3.4 Design for Business in the Wild

Corresponding Chairs

Peiyao Cheng, Future Design School, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Sylvia Xihui Liu, School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Co-Chairs

Cees de Bont, Faculty of Design Engineering, National University of Singapore

Gianluca Carella, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Italy & MIT Morningside Academy for Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Abstract

This theme examines how design creates tangible business value in complex, real-world ecosystems – beyond controlled labs or idealized processes. It focuses on design’s role in navigating unpredictable market dynamics, emergent technologies, cultural shifts, and stakeholder conflicts that define modern enterprises. While design’s aesthetic and user-experience contributions are well-documented, its strategic impact on core business outcomes – profitability, resilience, market disruption, and sustainable growth – received insufficient attention. Design for Business in the Wild demands a critical examination of how design creates tangible value amidst real-world volatility. It urgently asks what robust methods can effectively quantify design's often-intangible impact on core business functions: from optimizing operations and building resilient supply chains to fundamentally reshaping organizational culture. Crucially, it explores how "wild" contexts – such as rapid crisis response, navigating informal economies, or adapting to sudden regulatory turbulence – fundamentally reshape design’s strategic business role, pushing it beyond aesthetics or user experience. This investigation moves decisively beyond theoretical models to position design as a core business function, not merely a service. It seeks evidence demonstrating design’s unique capacity to generate value through agility, systemic innovation, and ethical foresight precisely when predictability fails.

• Individual-Level: how do end-users' cognitive and emotional responses to specific design attributes (e.g., aesthetic simplicity, intuitive interaction, symbolic meaning) directly translate into measurable business value, such as willingness-to-pay, brand loyalty, or reduced support costs?

• Process-Level: how do design methodologies (e.g., human-centered design, cross-functional co-creation) accelerate time-to-market, reduce iteration costs, or mitigate risks in New Product Development (NPD) processes within resource-constrained firms? Particularly, how GAI influences design’s function in NPD process?  

• Firm-Level: how systematic design investment (e.g., design team seniority, prototyping budget, user research depth) influence tangible business outcomes, such as market share growth, profit margins, or customer lifetime value, controlling for market conditions and competitive actions?

Keywords

Design management, consumer/user responses, design strategies, firm performance, design investment

References

Liu, S. X., & Cheng, P. (2024). Transforming mature design management to better firm performance: The importance of top management involvement. Design Studies, 95, 101276.

Liu, X. S., & Rieple, A. (2019). Design management capability in entrepreneurship: A case study of Xiaomi. International Journal of Design, 13(3), 125-138.

Carella, G., Cautela, C., Melazzini, M., Pei, X., & Schmittinger, F. (2023). Design thinking for entrepreneurship: An explorative inquiry into its practical contributions. The Design Journal, 26(1), 7-31.

Cheng, P., & De Bont, C. (2022). Understanding design utilizations in China: Investigating design award-winning products based on innovation pyramid framework. International Journal of Design, 16(3), 115.

Roper, S., Micheli, P., Love, J. H., & Vahter, P. (2016). The roles and effectiveness of design in new product development: A study of Irish manufacturers. Research Policy, 45(1), 319-329.

d'Ippolito, B. (2014). The importance of design for firms' competitiveness: a review of the literature. Technovation, 34(11), 716-730.