What is design management?

Design management is an emerging interdisciplinary field between design and management studies. Its scope is wide, ranging from project management to personnel management to the management of the entire enterprise. The object of management is design, but in work and study, design alone is far from sufficient. Traditionally, design management was seen as limited to the management of design projects, but over time, it has evolved to include other aspects of organizational functionality and strategy. Based on my experience of leading teams over a dozen times and observing the operations of other teams, there are at least three levels of design management:

1. Object of Design Management:

• For project designers: The object of management is the process management of design projects, which is crucial to whether the entire design output meets expectations. What stage results are achieved at what time points, and the accumulation of stage results ultimately leads to the realization of design goals. There should be planning before design, as design management is based on rational management rather than solely relying on designers' intuition and sensibility. Rational management does not mean completely abandoning the role of sensibility. When unexpected situations arise in design management, we need to rely on intuitive thinking to creatively solve problems, which is also a manifestation of design thinking.

• For design team managers: The object of management includes not only the process management of the entire design project (at a higher level than the designer's level) but also the management of designers, that is, the management of the design team. The manager's skill framework should be 30% design + 70% management. Managers can better manage the team only after fully understanding the design. In terms of personnel selection, it is important to complement each other's strengths and make full use of each other's advantages. In specific management, team members' opinions should be fully respected, and the subjective initiative of team members should be trusted.

• For senior management of enterprises: The object of management includes not only the design team but also other teams at the same level. In the internet industry, there are development teams, strategy teams, user research teams, testing teams, etc. At this point, managers consider the cooperation and coordination of various teams to achieve the same goal, that is, strategic level management.

2. Types of Design Management:

• Product design management: In companies centered around products, design management mainly focuses on product design management, including strong relevance with product design, product marketing, research and development, and new product development. The focus of this design management mainly lies in the aesthetics, semiotics, and ergonomics of the product, to express the quality of the product, manage different product teams and product design platforms, and can be combined with the concept of "user-centered design."

• Brand design management: In companies centered around the market and brand, design management mainly focuses on brand design management, including enterprise brand management and product brand management. Making the brand the core of design decisions leads to strong attention to brand experience, customer touchpoints, reliability, recognition, and trust relationships. Design is driven by brand vision and strategy.

• Service design management: Service design management involves the emerging field of service design. It involves planning and organizing activities of personnel, infrastructure, communication, and material components for services. Its purpose is to improve service quality, the interaction between service providers and clients, and clients' experiences. The importance and scale of service departments in terms of employment and economic importance are increasing, requiring that services be well designed in order to maintain competitiveness and continue to attract customers. Design management traditionally focuses on the design and development of manufactured products; service design management can apply many of the same theoretical and methodological approaches. Systematic, strategic service design management helps companies gain a competitive advantage and conquer new markets. Companies that proactively identify customer interests and use this information to develop services and create good experiences for customers will open up new profitable business opportunities.