Three ways to get involved with shaping Design Council’s future research
We’re shaping up a new research and evaluation programme to investigate the state of design in the UK over the coming years. This will build on the strong foundations of our past research, Design Economy 2015 and 2018, which focused on the economic value of design.
We’re in the process of reaching out to designers, design users and non-users. We want to know what they think are the big questions that need to be answered about design’s role and impact, and what evidence is required to help people better use design to tackle their biggest challenges.
Here we provide details on how to provide your perspective through our online survey and upcoming events, as well as an early look about what we’ve been hearing so far.
Why are we doing this?
Evidence on the value of design is a barrier and lever for greater use of design. But how to effectively demonstrate and communicate design’s impact remains a big question in the UK and internationally.
We intend to produce a new Design Economy by the end of 2021, but we want to make sure it makes a meaningful contribution to helping people understand and make greater use of design. So, we are applying a design process to our research development and delivery. We’re taking a step back to challenge our assumptions about what data people need, before prioritising what emerging evidence gaps to tackle through our research programme.
Where possible, we’ll approach these challenges collaboratively: exploring how can we learn from innovation in other fields, and who might we partner with to develop fresh insight? We’ll work in the open and share what we learn as we go — what works and what doesn’t. This means communicating emerging insights throughout our work, as well as prototyping new methodologies and sharing research chapters as they develop.
To start, we want to hear from designers, people who use design in public and private practice, and those that don’t, to ensure we understand their needs and priorities.
You can read the full story behind our thinking here.
What have we learnt so far?
Since launching our approach in the summer, we’ve been amazed by the number of people that have got in touch to sign-up to receive updates and offer support: a big thank you.
We’ve had early conversations with individuals across public, private and third sectors, both with designers and those that commission design. This includes at events over the summer, such as:
· In Edinburgh, we took part in the Design Management Institute’s first event in Scotland hosted by Iain Aitchison, talking to in-house design leaders in public and private practice about their perspectives.
· In Manchester, thanks to Professor Martyn Evans and Professor Lady Rachel Cooper we consulted attendees at the first International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) conference to be hosted in the UK.
· In London, we gathered organisations interested in protecting and promoting the value of design skills, including what further research is needed.
Notable topics included the desire to consider the wider social value of design, as well as the financial benefits, particularly in relation to how we could expand our analysis to include design within the public sector. Also frequently mentioned is the role that design can play in addressing environmental challenges, and how we can demonstrate this. Within design practice, people wanted to know how can we best track how diverse our design community is and evidence the value of inclusivity, as well as how we understand what a future design skills pipeline could and should look like.
There have also been constructive challenges to how we develop and disseminate our work:
· Big numbers on the value of design to the economy can be powerful, but are they meaningful without a comparator to other sectors?
· If we continue to expand how design skills play a role across many industries and disciplines, do we need to clarify what design is not doing?
· How can our research not just be reflective of what’s been the state of the nation in previous years, but actively look to the future?
Over the coming months, we want to make sure that we give as many people as possible the chance to have their say on our research priorities.
Three ways that you can get involved:
1.Complete our online survey
This is your chance to tell us your priority research questions. There are no wrong answers: we want to hear your perspective.
We want to know how you use evidence in your role and what you think works. We’ll also ask for a couple of details about you so that we can understand who we’re hearing from and there’s a chance to tell us how you’d like to stay in touch.
It should take about 10 mins to complete, and we really appreciate the information you provide. At the Design Council, we make the most of each bit of insight we gather. We’ll analyse the information to look for key themes that can shape our next steps. We’ll also share back what we learn.
2. Come to one of our events
The Design Council is 75 this year, and to celebrate, we’re visiting different parts of the UK to understand what design looks like now and what’s coming next. Our workshops will be a chance to talk about what is next for practicing and evaluating the impact of design, and if you’re interested in becoming one of our Design Associates, we’d love to meet you.
Our first workshop is part of Belfast Design Week on Tuesday 5 November — we still have a couple of free tickets left!
Keep visiting our new events page for updates and announcements. We’ll also be keeping people informed via our newsletter and social media.
3. Get in touch
You can contribute and follow the conversation online using our hashtag: #OurDesignEconomy
If you have any opportunities to share our consultation with others, or are interested in developing new research together, please let us know. We’re also interested in finding out about existing research or good practice examples we might not be aware of. Get in touch with any questions and comments: research@designcouncil.org.uk
We look forward to hearing from you.
