What's Your Legacy | Catalyst Design Case Studies available for purchase

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Over 20 years ago, legendary IBM President Tom Watson said, “Good design is good business.”

The Challenge: Show Good Design = Good Business

Most designs are created on behalf of a commercial enterprise that is relying on the success of the design to drive its business success. Business has a rational expectation of a positive impact to the enterprise; an anticipated return on the design investment.

Of course, designers know that they are making a contribution to business. From programs that encourage savings and improve sustainability and benefit the environment to intelligent and ergonomic designs that let baby boomers live independently longer. Design affects our everyday lives. Design can connect with users, build brands, drive change in their business, build stockholder equity and even transform industries. However, the relationship between the role of design and its contributions to the commercial success of a product or project has been difficult to distinguish and quantify.

Nevertheless, a significant portion of society and business is still unaware or unconvinced that good design can drive market success and is responsible for many improvements in daily life.

With few if any tools available for identifying how a design has factored into commercial success, calculating and articulating the design’s specific contribution and potential commercial impact to a client can be a daunting proposition for even the most seasoned design professional.

Catalyst Design Case Studies: The Ties that Bind

The IDSA Catalyst program provides a library of cases for investigating design’s contribution to market performance and offers designers the tools, in the form of tangible design case studies, with which to make the case for design’s value to business success. Each design case study exemplifies the impact the design has had on a business, market and industry thus connecting the design directly to market success.

These case studies are for students wanting to understand how design has an impact on business, professors wanting to know the details of successful design cases to teach to students, business development professionals and consultancy owners developing pitches to win clients.

If you have not read the cases, take a look at them by going to www.idsacatalyst.org. Each year IDSA introduces four case studies, building the first true catalog of how design brings successful contributions to business.

Learn more and purchase available Catalyst Case studies now.