Evaluation of the Designing Demand Innovate & Immerse Business Support Services, Design Council
In February 2008, we were commissioned by the Design Council (www.designcouncil.org) to undertake an evaluation of the Designing Demand Innovate and Immerse business support services. The overall aim of the evaluation is to assess the net impact of the services over the past three years, focusing on Strategic Added Value, cultural change, good practice and return on investment.
The Designing Demand programme helps businesses to perform better by using design effectively to build increased profits, improve productivity and sustain competitive advantage. The programme has been developed over a three year period and is directly linked to the DTI Innovation Review of 2003, which underlined the importance of design and design skills to the competitiveness of UK business. Innovate and Immerse are two of the services within the Designing Demand portfolio. Innovate enables technology ventures to use design methods to attract investment, minimise risk and get to market faster with better products and services. It is an intensive support service helping early-stage technology ventures use design to commercialise new technology. Immerse is an intensive support service for mature businesses with the appetite for strategic change. It helps them grow by using design as a business development tool and gives them the chance to work with leading designers to investigate how using design can tackle core strategic issues and make a lasting impact on performance.
The evaluation is based largely based around primary research activity, including a survey of beneficiary companies and a range of face-to-face case studies.
Sheffield