--Professor He Renke, Department of Industrial Design, Hunan University
Since the famous saying of Thomas Watson Jr., general manager of IBM, "Good design means good business", Corporate managers have accepted in principle the idea that good design is one of the keys to corporate success.
But there is a lot of work to be done between accepting this concept and actually applying it. Making good design a reality in the enterprise is not just a matter of good intentions, but more importantly, a matter of skill.
Excellent design is not only a commodity purchased directly from designers or design units, but also produced within the company by stimulating and managing the company's own creative resources.
So, how can companies produce good designs? How do I choose or order a design from a designer? How do you actually make a design successful? The answer is to carry out effective design management in the enterprise and use design as a management tool.
Every enterprise has many resources, such as personnel resources, financial resources, material resources, etc., which have the possibility of centralized management or coordination of the enterprise, and can become an important means of enterprise management. As a resource of an enterprise, design can not only bring huge economic benefits to the enterprise, but also be used as a management tool.
In enterprises, good design requires good management, but good product design, visual communication design and environmental design are not the only results of good design management. The pursuit of good design has a relatively The design itself has a deeper meaning.
What design considers is the relationship between man and the tools he uses (here, the concept of tools is broad and refers to all industrial products). This characteristic of design makes it an intermediary for users to understand the product and the company that produces it. Therefore, design is the best concept to evaluate product quality and corporate communication quality. In fact, in products and communications, it is impossible to determine quality without the concept of design. This makes design a tool to determine and communicate corporate goals in a practical form, visualizing and communicating corporate goals.
As far as the characteristics of design management are concerned, because it crosses the traditional departmental boundaries in the enterprise and forms a new, closer structure, it helps to establish a hybrid advantage, which is important for Every business is important.
By creating an environment suitable for activities to achieve the established goals, the design becomes a means to energize the creative source of the enterprise, which is an important prerequisite for the development of the enterprise itself.
1. Design and Management
Although the importance of design has been recognized by more and more enterprises, this does not mean that the industrial management system has widely accepted the center of design. effect. Likewise, designers cannot say that they understand the problems or methods of management. However, as design penetrates into all aspects of the enterprise, a more complete integration between design and management will become inevitable.
First of all, modern managers, especially those of large companies, must determine production positioning based on broad market positioning. Managers must then be more aware of the importance of design than previous generations. Market orientation intensifies the focus on product, on consumer preferences and convenience, on public image, visual communication, corporate identity, etc., all of which are aspects of competitive corporate design issues. Only focusing on traditional management contents such as finance, personnel, fixed assets, production technology, etc. can no longer meet the requirements of the development of the times.
Second, the inevitability of technological development and the accelerating pace of change require increasing flexibility in management thinking, which means that large-scale industries are increasingly focusing on flexible production capabilities and Process flow to adapt to the changing production positioning caused by market positioning. Therefore, there will also be a change in management style, that is, from adapting to a stable market, stable products, and stable production lines to adapting to a changing market and constantly innovating in products and production processes. Innovation has become the central task of modern industrial enterprises, and it is natural for design to enter management decision-making.
In many foreign companies, design managers, like financial managers, personnel managers, and sales managers, play an important role in the company. In order to manage design affairs well, design managers must participate in other design management activities. Relatively speaking, design affairs management is still relatively simple work, such as determining design briefs, arranging design progress, controlling time and costs, etc.
The management of designers and design teams is an important part of design management, because design is completed through designers. Designers or design team management are mainly responsible for the selection of designers and determining the organizational form of designers, such as determining whether to use consulting designers or design firms outside the enterprise to commission designs, or to establish their own design departments, or both. Yes. In order to ensure the continuity of corporate design, it is necessary to maintain the relative stability of designers, and at the same time, opportunities must be created for a new generation of designers to inject new vitality into design. Design management must make long-term arrangements for this.
Design project management is to consider the position of design in the project management process when the enterprise arranges various practical work. Design plays a key role between the creative and innovative activities of enterprises and the control of the preparatory stages of business operations such as manufacturing, purchasing, and sales. In other words, design is a link between new product development and business operations. With this coordination mechanism, design management has become a central activity of the enterprise that determines success or failure.
Good design management regards the product and the communication characteristics of the product as the embodiment of the same concept. Therefore, all aspects of the design project should be developed in a "parallel" manner, rather than being disconnected. This requires an overall idea that runs through all aspects of the design project. At the beginning of the project, products, packaging, user manuals, promotional samples, advertising and other aspects should be considered comprehensively and developed in parallel. In order to do this, many complementary skills are needed to allow designers from various professions to communicate with each other.
This will not only unify the purpose of all aspects of the design project, but also may generate some new concepts due to the exchange of experts from various aspects who have rarely done anything before, and become the basis for project development. motivation and give full play to the creativity within the enterprise. If this goal is achieved, then the design work will not only generate an overall awareness of the product, but also stimulate the overall awareness of the enterprise itself. This will be an important contribution of design management to the enterprise.
For product-based companies, product design is one of the key factors in corporate image. Any product has dual functions, one is the direct function of use; the other is the indirect function of conveying the corporate image. In modern society, products have become an important carrier for people to convey social, cultural, economic and other information. Many consumers learn about manufacturers and even the country of production through specific products. In order to make full use of the communication function of the product, one of the main goals of the company's design management is to ensure that product design is synchronized with the company's overall strategy (including the company's business philosophy, target market, development direction, etc.). To achieve this goal, we must first let the company's senior executives realize that product design is an important means of communicating corporate strategy, and thus proactively connect product design with corporate strategy. Through design, transform a company's strategy into a unique product identity.
Taking the automobile industry as an example, the corporate strategies of major European automobile companies are fully reflected through their product design. Although Germany's BMW and Mercedes-Benz are both high-end, high-speed cars, they each have different value definitions and target markets. BMW positions its cars to "give driving joy", while Mercedes-Benz cars position themselves to "fast and comfortable". The former aims to give drivers high-speed pleasure, while the latter emphasizes safety and comfort for all occupants. Here BMW appeals to emotional choices, while Mercedes-Benz appeals to practical choices. The differences in the business philosophies of the two branches are fully reflected in the products, forming their own distinctive characteristics.
3. Organization of design projects and designer management
In order to complete specific design projects, enterprises need to establish corresponding design teams.
For some large enterprises with internal professional design departments, product development and design groups are generally established based on different new product design projects. This group maintains close contact with relevant technology, engineering research departments and other relevant departments to form product development Design matrix system.
The organizational form of the design project first depends on the type of the company's product, that is, it is clear whether the company's future product is a product with high technical and functional advantages in the sales process, or a product with high design positioning . The former is mainly some production equipment. Such as machine tools, construction machinery, power tools, etc., and the latter mainly refers to durable consumer goods such as furniture, household appliances, and daily necessities. The design of these products is largely affected by form, color, fashion, or other important psychological factors. .
If the company's products are technical, it is best to designate a competent person within the company and arrange for him to be responsible for the design work. Because technical products require relatively specialized technical knowledge and skills, having people who are familiar with the company's technical characteristics preside over the design will help give full play to the company's technical advantages. The design work first starts with describing the user's expectations for the future product, then formulates a technical plan and produces a working prototype that can perform its technical functions well. At this time, an industrial designer is invited to participate in the design team to reconsider the user's needs, adjust the product appearance, color, and ergonomics, and improve or remake the prototype. After this stage, people within the company can work independently. The development and design work of this type of product is hosted by technical personnel and completed with the assistance of designers. If it is foreseeable that there will be many similar jobs over a long period of time and the products have the same characteristics, then the company is best to hire an industrial designer of its own so that he has a detailed understanding of the technical characteristics of the product, thereby improving the quality of the design. quality.
If the company’s products are consumer-oriented durable consumer goods; consumers mainly decide whether to buy based on their eyes, then the company is best to entrust a designer or design firm outside the company to design new products. design. Because in this case, the company needs to introduce some information that the company itself does not have. Designers outside of these businesses must have authority over what is being designed and how the final product will look.
The specific selection of designers is a more complicated issue. If the company has no experience in this area, it is best to consult a knowledgeable person who is not involved in corporate design projects and let him provide ideas for the design work envisaged by the company. And introduce some designers who have completed the work to see if there are suitable candidates. Design is a kind of personalized work. Most good designers have their own characteristics. If there is a suitable candidate whose design works or design methods and style suit the needs of the enterprise, then contact that designer.
When selecting a designer, the company must be satisfied with the designer's designs for other manufacturers or other purposes. This is important because when working with this designer in the future, the company needs to have full confidence in his work.
In the product development and design process, inspiration, sensitivity, knowledge about social trends and talent play an important role, but they also require specialized skills from designers. If the development plan is economically expensive for the business, then an established designer should be selected. He has extensive experience having successfully completed this type of work before.
Of course, young designers should also be given some opportunities, but they should be allowed to start with small jobs until they not only develop their talents but also master the actual working methods in design. . In this way, the risk of the enterprise is reduced to a minimum. This may be criticized by young designers, but from a business perspective, it is indeed necessary. In other words, the selection of designers cannot be separated from the economic scale of the company's design work, otherwise it will take huge economic risks.
The design activities of an enterprise are ultimately realized through designers, and the organization and management of designers has obviously become one of the most important tasks of design management.
Because designers are often accustomed to adapting themselves to one-off jobs without fully considering the inherent connections reflected in these jobs. In addition, they may also indulge those who pursue novel and unrealistic ideas, implicitly maintain the "creativity" and "personality" of the design and be too stubborn. In this way, it is difficult for the company's design to maintain consistent and continuous identification characteristics. , causing trouble for consumers or users to identify the company's products and services, thus affecting the company's market competitiveness. The key to solving this problem lies in taking measures to effectively organize and manage designers. There are generally two main forms of designer organization. One is to rely on freelance designers or design firms outside the enterprise; the other is to establish a team of designers within the enterprise. These two situations will be discussed separately below.
(1) Organization and management of freelance designers
The so-called freelance designers refer to designers who engage in design work independently and are not affiliated with a specific enterprise. For many small and medium-sized enterprises, it is not economically feasible to establish their own team of designers, and it is also difficult to attract good designers to work in small enterprises. Therefore, it is only natural to use freelance designers to provide design services to companies.
Because freelance designers are free, it is even more important to manage their design work. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the products designed by each designer are consistent with the company's goals, rather than working independently, causing confusion; on the other hand, it is necessary to ensure the continuity of the design, so that the design will not be disconnected due to the replacement of designers. .
In order to achieve design coordination, it is important to prepare a mission statement for the product design project. The design brief should not only put forward the product functional requirements, but also enable the designer to understand the situation of the enterprise and link the design work with the visual identity system of the entire enterprise and the characteristics of the enterprise. For this reason, it is necessary for enterprises to develop a unified set of design principles as the rules that every designer must abide by to ensure the coordination of the design. Here, design management must strike a balance between uniformity and creativity. If too many restrictions are placed on designers, their creativity will be stifled; if designers are allowed to express their "personality", it will cause all kinds of troubles and make the design unmanageable. How to grasp this balance is a key to the success of design management. Therefore, when formulating and implementing design standards, there should be a certain degree of flexibility that can be appropriately modified when necessary.
In order to ensure the continuity of design, it is best to establish a longer-term stable relationship with a few selected freelance designers. This allows designers to have a deeper understanding of all aspects of the company, accumulate experience, make the design more suitable for the company's production technology and company goals, and establish a consistent design style.
Let us take a look at how the Danish B&O company manages designers. B&O's product design is well-known in the international design community, but the company does not have its own professional design department. Instead, it uses freelance designers through careful design management to establish the company's own design characteristics. Although the company's products are diverse and produced by different designers, they all have the B&O style. This is the success of design management.
The design team of B&O Company is international, because the company itself is international, and more than 85% of its products are exported. The company has established stable business relationships with many designers in the country as well as in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and other countries. Some designers have been working with the company for many years and have been with the company longer than most employees. They bring extremely valuable experience to the company and create design continuity.
J.Palshoj, head of design management at B&O, is a well-known figure in European design management. When talking about his work, he said: "Design management is about choosing appropriate designs. "They believe that if B&O does not have clear policies for product, design and marketing, the company will not have the freedom to live independently in these three areas. If designers carry out effective management, there will be no B&O design style.
To this end, the company formulated seven basic design principles in the late 1960s:
1) Realism: Restore sounds and images realistically, making people feel immersed in the scene. 2) Ease of understanding: Comprehensively consider the three aspects of product function, operation mode and material use, making the design itself a language of self-expression, thus establishing communication between product designers and users.
3) Reliability: Establish credibility in terms of products, sales and other activities. Product instructions should be as detailed and complete as possible. 4) Family: Technology is for the benefit of mankind, not the other way around. Products should be coordinated with the home environment as much as possible to make people feel close to them.
5) Conciseness: Electronic products have no inherent form. The design must respect the relationship between man and machine, and the operation should be simple. Design is a reflection of the times, not short-sighted fashion. 6) Personality: B&O's products are small batch and diversified
to meet consumers' individual requirements. 7) Creativity: As a medium-sized enterprise, B&O cannot conduct basic research in the field of electronics, but it can adopt the latest technology and combine it with innovation and innovative spirit.
There are no specific provisions on product appearance in the seven principles, but through these seven principles, a consistent way of design thinking and standards for evaluating designs have been established, so that new products of different designers can be The designs all reflect the same characteristics. In addition, the company has its own traditions in materials, surface technology, color, and texture processing, which ensures the continuity of the design in appearance and forms a simple and elegant B&O style.
(II ) Organization and management of factory-based designers
The so-called factory designers are relative to freelance designers. Factory-based designers are employed by specific companies and mainly perform design work for the company. Factory-resident designers generally do not work alone, but are composed of a certain number of designers to form the internal design department of the company, or join the product development department to engage in product design work. At present, many large international companies have their own design departments, and some large domestic enterprises have also established their own industrial design institutions. Factory-based designers are generally familiar with all aspects of the enterprise, so the products they design can better adapt to the company's technical and technological requirements. However, designers should be prevented from having a rigid mindset due to long-term design of a certain type of product. , lack of stimulation of new ideas, making the design pattern-like. Therefore, on the one hand, some companies encourage designers to perform design work for other companies; on the other hand, they occasionally invite designers from outside the company to participate in the development of specific design projects to introduce fresh design ideas.
In order to enable the resident designers to work in a coordinated manner and ensure the continuity of product design, appropriate arrangements need to be made from both the designer's organizational structure and design management. On the one hand, it is necessary to ensure direct and effective communication between the design team and all aspects related to the product development project. On the other hand, it is also necessary to establish basic principles for evaluating designs or norms for visual styling. Philips provides a good example in this regard.
Philips is one of the largest electrical appliance companies in the world. Robert Blaich, former chairman of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), has long served as the industrial design director of Philips, responsible for the product design and packaging of various consumer and professional electrical appliances for the company worldwide. He has achieved impressive results using design management as a strategic means of aligning product design with production and marketing. The main design work of Philips is carried out at the shape design center in Endowen, the Netherlands, where the company is headquartered. There are several groups within the center, each composed of professionals and resident designers who know the products very well. The content of the group's research and design is parallel to a certain product produced by the company, and they maintain close contact with the engineering research department of the product. In addition to designing the appearance of a certain product, these groups also have the following design and research tasks: ① Graphic design for packaging, advertising and other publicity; ② Arrangement and design of this product when used indoors; ③ Display design when displaying and selling such products.
This connects the three aspects of design: product, visual communication and environment.
The design center formulates appearance and other standards for new products, which is its most important function. When designing products, we must consider issues of standardization and serialization, and at the same time, we must consider that the product is consistent with the requirements of the market strategy and is competitive. Therefore, the design center has always maintained extremely close contact with Philips' marketing department and development department. The design center must effectively reflect standardization and competitiveness in the products in the following aspects: ① Ergonomics; ② Safety; ③ Practicality and convenience; ④ Effectiveness; ⑤ Perfect shape and color; ⑥ Durability sex.
In order to standardize the appearance of products, the design center compiled a "Design Center Style Manual", which records the visual standards of all products bearing the Philips trademark. For the appearance design center, the importance of product visual standards has the following points: ① Make the concepts and forms of products, services and communication clear and accurate; ② Through the standardization of visual factors, the appearance design center pursues product reliability, advanced The image of sex and professionalism is more vivid and accurate.
Under the product visual standards, the vast Philips product family around the world embodies unified identification characteristics.
(Manuscript of a lecture given by Professor He Renke from the Industrial Design Department of Hunan University at TCL in June 2000)