The strategic role of design in supporting knowledge exchange

Within the last decade design has had a strategic role in tackling escalating environmental, social and economic problems. Through design thinking, creative methods have been applied to problem solving in a process of collaboration and designers working in new territories and knowledge domains. As the designer has moved further afield the method of Knowledge Exchange (KE) has become more recognised as a democratic approach to collaboration with the ethos that everyone has something creative and productive to offer. This paper provides reflections on early stage findings from a strategic design innovation process in which collaborative partnerships between academics, SMEs and designers emerged through KE and suggests that there is value to be had from using design strategically for not only those from a business or academic background but also for those from the design community and points to a need for more training for designers from all disciplines in how to use design strategically

Sharing the vision: representing the matters of concern for design-led fledgling companies in Scotland

Design is being performed on an ever-increasing spectrum of complex practices arising in response to emerging markets and technologies, co-design, digital interaction, service design and cultures of innovation. This emerging notion of design has led to an expansive array of collaborative and facilitation skills to demonstrate and share how such methods can shape innovation. The meaning of these design things in practice can't be taken for granted as matters of fact, which raises a key challenge for design to represent its role through the contradictory nature of matters of concern. This paper explores an innovative, object-oriented approach within the field of design research, visually combining an actor-network theory framework with situational analysis, to report on the role of design for fledgling companies in Scotland, established and funded through the knowledge exchange hub Design in Action (DiA). Key findings and visual maps are presented from reflective discussions with actors from a selection of the businesses within DiA's portfolio. The suggestion is that any notions of strategic value, of engendering meaningful change, of sharing the vision of design, through design things, should be grounded in the reflexive interpretations of matters of concern that emerge.