MAKING  DECISIONS IN DESIGN MANAGEMENT:
DECISION SUPPORT FOR PLANNING AND DESIGN

A reduced view of design observes decisions in design as either relegated to the back end of planning and development processes based on preconceived solutions and briefings or manifested in projected futures (blue sky concepts) out of reach of current viable contexts (although they might still be desirable to a certain extent). Both perspectives – the narrow view as well as the rather disconnected view – fall short considering the increasing complexities of the problem side (what is the problem?) and the contingencies on the solution side (how do we want to live?) due to cultural evolution (Jonas:  1997). Therefore decision making in design should support a generative design attitude that includes the very early phases of the design process, where decisions are made about „what to make“ vs. „how to make it“ (Institute of Design: 2006). This paper attempts to propose a framework for decision making in design management and map that framework on a broad design process model that supports such a generative attitude (Jonas/Hugentobler: 2004).

The following observations mark the ground for this proposal:
1. Design is a business process as any other business process that is concerned with development and a high level of human intervention (such as strategy or product-service system development) vs. production-oriented processes. (Bozart: 1994)
2. Design and business are inexorably linked, and the current challenge is to determine how the relationship can be both creative and effective. (Walton: 2000)
3. The management of design is a vital aspect of corporate strategy. (Walsh: 2000)
4. Management schools are paying increasing attention to the design process regarding strategy making in business. (Martin: 2004; Liedtka: 2004)

Based on the observations about the close link between design and business, the author looks at 10 different schools of strategic management as approaches to decision making in the strategy process. (Mintzberg: 2005) These approaches are geared towards the analytical front end, which is not where the design process as a rather synthetic process has its strengths. The purpose of this exercise is therefore to shed new light on the fuzzy front end of the design process through the lens of decision-making in management. The author´s hope is that this experiment will provide new perspectives on decision-making in relation to a broad design process model.

References
Bozart, Cecil: 1994. „Teaching Business Processes at NCSU“. DMI Design Management Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4.
Institute of Design: 2006. „Viewbook“. 2006.
Hugentobler, Hans Kaspar; Jonas, Wolfgang: 2005. „Designing a Methods Platform for Design and Design Research“. Design Research Society. FutureGround International Conference. Vol. 2: Full Proceedings. John Redmond et al. (Ed.). Monash University, Faculty of Art and Design. Melbourne.
Jonas, Wolfgang: 1997. „Viable Structures and Generative Tools“ – An Approach towards „Designing“. Contextual Design – Design in Contexts“. The European Academy of Design, Stockholm, 1997.
Liedtka, Jeanne: 2004. „Strategy as Design“. In: Rotman Management, Winter 2004.
Rotman School of Management.
Martin, Roger: 2004. „The Design of Business“. In: Rotman Management, Winter 2004.
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