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Design Transitions: Inspiring stories. Global viewpoints. How design is changing

This co-authored book is the result of a research investigation into how design practice is currently changing and offers insights into four key transitions that has emerged from the research. The research imperative is to understand how the roles of design and designers are changing in shifting societal, economic, political and ecological needs.

The research process involves interviewing and drawing insights from three different communities: design agencies, organisations embedding design; and design academics. Interview transcriptions are used to generate case studies which are then validated with participants. The originality of the research lies in bringing together and investigating transitions happening in diverse and innovative practices in terms of disciplines, geography and approaches in order to capture how design is changing in different contexts. This research is significant in that it highlights four key transitions happening in both the developed markets as well as in emerging markets. These transitions are: 1) The roles of designers are expanding to include new roles as facilitators, entrepreneurs and educators. 2) Designers are seeking greater collaboration with users, designers and professionals from other disciplines. 3) Design practices are increasingly diversifying their business models and moving away from existing consultancy model. 4) Designers are expected to externalize their approaches and demonstrate value outside of design. The book offers critical and pertinent commentary to this transition space by framing a new understanding of how the discipline is changing, uncovering emerging areas of innovation and revealing gaps in our current understanding of design practices. The research’s main impact is that it offers design leaders insights into the culture of design and the use of case studies to build a convincing case for the inclusion of design as a core competency in their organisation.