Characteristics of Large and Small Businesses with Design Manager Participation in Management

: Japanese companies have a large gap between the development and design departments, and therefore, design is not utilized in corporate management. In contrast, Apple and Dyson have integrated development and design to create products and services with excellent values. The following factors are responsible for effective design use: appointment of a design manager, incorporation of design into a company-wide strategy, and strengthened authority of the design department. However, there are various cultural differences depending on the size of the company, and these factors do not take these differences into consideration. In this study, we evaluated the characteristics of large and small businesses in which the design manager participates in management. The results showed that large businesses tend to employ design organizations that are responsible for formulating visions and instilling designs within the company. Conversely, small businesses tend to utilize more concrete methods, such as activating discussions with prototypes and introducing agile processes into usability testing. Thus, in order to utilize design, it is necessary to use appropriate approaches based on the scale of the organization.