Design Currency: Understand, define, and promote the value of your design work

Chapter 5. Defining Business Impact

While it’s important to start developing ways to track and measure the outcomes of your own work, understanding—in a big picture way—the connection between design and the bottom line will solidify your place as an ambassador to the uninitiated.

It’s common sense that publishing longitudinal studies about economic impact isn’t the responsibility of an individual design firm. Few creatively trained have the time, expertise, or resources to invest in such an activity. Furthermore, accuracy depends on the participation of large sample populations, often much bigger than an average studio’s client list. And perceptions of competition keeps many design firms from sharing research, if they’re doing any, for fear ...