Policies for design and policies for innovation: Contrasting perspectives and remaining challenges

Abstract

Innovation policy makers and analysts have traditionally paid little attention to design policy. Design has either been absent or a poor ‘second cousin’ within the broader field of innovation policy which tends to privilege research and development (R&D). However, in many countries, improving the contribution of design to innovation, business performance and national economic growth is becoming a key policy aim of government. This paper examines design within the wider context of innovation policy and, in turn, examines policy making from a modern design perspective. Design policies tend to reflect first or second generation models of innovation, rather than systems or network based (‘fifth generation’ models). However, modern ‘design thinking’ can be used to help identify problems with the current paradigm of policy making in both design and innovation fields and to suggest alternative approaches which might be useful for both design and innovation policy.

Introduction

Innovation analysts and policy makers have, traditionally, paid little attention to design policies and provide little in the way of critical appraisal of policies for design, whether constituted as independent design policies or as part of wider innovation policies. Until very recently the overwhelming focus of innovation policy has been on the role of research and development (R&D) and the public sector science base and, to a lesser extent, technology and engineering policy. As we show below, design has been either absent or a poor ‘second cousin’ to innovation policy. Also, from a business and management innovation perspective, research into design is also scarce as shown by Chiva and Alegre (2007), Walsh (1996) and Hobday et al. (2011).

This position is now changing with design policies being put forward both independently and, in some cases, as a part of wider innovation policies in many countries. In the UK and European Union, for example, design is increasingly being viewed, belatedly, as an important and integral dimension of innovation policy. There is also statistical evidence to show that design plays a much more important role in national innovation and productivity than previously recognised (NESTA, 2009).

Analytically, the design policy debate has been largely instrumental, seeking to support policy makers in the shaping of policies to promote design, rather than asking deeper questions about the validity and the efficacy of policies. As a consequence we know little about the ‘mental models’ (i.e., implicit approaches and assumptions) which underpin design policy making.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an innovation perspective on design policy and a design perspective on innovation policy, combining elements of each field. We ask: what is the relationship between innovation and design policy? What do innovation policy models tell us about design policy? How might recent advances in design thinking assist in framing and executing both design and innovation policy? The paper focuses mainly on the UK, the EU and the US as leading proponents of both innovation and design policies. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to review the policies of East Asia, China, India and other countries, as noted in Part 2, there is evidence of a wave of similar policies within East Asia and China with competition from the latter used to justify further polices in the West. We argue that this might have led to a policy ‘arms race’ with each country and region attempting to ‘outdo’ the other in policy reporting and policy rhetoric.

The paper is structured as follows. Part 1 defines design and innovation policy, touching on their different traditions and the changing scope of both. Part 2 focuses on design policies and recent attempts to elevate design to a more significant place in innovation policy. Part 3 locates design policy within innovation policy thinking, identifying the character of much design policy. Part 4 argues that new ideas from the ‘design thinking’ field could well assist policy makers, both in design and innovation policy. In a way, this section attempts to shine a ‘design light’ on innovation policy, complementing the innovation perspective on design. The conclusion points to new policy research questions arising from the combination of innovation insight and design thinking.