Design as a Competitive Advantage

New Thinking on How Designers, Innovators, and Other Colleagues Collaborate

When large organizations create new products, services, and digital offerings, often design work happens at the tail end of the process. Designers are asked to create packages, signage, and user interfaces after much of the development and problem-solving has already happened. But that approach sub-optimizes the organization’s ability to truly innovate, differentiate, and deliver remarkable customer experiences.

This series of interviews, surveys, and case studies will explore ways that some organizations are leveraging design as a competitive advantage. How can design enter into the process earlier? How can designers, innovators, and product management leaders better collaborate across organizational boundaries? How should customer insights inform design? How should non-designers be brought into the design process? We’ll explore these questions and others to help you think through opportunities to better integrate design into the work that you do.

This series was produced by Innovation Leader in partnership with PA Consulting, along with affiliated firms Astro Studios, Cooper Perkins, and Essential Design.