Steve runs Smallfry, a product design agency near Coventry. Although his UK and international clients appreciate the value Smallfry adds, many other businesses don’t. To overcome this barrier, Steve and his colleagues often use our statistics to help make the business case for design.
Now they can go further. Using our new Value of Design Factfinder, they can create a tailor-made report on the benefits of better design. One fact the Smallfry team frequently quote is that for every extra £100 clients spend on design, they could push up sales by £225.
The Factfinder is an interactive online tool that allows designers and businesspeople to draw on Design Council research. It shows how design can beef up the bottom line and how ‘design alert’ businesses consistently beat their competitors. Compared to others, for instance, these firms are twice as likely to have opened up new markets or developed new products and services recently.
The Factfinder illustrates the importance of the web in helping us provide authoritative design research, knowledge and signposting. We’re developing a new website that will deliver all that and more. It will offer practical help for anyone buying or supplying design, together with a platform for design debate. The site will also provide case studies and information from expert authors alongside clear routes to other sources across the international design network.
A robust research programme is essential to back up our ongoing transfer of knowledge. We’re deepening the Design Council research base across business, the public sector and the design industry. We’re also expanding our programmes through partnerships with industry and universities.
Results are already emerging. For example, we’ve published The Business of Design, the first comprehensive research on the design sector. Its findings have triggered debate across the industry.
In all our research and knowledge sharing, our priority is to demonstrate how design can strengthen and support the UK economy. Fortunately, we have many facts to prove this point. One statistic that’s bound to impress Smallfry’s would-be clients is that, on average, design alert businesses increase market share by 6.3 per cent using design. As Steve says, ‘Case proved’.
What we've done
Published online research underlining the value of design to business, plus a ground-breaking survey of the design industry
What we'll do next
Launch a new website as the UK’s most extensive and visited online hub for design