn of 2017.
“It will be exciting to see whether we find the same tendencies in Norway as in Denmark,” says Anita C. Drabløs, Senior Advisor for Design at DOGA. The study will yield important knowledge about the market for the purchase of design services and the values created for the business community by design methodology. This information will be useful to both buyers of design and practitioners in the industry,” says Drabløs.
Design users twice as innovative
The last time DOGA conducted a study of the Norwegian market was in 2009. The results showed that companies that used design methodology were twice as innovative as those that were not active users. The companies that devoted attention to design exported twice as much as other companies and indicated that design had a positive effect on their competitiveness. These companies are clearly more user-oriented than others.
Here you can download the report Design Diagnose (Design Diagnosis).
International studies confirm tendencies
Several studies have been carried out internationally to assess the market for design services and the value that design creates for activities. Here you can read a number of them:
Design Management Institute: The Value of Design
Design Council: Design Economy Report
Design Council: Stimulating Business Growth
National Endowment for the Arts: Proof that design is good for business