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□ Author:-March 2003-110: 07: 42
First, the expectation of design management.
I have always believed that there is no shortage of world-class designers in China. When our immature hands wrote the first Chinese character on white paper, we actually finished a wonderful design. The graphic features of Chinese characters have made a great language system. However, it is because of this language system that we are isolated from the world. The only reason is that we understand graphics and design from different directions. Therefore, pioneers such as Yin Dingbang, Wang and Lin Jiayang have made unremitting efforts to communicate Chinese and Western designs. We are delighted to see that AGI has the figure of China, and China's design has won awards in important competitions frequently. However, when we think calmly, it is not our ultimate goal to break through the barriers and gain recognition. Only when we have a design system (style) that is compatible with the world but belongs to our own nation can we not just wait for western acceptance and recognition. How to use and integrate the existing design resources, form the overall resultant force, and then form a system (style) has become a top priority for the design community.
The above discussion is a bit macro, let's take a look at the specific design. Looking back on the designs of the past 20 years, which one can become a classic design? A chair was copied more than 2 million? Are there any design companies with assets exceeding 20 million? Are you a listed company? Which enterprise has a special design vice president who regards design as the core resource of the enterprise? What company relies on a simple device like ALESS, but hundreds of employees have created annual sales of more than 600 million dollars (data from Mr. Ron Newman's course)? You can continue to ask many similar questions. It's just that the more I talk, the more I feel dangerous.
Design management may not be everything, but getting China can solve all problems. But we can try to use such a set of methods and systems to carry out the design management practice in China. In fact, we can think that China has had the practice of design management for a long time. Because we have a design, it will inevitably involve management issues, including the theoretical research of He and Liu Jiaoshou. However, in the face of the trend of global integration, on the one hand, we need to understand global rules and supplement new management concepts. On the other hand, we also need to raise our own "local method" to the theoretical height of guiding future design, which is a good opportunity to learn advanced design management concepts.
Design management is not a brand-new topic, but it is a brand-new topic for China design facing a brand-new situation. When the expectation comes true, let's work together.
Second, the definition of design management
"Design management refers to the effective allocation of design resources by project managers, which can be used by an organization in pursuing its corporate goals." Peter Garber.
"In order to achieve the same goal, the project manager effectively calls the existing available design resources."
This is the concept of design management strongly advocated by Mr. Ron Newman. Of course, Mr. Ron Newman also introduced other views of 17. Limited to space, I won't show them all here. I quote Thomas Walton, editor of DMJ (Journal of Design Management), and summarize these 18 views as follows:
Design is imagination-strategic management design, which regards design management as a visionary leader to realize his dream. ※.
Generally speaking, the organization itself has the function of balancing fantasy and fact. ※.
Beyond the boundary of value management, design management is actually attitude management. It describes the characteristics and phenomena of the company-good design management can understand the characteristics of the organization and convey opinions. ※.
Design management is the core strategy, and the founders help end users understand the company. ※.
Design management begins with suggestions beneficial to the company, which are related to reality, such as imagination, task, goal, strategy and behavior plan. ※.
This expression doesn't seem to be quite in line with our habits. During their study, students strongly hope to get an accurate definition of design management, so as to facilitate communication. But it's actually very difficult. I think there is a problem of changing ideas here. Not everything can be defined clearly. Many times, we will find that description is much simpler than definition. Design management also belongs to this category. But there is still a good definition, such as:
Design management is the core part of completing the design cooperation plan, and it is a set of knowledge system for operating design resources, including design scheme, organization system, designers, evaluation institutions and so on. ※.
-Kono Deng (Japanese cooperation strategist)
Design management is to complete a formal scheme design activity, adjust design resources through long-term cooperation project communication within the company, and make all cooperation activities reach a certain level. ※.
-robert bly Cheech (former Herman Miller, design director of Philips)
Design management is a research field, which takes design management as a strategic tool to study the knowledge structure of managers, designers and experts, so as to achieve organizational goals and create feasible products. Design management aims at combining creativity and rationality in an organized way, so as to complete the organizational strategy and ultimately contribute to the promotion of environmental culture. ※.
-Zheng Qingyuan (President of Korea Industrial Design Promotion Agency)
Perhaps some of our students' ideas in the discussion are more enlightening:
Design management is to provide a way of communication and establish the necessary control system. ※.
—— Huang Lijun (designer of 3M China Co., Ltd.)
Design management includes two levels-strategy and practice: enterprise decision makers put design into the overall strategy (design in management) and management in project design (management in design). ※.
-Unknown (please contact me)
Design management provides a possibility to realize hope through design. It's a bridge connecting customers, markets and designers. ※.
-Class group discussion
The behavior control of the system is continuous in time and extensive in space. ※.
—— Yang Hongjun (teacher, School of Art and Design, Dalian Institute of Light Industry)
An illustration by Mr Ron Newman is also very interesting. In this picture, designers are the core of design management, which we can understand as internal core resources. Designers are surrounded by design, customers, culture and market, which represent the peripheral resources of design management. I think it can be understood that design management is actually a behavioral system that takes designers as the core and coordinates their relationship with design, customers, culture and market. But it is worth noting that even things like design, customers, culture and market, which also belong to the surrounding resources, play different roles. Design is at the top, which shows the importance of design in the whole management process. This reminds me of a formula in the course:
Good design = good process = art
Design management is the control of design process, and good design is the premise of producing good process. When the process control reaches the "wonderful" state, design management becomes an artistic behavior. No matter from the designer's point of view or from the customer's point of view, good design quality seems to be uncontroversial. As the core "people" are designers, and as the center "things" are design, which is design management; Culture as the foundation is placed at the bottom of the whole system, and its intention seems self-evident. It should be said that different cultures have influenced different markets and customers, and then affected the corresponding design, including the designers themselves. Culture has become the most stubborn form in the system, and its characteristics are also manifested in concealment (more experienced in an implicit way), extensiveness (involving almost every part of behavior) and foundation (reflecting the role determined by accumulated characteristics). This has also become the most difficult link in the practice of design management orientation-integration with local culture; The market and customers are around, probably because they also "control" design management to some extent. On the whole, the figure has clearly and completely demonstrated the resource structure of design management.
Many students think that there is no need to entangle too much in the definition, and the author feels the same way. I spend so much time discussing the definition because I want to expand the contact surface of design management and pave the way for the following explanation. Maybe there are only a few points to understand:
Objective: To complete the established design scheme and maximize the design value.
Mode: planning (project), organization (structure), coordination (resources), control (process) and evaluation (performance).
Content: Management personnel, coordinating design resources, mainly designers. Management-financial management, managing the finance of the design process.
Standard: The highest level of design management is to let all problems be solved satisfactorily in the current environment.
Problem: It is easy to be confused with brand management and enterprise management.
Thirdly, the cultivation of design management ability.
I think about the experience and gains brought by this course realistically. This is a list of abilities that can be conceptualized. But in fact, when I think so, I am doomed to be disappointed. But don't despair, I saw Mr. Deng Chenglian's article "Design Management Curriculum and Teaching Exploration" on the design management ability:
The design management course aims to let students know: the factors that affect creativity and innovation; The relationship between product, production and design; Design program and provide supporting system for design; The nature of the work of industrial innovators and industrial designers, and various legal protections related to design.
Further train students to have the following abilities:
Ability to draft design strategies. ※:
Ability to decide design policy. ※:
Able to write design project specifications. ※:
Ability to supervise and control the progress of design projects. ※:
Define and analyze design problems, evaluate design information and evaluate research methods. ※:
The ability to choose a designer, etc. Generally speaking, the goal of design management course is to cultivate students' design planning, design control and design execution management, which does not cover design organization, nor is it to cultivate students' design execution ability. ※.
In fact, the demonstration of this ability can guide another aspect of design management-the process of design management. Because I found that the cultivation of each ability corresponds to one aspect of design management. Ron Newman's course is very emotional, and it is difficult to find a clear explanation of design management procedures. The actual design management project cannot be simply divided into several parts. However, even so, it is by no means impossible to "shield" the whole process from the ideal level. Many managers have made efforts in this regard, and the more recognized schemes are: design scheme, design organization, design supervision and design control. (The specific procedures are discussed in a special chapter later. )
The design scheme establishes the ultimate goal of the whole project and the project process design (the ability to formulate design strategies/the ability to write design project specifications);
The design organization determines the participants of the project (the ability to choose designers);
Design supervision should include evaluation and supervision (defining and analyzing design problems, evaluating design information and evaluating research methods);
The focus of design control is the progress of the whole design activity and whether it is consistent with the project objectives (the ability to decide design policies/the ability to supervise and control the progress of design projects).
In practice, these four parts are always intertwined and interact with each other. The design scheme is put forward first, but its function will run through the whole project. The design organization needs to put it forward in the scheme and then implement it. Generally speaking, stability is needed to ensure the consistency of the project. Design supervision and control began when the project was established, and the role of the team leader is to ensure that the project does not deviate from the established route. These four are always interrelated and inseparable.
Fourth, good design.
Before good design management is recognized, it is necessary to discuss what is good design, because it is an important prerequisite for designers or managers with simple management background to intervene in design management. In fact, in different people's minds, good design has its own standards. The author hopes to explore the well-recognized design quality.
First, what is design? This is also the topic discussed in Mr. Ron Newman's course. Here are some typical views.
Design provides customers with valuable services, and in the long run, it provides a way of life.
—— Huang Lijun (designer of 3M China Co., Ltd.)
The emphasis on "appropriateness" in design is actually the balance between the designer's intention and the market.
-Zhang Hua (General Manager of Qingdao Huatao Product Design Co., Ltd.)
Design is a service, not a solution.
unknown
Strategy and plan.
—— Yang Hongjun (teacher, School of Art and Design, Dalian Institute of Light Industry)
I noticed that the key words used in the above statement: service, lifestyle, suitability, solution, strategy, plan and other descriptions of design features can basically be understood by the public. The author was asked the same question by students many times in class. My interpretation is "ideas and plans", including static and dynamic expressions. There is a problem to pay attention to here, and there is no need to generalize the category of design. Design is design, an idea and a method. The same is true when we study design management. As Mr. Ceng Hui said, design management is not a universal form, and subjectively generalizing concepts can only lead to confusion in understanding and practice.
According to the above description, "good design" is a good idea and a good plan. But what is the definition of "good"? Mr. Ron Newman shows a chart (see left). Obviously, this is a set of value evaluation indicators about good design. The basic point is "interest", which is the interest of design firms in the field, the interest of customers and the interest of the whole society. The intersection represents the factors that affect the designer's work-the enthusiasm of the designer, the trust of the customer and the responsibility to the society. Here, good design is a design that balances the interests of designers, customers and society. This statement is perfect, but it is far from practice.
Compared with the "interest theory", I accept the elaboration of Neng Alesi. Alessi believes that people are born with potential needs for art and poetry. But he believes that many mass production industries have not taken this into account. In this industry, design is regarded as a tool of market and technology. The role of design has been ruthlessly reduced, and enterprises are keen to produce low-cost, more practical and large-scale products. Among these products, design is only a means to beautify the appearance of products and attract consumers, and it is a kind of "condiment". ALESSI and many Italian factories do not agree with this approach, but imagine design as "art and poetry", which has almost become the core concept and strategy of these factories. Because Alessi believes that when people come out of the conservative restrictions, they must realize their desire for art and poetry. Our whole industrial system is taking risks to produce a large number of ordinary, emotionless products. We should be thankful that Alessi and many Italian factories have long believed in and maintained respect for design, so today we can see so many classic and touching Italian designs.
Not long ago, the author made a survey on "good design", including designers, business managers, students, consumers and so on. After finishing, some characteristics of "good design" are extracted as follows:
For who?
Good interest
touch control
Something other than design
Adaptation, a new way of life
Nationalism and cosmopolitanism
connect
Meet hidden inner needs
environmental protection
Next, rank according to the number of times mentioned. The top three are: moving, guiding and new lifestyle, good hobbies. The final work is summary. "Good design" is defined as:
Emotion (feelings that designers and users can feel)
Future (providing guidance for a new lifestyle)
Beneficial (balancing the interests of enterprises, consumers and designers)
Equality (maintaining respect for human beings, design is helpful, but it does not make us slaves. )
Socialization (about the conscience of design)
Personalization (features that designers and consumers are allowed to keep)
Rich (value for money. For the design itself, it has become the brand of the times)
Here's my opinion:
I think good design is to satisfy the designer's pleasure first. This kind of pleasure comes from the impression of the design itself on the designer, that is, the designer thinks that the good idea has been realized. The reason why the designer's feeling is the first criterion is because I firmly believe that a design that does not impress the designer himself is not qualified to be a good alternative design.
Secondly, good design is life-oriented. In the process of design, we can always feel such a contradiction: the designer's freedom concept and limitation are in a fierce struggle. But when confirming the source of the restriction, we often only see the surface. Many times, we attribute this limitation to customers and the market, and customers often can't give us correct advice. I prefer to extend design restrictions to the field of life. In this sense, I prefer to define design as a way of life. There are two levels of life here: the functional level of reality and the ideal philosophical level, which point to the practicality of design and the future respectively. Good design is committed to improving the quality of life, enriching the lifestyle and rationalizing the behavior.
Third, good design = good business. This is thomas watson's brilliant theory. A good design must pass at least three tests: the designer's feeling, the market acceptance and the future changes. Among them, market testing is the most direct, relying on clear data such as production quantity and sales volume to verify the market quality of the design. These data affect the design life, which is very important.
Fourth, good design faces the future. Charles Eames also has his own views on good design, among which, I think the most important point is the future of design (what will it look like in ten years? )。 Charles Eames thinks that time is a good way to test design, but I think what he really wants to say is about future-oriented design. After ten years, the design environment will change greatly. Culture, aesthetics, material, technology ... Good design endows products with future quality, which is based on the prospect of the future.
There are many explanations about good design, which is difficult to describe. It is still an arduous task to truly endow the design with the above qualities, which requires a unique insistence on design. Finally, end the "excellent design" module with Charles Eames's words:
V. Design management procedures (working procedures)
Firstly, a very contradictory problem is expounded: an important feature of management is to solve non-procedural problems, but what we are talking about here is the procedure of design management, which seems to be somewhat contradictory. In order to avoid misunderstanding, it is necessary for the author to make some explanations. The program discussed in this section refers to the structural program based on the design management system. To say the least, if there is no program, there will be no "non-program" application.
Mr. Ron Newman has repeatedly stressed the importance of procedure. By expounding his practical experience, the procedural problems of design management are discussed. But the actual result is that because of our quick success and instant benefit, his explanation is too detailed, and he is caught in a messy and concrete entanglement, and he loses his grasp of the overall design procedure. In addition, in the teaching process, the carrier of the project is separated from the design company and the pure enterprise, which also brings confusion to the understanding of design management projects, but perhaps this is what Mr. Ron Newman hopes. Because he has always emphasized the collision of doubt, confusion and hope.
We need to understand the function of the program first. Trevor Young's exposition is what I admire:
One of the main contributors to the success of all projects is that everyone involved accepts the discipline of using a common process and process. This makes information sharing quite easy, especially when working in different places and countries. Ideally, this should also be extended to the use of ordinary computer software for data recording and scheduling. The result of integration is to create a common and shared "language" in the team, and save a lot of time through this improved communication.
Trevor Trevor young emphasized that the project has produced a "language" which is convenient for project members to communicate, thus saving time and resources. The original source of a design project may be just a vague idea, a revelation of life, or other uncertain intentions. There may be many such ideas, but only a few can really be established, and even fewer can succeed in the end. This requires identifying and reviewing these ideas and finding good design projects. This is also the first stage of design management-the main task of design project establishment. PST (programs and programs; Project guidance team scheme and project management team) decide the choice of project, mainly based on: whether it can maximize profits; Whether to maintain, consolidate and develop new market share; Whether the existing human resources can be fully utilized; Whether the risk can be controlled; Whether it conforms to the company's skills and experience, etc.
Before the design project begins, there is another important issue that needs to be clarified, which is to review the existing information of the project team to ensure that the project is going in the right direction from the beginning. This information includes:
Who is the initiator of the design project;
Who are customers and indirect customers;
Who will use the results of the design;
Preliminary candidates for the design project team;
Other people who may affect the design project-people who enjoy the benefits;
After the project is determined, it is very necessary to make a design management plan. There is an old saying in China, "Everything is established in advance, and it will be abolished if it is not planned", which appropriately expresses the importance of planning. Take the author's previous design practice as an example: first, clearly list the tasks and time of the whole design management; The next work is to refine (distinguish) tasks, that is, to decompose tasks. There are two ways to decompose it. One is to roughly determine the tasks in a certain period of time according to the time deviation. This should consider the structure of the tasks before and after; The other is to decompose according to the composition of the task, mainly considering the rational use of human resources; The third step is to analyze the resource requirements. Identify resources that may be involved in the project process and consider solutions. The fourth step is to predict risks and find ways to avoid them. The fifth step is to clarify the responsibilities, and the work of each team member should be written into the plan. The sixth step is to optimize the management plan and refine the time plan. Make detailed Gantt chart progress, design management plan summary, work refinement, responsibility allocation table, monitoring program chart and other charts. Major activities and exchange plans should also be indicated.
In the process of planning, we should listen to the opinions of team members, and at the same time, the design manager must establish relative management authority and form his own management style. More important than making a plan is to make your team members understand and support it. Therefore, the communication of design management scheme is also a link that cannot be ignored.
If you have a good design management plan, the next thing will become easy. It is very important to monitor the plan during its implementation. Design managers should keep abreast of the design process, evaluate the objectives of each stage, and correct the deviation in direction in time. At the same time, the ability to solve accidents is also reflected in this process.
The last procedure is the evaluation of design management. It is very important to establish completion criteria as evaluation criteria. Of course, it may be more helpful for us to give an objective evaluation of the design project and sum up the experience and lessons. We need to treat every project as an opportunity to learn.