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The socio-economic impact of creative products
and services: developing the creative industries
through design thinking
BRUNO PIRES, AND JOANA CEREJO
Catholic university – Oporto, Portugal
brunomiguelpires@gmail.com; joana_cerejo@sapo.pt
ABSTRACT
Design thinking, although it has been growing in popularity, is still seen with some
distrust, given that its impact is difficult to quantify and its benefits are subjective. This
paper wants to address that distrust and contribute to clear it by providing some
information about what it can do for companies by taking a look at creative products
and services. First, we review the meaning of creative products and services, the
concept of innovation, introduce design and some of its applications, as well as its
economic impact and move to the meaning of design thinking. Second, we discuss the
literature review and establish our findings. Finally, we end with our conclusions and
contributions.
KEYWORDS: Creative Industries, Innovation, Creativity, Design, Design Thinking
1. INTRODUCTION
'Being a product of the mind, creativity has a fundamental intangible
dimension. The creative product derives its value from the artistic and
human talents incorporated in it at different stages: creation, production,
reproduction and distribution'. (World Intellectual Property Organization,
2006:9)
In times of austerity and economical recession there seems to occur a natural appeal to
the individuals’ creative nature in order to propose new solutions to the challenges that
the world faces in every socio-economic crisis cycle.

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Creative Industries are strongly dependent on creativity but, despite being used for some
years, this concept is still going over a period of uncertainty. Even without a consensual
definition for this economical sector, some entities have risked to come forward with
what they understand for creative industries, interpretations followed by a set of
subsectors representing the economical sector in hand.
Although it sounds reducer, it seems legit to assume that the creative industries give
origin to creative products and services. However, the common claims that creativity is
everywhere, thus, turning all products and services into creative designs, make it
pertinent to bring forth what it is perceived to be a creative product. Understanding what
is seen as a creative product takes us towards concepts like 'newness', 'innovation' or
'design', amongst others, allowing us to start seeing why the creative industries have
been evolving and growing exponentially to become an economical force, even during
the international crisis we have been facing.
There is the notion that creativity is an increasingly important tool that fosters economic
growth as well as innovation goals. This new context in the current creativity paradigm
provides an exciting and challenging model for cross-economic fields, including areas
such as engineering, science and design, converging into an effective field of innovation
and creativity.
2. METHODOLOGY
The research method developed during this study was based on a literature review.
Denyer and Tranfield (2009:671, apud Tranfield et al, 2003) state that literature
reviewing has a 'critical role' in “doctoral theses and journal publications” as well as a
'potential role' in “creating and building bodies of knowledge and informing policy and
practice”. The same authors mention a 'systematic review', which is a
specific methodology that locates existing studies, selects and evaluates contributions,
analyses and synthesizes data, and reports the evidence in such a way that allows
reasonably clear conclusions to be reached about what is and is not know.
Danyer and Tranfield (p. 672) also add that a

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systematic review has been argued to bring replicate, scientific, and transparent approach,
which seeks to minimize bias (NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, 2001) and
requires reviewers to summarize all existing information about a phenomenon in a
thorough and unbiased manner. More widely, systematic reviews have been argued also
to have value in collating and synthesizing existing evidence across a wide range of
settings (including the social sciences) and empirical methods (Petticrew, 2001).
Tranfield et al. (2003:209) also talk about minimizing bias
through exhaustive literature searches of published and unpublished studies and by
providing and audit trail of the reviewers decisions, procedures and conclusions (Cook,
Mulrow and Haynes, 1997).
These authors quote (p. 215) Mulrow (1994) to add that “systematic review has been
argued to provide the most efficient and highquality method for identifying and
evaluating extensive literatures”. Danyer and Tranfield quote (p. 674) Petticrew (2001)
once more to say that
...systematic review is an efficient technique for hypothesis testing, for summarizing the
results of existing studies, and for assessing the consistency among previous studies.
Costa (2008:70), uses Yin (2003) to state that
a basic categorization of the types of questions is the common series: “who”, “what”,
“where”, “how”, and “why”. The research questions, per se, determine the purpose or
phase of the investigation: a) exploratory, b) descriptive, and c) explanatory. For
example, “what” questions are usually exploratory, whereas “how” and “why” questions
are likely to be more explanatory. Empirical research also requires planning research
designs, relying on data-gathering techniques, and choosing methods for data analysis and
validation.
Our research question is "what is the advantage of using design thinking as a tool for the
development of creative products/services?". Giving the fact that the nature of the
question relies on 'what', our approach is made from a theoretical point-of-view.

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3. CREATIVE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
For Kotler and Armstrong (2012:224), a product is 'anything that can be offered to a
market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need',
specifying that products can be 'physical objects, services, events, persons, places,
organizations, ideas or a mixture of these'.
Speaking about creative products, Horn and Salvendy (2009:224) state that 'product
creativity is defined as the subjective judgment of a product to exhibit novelty and
appropriateness that elicits an emotional response'. As for Buchanan (2001:9),
‘Products’ represent the formal cause, in the sense of the formal outcome of the design
process that serves human beings. And “in the accomplishment of their individual and
collective purposes” represents the material cause of design, in the sense that the subject
matter or scope of application of design is found in the activities, needs, and aspirations
of human beings.
Horn and Salvendy (2009:237) link product creativity with innovation and design by
recalling that
A great deal of literature addresses the role, process, and improvement of innovation in
product development. Product innovation addresses the newness or frequency of a product
including: product newness to firm, product newness to customers, product newness to
market, technical uncertainty, and technical inexperience or newness (Garcia & Calanton,
2002). Each of these factors can influence the assessment of this novelty dimension of
product creativity, and should be considered when designing creative products.
Kotler and Armstrong (2012:224) describe a service as 'a form of product that consists
of activities, benefits, or satisfactions offered for sale that are essentially intangible and
do not result in the ownership of anything'.
4. INNOVATION
Innovation is commonly considered the pathway to regain economic independence.
Innovation, however, seems to have an incomplete meaning in the eyes of many. To
Bessant (2009:6) the concept of innovation is based on the argument of, that the word
"innovation" is commonly used in many subjects today – “while the word itself is

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popular, the concept of innovation remains poorly defined". Jahnke (2009:224)
mentions that
the understanding of what can be included in the concept of innovation is expanding.
Today scholars also include innovation of processes (e.g. Schroeder, 1990), services (e.g.
Thomke, 2003) and management practises (Birkinshaw, 2006).
The same author (p. 224) continues to remind that
some researchers step outside of these discourses, like Verganti (2006) who argues that
the concept of innovation should also include messages and meanings and Mensch (1979)
who proposed that innovation also concerns social aspects.
Sethi et al (2001:73) state that 'multiple studies have found that the primary determinant
of new product failure is an absence of innovativeness - the extent to which a new
product provides meaningfully unique benefits'.
Bilton (2007:24) emphasizes the role of innovation by stressing that
innovation is at a premium in organizations as the source of new products, new markets
and (increasingly) new business processes. The organizational capacity for innovation
and creativity has taken on a renewed significance, with the shift from an economy based
on material products and transactions towards a 'creative economy' in which ideas and
knowledge are the new capital.
Jahnke (2009:225) also considers that
Innovation, or rather the generation of novelty, is an inherent aspect of the profession of
design (Lawson, 2006). The concept of innovation as understood by engineering and
management discourses is, however, rarely used in design practice or research.
Jahnke's words seem to place design practice or research ahead of engineering and
management, which sounds interesting and, somehow, provocative. Jahnke's as well as
Horn and Salvendy's words place design as an important discipline for innovation. Also
the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), on its Economic Paper (2005:23) values
the role of design on innovation, saying that
innovation through design can help firms to avoid competing on price alone. While some
consumers will always buy the cheapest product or service in the market, non-price

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attributes, such as quality can often be more important determinants of overall demand
than price.
What can be inferred is that innovation is not only about having a good idea, but it is
also about putting that idea into practice. Bessant (2009:6) proposes that a working
definition of innovation could be: innovation = ideas + implementation. Thus, the idea
needs to become the focus for an organization in order to impact working processes that
increase efficiency and sustainability.
Newton et al (2009:474) said that 'innovation is simply an idea that is perceived as
being new to those involved in discovering it, and that the nature of the idea can be
technical (product or service) or administrative (process)'.
Utterback et al (2006:1) speak of design-inspired innovation, which 'is, in essence, a
synthesis of technology and users' experiences' and in 'design-inspired innovation, the
balance among technology, market and meaning is unique'. (p. 6)
The authors add (p. 1) that 'most innovation improves products along accepted
trajectories of higher performance and lower cost'.
Innovation is a long process and its connection with design should start at the very
beginning. Utterback et al (p. 149) agree by stating that
the greatest innovative value is realized when designers are engaged early on and
permitted to participate all the way through the process, including with last-minute
changes or practical adjustments to the product.
5. DESIGN
For Lawson (2005:14),
Design is a highly complex and sophisticated skill. It is not a mystical ability given only
to those with recondite powers but a skill, which, for many, must be learnt and practiced
rather like the playing of a sport or a musical instrument.
Design has spread its influence during the past decades, becoming more important for
companies wanting to grow and looking to gain competitive advantage. For Buchanan

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(2001:9), “design is the human power of conceiving, planning, and making products
that serve human beings in the accomplishment of their individual and collective
purposes”.
From Jahnke's (2009:223) perspective, 'industry has increasingly turned to
creativity-intense professions like design and art in search of clues on how to revitalize
innovation'. This search for clues highlights the need for looking from new perspectives,
and Jahnke (p. 225) quotes Lawson (2006) and Cross (2006) to state that 'the designer
instead favors the perspective of the user and the maintaining of an open mind to any
types of solutions which may improve a situation'.
Design as the path for solutions is also what Kolko (2011:39) believes as he mentions that
a designer attempting to produce an innovative design will conduct research focusing on
the experiential, emotional, and personal aspects of culture. This research will describe an
opportunity — design research acts as problem finding.
Kolko (p. 34) adds that 'the philosophy of design research' is 'to learn from people and
to emphasize people'.
5.1. Design for products and services
In 1995, Bloch (p. 16) quoted Bruce and Whitehead (1988) to mention a survey made to
senior marketing managers, where 'design was mentioned as the most important
determinant of new product performance by 60% of respondents; only 17% considered
price most important'. (p. 16) Bloch adds that 'similarly, an analysis of the performance
of 203 new products revealed that product design was the most important determinant
of sales success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 1987)'. This connection between design and
product performance resulting on successful sales is explained by Horn & Salvendy
(2009:223) who state that 'the enhanced products will provide greater consumer
satisfaction, engagement, and acceptance (Hart, Hultink, Tzokas, & Commandeur,
2003; Rodriguez, Ricart, & Sanchez, 2002)'. These authors reinforce this argument by
adding that some 'consistent findings indicate that product creativity (primarily through
the Affect dimension) plays a role in the consumer’s willingness to purchase and
potential satisfaction with the product.' (p. 233) This 'affect dimension' is an emotional
bond the consumer creates with the product, and Horn and Salvendy (p. 236) mention
Norman's words to explain that 'emotional design by Norman (2004a) describes the
importance and increasing value of emotional appeal in consumer product and interface

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design'. Kotler and Armstrong (2012:225) also value the 'experience' factor stating that
'Companies that market experiences realize that customers are really buying much more
than just products and services. They are buying what those offers will do for them'.
This point-of-view about what a product can do for the customer takes us to one
essential quality: usefulness. Horn and Salvendy (2009:236) consider the relation
between a product design and its usefulness and remind us that
a product can be creative without having usability and vice versa. However, the usability
of a product may enhance the product creativity and the product creativity may enhance
the perception of product usability.
Bilton (2007:3) also follows a relation between creativity and usefulness by arguing that
'creative ideas must demonstrate "fitness for purpose"'.
DTI (2005:23) enumerates several contributions design gives to goods and services by
stating that
used effectively, design can play a key role in product and service innovation. Design can
alter or add performance and user characteristics such as style, durability, color, reliability,
texture, ergonomics, and user interface with services. Each good or service represents some
combination of these characteristics or properties and, as argued by Lancaster (1966), these
attributes can be considered as determining consumer utility and satisfaction. Indeed, many
such characteristics are commonly associated with product quality.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), on its 2006 document 'Managing
creative enterprises' (p. 61), points that
since novelty is an intrinsic characteristic of the products of creative enterprises, the
producer should be able to allay the consumer’s uncertainty about the product’s quality.
Quality in this case means not only functionality but also includes many other more or
less subjective characteristics.
WIPO (p. 61) goes a little further and adds one other significant aspect of a product by
saying that
the product definition process should pay attention to the product’s presentation, such as
packaging. Many creative cultural goods are both aesthetic and semiotic and these

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characteristics have to be considered as to content as well as the form in which the
content is presented.
Design has changed its scope and goes beyond designing artefacts. Design through
service design extends to the experience that clients have with products, services, spaces
or even multidimensional experiences. According to Stickdorn and Schneider
(2012:126), 'the very first step of a service design process is to design the process itself'.
5.2. Connecting with consumers
Coming up with a new and creative product through designing efforts seems to have
some advantages. Consumer perception appears to alter in favor of those creative
endeavors. Horn and Salvendy (2009:239) are keen to reinforce this point by saying that
studies reveal
that product creativity plays a role in consumer behavior. Although no previous studies
have shown a strong connection between product creativity and consumer satisfaction
or willingness to purchase, this study supports that at least one of the product creativity
dimensions (Affect) explains the variance of willingness to purchase (69% to 75%) and
customer satisfaction with (71% to 77%) consumer products. These results indicate that
product creativity to some degree influences the level of satisfaction with and
willingness to purchase consumer products.
Consumers have become more and more demanding as the scope of products available
in the market widens. More than identifying their behavior is to understand what
triggers that same behavior. Prahalad and Sawhney (2011:2) understand that it is
possible to connect emotionally with consumers through design and add that
The focus of this approach is squarely on the individuals, specifically their emotions,
aspirations, and connections as the starting point for strategy and design. Tracking the
individual experience and emotional response is the goal of the process, rather than
creating new functions and features alone. The test of success lies in whether the design
empowers individuals and creates a meaningful experience.
5.3. Process Design
'It is not a mystical ability given only to those with recondite powers but a
skill which, for many, must be learnt and practiced rather like the playing of
a sport or a musical instrument' (Lawson, 2005:14)

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Up until recently, design was seen as a two dimensional scope to enhance products both
on the visual and touch level. As design evolved, its influence has spread and design is
becoming more and more relevant for earlier areas of intervention. Buchanan (1992:14)
points that 'recent conferences on design are evidence of a coherent, if not always
systematic, effort to reach a clearer understanding of design as an integrative discipline'.
DTI (2005:22) states that 'process design can also raise efficiency of production or
consumption of a service, improving business productivity'. DTI (p. 23) goes on and
adds that
design can support the development of new products and services, or innovation around
existing products and services. Elements of design, particularly graphic design, will form
part of a product, service and company branding and advertising strategy. Process design
can also improve business efficiency.
The early stages of development provide key arguments to product so it may become
successful. The design process is what puts creativity into action. The earlier design is
applied the more chances there are that business efficiency may improve. As DTI (p.
21) seems eager to point out,
creativity in itself is a necessary but clearly not sufficient condition for innovation.
Creativity needs to be channeled the right way. Design and R&D can be seen as ways of
channeling creativity for commercial advantage.
Once again, another key stage like R&D was highlighted in order to sustain the
importance of applying, correctly, creative instruments to achieve market advantage.
DTI (p. 26) assumes that design influences production costs by saying that 'design
decisions can affect production costs, potentially lowering prices or whole life costs.
Process design can improve production efficiency' and also adds that
design may improve firm performance by changing the value of outputs (goods and
services produced), costs of inputs (resources used in production), and the efficiency with
which inputs are turned into outputs.
On the same document, DTI (p. 25) considers that
design can also affect the life-cycle of a product. Where reliability is higher, service costs
are likely to be lower, decreasing overall life costs. Process design can alter the way

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products are put together in the factory or the efficiency with which customers consume a
service.
Also aiming for a change in a product's life-cycle, Potuzakova et al (2011:189) said that
We believe that industrial designers are devoted and trained to initiate the radical
innovations of meaning, and on the basis of that create products that sidesteps the
competition, and with life cycles significantly longer than that of the competition.
It seems fair to assume that a longer life cycle is a result of a longer 'hype' cycle, which
results in a stronger presence of a certain product in the market, with a significant
positive financial outcome.
For Newton el al (2009:473) the inclusion of creativity and innovation may increase
process performance and recall that
The challenge that faces all organizations is not only to foster creativity and innovation
that generates inventions and innovation, but to also ensure that good ideas and improved
processes are effectively adopted and adapted.
Aiming towards the importance of integrating design in every step of the way,
Utterback et al (2006:60) recall that
some elements of design work are R&D, including designs and drawings to define
procedures, technical specifications, and operational features needed to conceive,
develop, and manufacture new products and processes.
5.4. Economic impact of design
The Danish National Agency for Enterprise and Housing (NAEH) performed a study in
2003 to measure the impact of design. The results were as follows:
a. 'There is marked correlation between the use of design and the economic
performance of companies and subsequent macroeconomic growth. Furthermore, it
is apparent that companies where design is a core issue and which purchase design
services both internally and externally perform better' (p. 3);
b. 'Danish companies that purchase design have registered a total increase in their
gross revenue over the past 5 financial years that is approx. DKK 58 billion higher

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than that for companies, which do not purchase design. This equates to approx.
22% above-average growth in gross revenue' (p. 4);
c. 'Companies which have experienced an increase in design activity (i.e. in
investments in design-related employee training or external procurement of design
services) achieve an additional 40% gross revenue increase compared to companies
where design activity is either constant or has decreased' (p. 4);
d. 'Companies that employ design professionals and purchase design externally export
34% of their turnover on average compared to 18% by companies that have
adopted a different design purchasing behavior or none at all' (p. 4);
e. 'There is positive correlation between design and employment since job creation is
higher in companies that employ design compared to companies with no design
activity' (p. 4);
f. 'The largest increase in export share of turnover is achieved where a systematic
approach to design has been adopted, namely companies that employ professional
designers and purchase design externally. The increase in exports is twice the size
in companies that employ designers and purchase design externally (33.5%)
compared to companies that neither employ designers nor purchase design
externally (17.6 %)' (p. 33);
g. 'The analysis does not identify design as the sole contributor to higher revenue.
Investment in design very likely presupposes a certain level of economic success
due to the high cost of investment. In turn, the revenue generated by the investment
allows the company to reinvest in design'. (p. 34)
The NAEH stresses the internal and external gains with design. The internal effect is in
line with what was previously said about the intervention of design in earlier stages. In
the c. point, it appears that companies which achieved the 40% gross revenue increase
are the ones which are continuously betting on design. This continuous effort is seen in
the results when these are compared with the ones from companies where that bet is
constant, which somehow underlines the permanent evolution of design and the need for
companies to maintain updated at all times in order to secure any advantage they might
have. The impact on exports is also worthy of mention, placing design as a vital
discipline for companies wanting to conquer new markets.
Relevance should also be given to positive correlation between design and employment,
turning design not only into an economical force but also into a positive social contributor.

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This idea is reinforced by the 2008 Creative Economy Report, which states (p. 24) that 'a
major social impact of the creative industries is their contribution to employment'.
WIPO (2006:21) considers that
creative goods permit economies of scale: Such content goods can bring profits to their
producers through economies of scale. Once the intangible contribution has been
mobilized, the unit price of the product or service will decrease as the number of products
or services sold increases.
Recovering the social impact of design, the 'Design and social impact' document from
The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in conjunction with the
National Endowment for the Arts and The Lemelson Foundation, mentions that
It involves the design of graphic and digital communications, of domestic products,
medical devices and farming equipment, of buildings and transportation, and of large
infrastructure systems. These designers also tackle critical issues that are less concrete —
such as the fragility and lack of equal access to natural resources, or the barriers to health
and educational services in poor communities globally. Such designers can be found
equally in the realms of economic development, community improvement, and disaster
relief. (p. 8)
Utterback et al (2006:19) state that 'some firms have linked a competitive benefit to
contracting for design'. The same authors (p. 128) explain that Sweden has an uneven
and varied industrial scope, which differ from other Nordic countries. For the author,
the Swedish economy can almost be viewed as the ideal laboratory for examining how
design interacts with their local Industries. Design has an important position in the
nation. Partnerships are constantly being fostered with the local design focused
universities. Following this idea, Utterback et al (p. 132) argue that 'Many Swedish
firms have been instrumental in bringing new knowledge from universities and
institutes to influence product development projects with clients'. This shows that the
designer may act as an agent between industrial needs and R&D efforts. For Müller et
al (2008), in terms of economy, the Creative Industries are relevant in its effort to
achieve technological innovation in accordance with industrial innovation. The author also
claims that 'Creative Industries are a major source of innovative ideas and thus contribute to
an economy’s innovative potential and generation of new products and services'.

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Prahalad and Sawhney (2011:12) advance with an explanation for why design is an
important tool for economic growth by stating that
The ultimate goal of design is not merely making things that people enjoy or creating
awareness of the company. When design creates feelings of empowerment, people are
eager to share their experience with others. This cycle is essential to generating demand
virally and building brand loyalty.
However, DTI (2005:28) quotes Piirainen (2001) to say that ‘design alone cannot be
accredited for a product’s success or failure’.
6.
Design
Thinking
Design thinking is seen as the next step of innovation. Buchanan (1992:5) reminds us of
that design has gained new developments as '(...) we have seen design grow from a
trade activity to a segmented profession to a field for technical research and to what
now should be recognized as a new liberal art of technological culture'. Now, design
thinking appears to be more than a simple aesthetic design skill. When speaking of
design thinking, Buchanan (p. 5) added that 'no single definition of design, or branches
of professionalized practice such as industrial or graphic design, adequately covers the
diversity of ideas and methods gathered together under the label'.
Anderson (2007, p.1), 'Design has long been recognized as a problem solving task, but
there is a strong current within the design profession that recognizes design as an activity
beyond that of simply fitting together pieces of a given puzzle'.
Kolko (2011:31) values new forms of thinking by mentioning that
businesses are increasingly realizing that not just quantitative research but also qualitative
research combined with creative thinking can lead to new and interesting ideas for
products, services, and systems.
Kolko (p. 31) adds that
businesses are increasingly realizing that not just quantitative research but also qualitative
research combined with creative thinking can lead to new and interesting ideas for
products, services, and systems

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and also
with the recent popularity of the phrases “design thinking” and “innovation,” designers
have been asked to participate in these strategic conversations. Designers are increasingly
expected to discuss not just how to solve a problem but also which problems to consider
solving. They are increasingly pressured to speak with clarity about product launches,
strategic product road mapping, competitive marketplace trends, short- and long-term
revenue opportunities, partnerships and sponsorships, and other issues related to the
business of design. (p. 39)
For Prahalad and Sawhney (2011:2), design thinking is
emotionally connecting with consumers through design. The focus of this approach is
squarely on the individuals, specifically their emotions, aspirations, and connections as
the starting point for strategy and design. Tracking the individual experience and
emotional response is the goal of the process, rather than creating new functions and
features alone. The test of success lies in whether the design empowers individuals and
creates a meaningful experience.
Design is no longer restricted to the surface of things and how they look and it is not
only employed at the end of the product-development process. According to Cross,
(2010:99 apud Archer 1979 & Cross 1982) in his paper “Design Thinking as a Form of
Intelligence,” he exposed that the origins of research focused on design thinking lie in
the attempts to define design as a discipline in its own right (in the mid-1970s and early
1980s). An important step in this approach, it was written by the hands of Lawson
(1980) when the he introduced the study of “How designers think”. However,
previously Simon’s (1969) by design research he establish a new interpretation of
design in his book ‘Science of the Artificial’.
7.
Discussion
Along the literature review, it was possible to assist to countless purposes for design, far
from the ones that are equivocally assigned to design.
Analyzing the mindset of design, we were able to watch design being used for more
than just the visual component or even the symbolic aspects. However, design is being

16.
more and more integrated on early stages, showing its cross-sectorial advantages. As
Buchanan (1992:14) said, 'recent conferences on design are evidence of a coherent, if
not always systematic, effort to reach a clearer understanding of design as an integrative
discipline'.
During the literature review, examples were mentioned of design being used for social
aspects, for innovation, for problem solving, for product performance, for sales success,
for emotional connection, for production efficiency and for process performance, thus
increasing its weight inside an organization (figure 1).
Figure 1 – Design role into organizations
If design, seen from a traditional perspective, is essentially applied during the final stage
of a product/service conception, than it seems that the evolution of design that
Buchanan mentioned is pushing this transversal discipline to earlier stages and it seems
that this involvement of design on early stages has been happening for some years.
However, only recently this evolution has been connected with the design thinking
mindset, aimed at defining that same evolutionary step.
Analyzing the weight of design, it appears difficult not to empower the using of design
as a reliable tool for economic growth. Empowering seems to be the right word as
postmodern marketing is also trying to empower the consumer by trying to know what
products can do for them. This different approach points towards a need to connect with
consumers on a whole new level. Comprehending emotions became, therefore, a logic
step to link products, services, companies, organizations with the growingly demanding
customers. This need for connecting with the costumer brings forth the necessity to
integrate him in the very beginning of the stage, before any other decisions are made.
This early integration breaks up with the traditional understanding of design scope.

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Even more than adding aesthetics and functionality values in order to connect with
consumers, it was possible to witness several applications of design in production
stages. When being applied to the development stage, it may, or not, have in mind the
data collected from the potential consumer previous study. After the development, it is
possible to look deeply into the production phase, where design has also the purpose of
improving the mechanics and making process, in order to do better use of raw materials
aiming to reduce production costs, improving process performance and efficiency.
Design is also seen as a tool to enhance innovation and R&D, which has future impact
on production's results.
The marked correlations with economic performance, the improved performance of
companies investing in design, the positive correlation between design and
employment, the exporting rates improvements through design and, besides
employment impact, other social benefits like community improvement, amongst
others, place design on a new level.
From data collection to its interpretation (where an emotional connection starts to take
place to improve the sense of experience), production improvement, process
performance gains, product optimization along with visual 'finishing touches'
culminating on longer life-cycles, branding loyalty and even design to improve sales
success (through viral demand), Buchanan's understanding of design as an integrative
discipline seems accurate.
This diversity of applications brings to light one important observation: if traditional
design is superficial and yet, design is applied along the value chain, challenging
thinking methods of data collection, production, promotion and selling, it seems safe to
assume that all the advantages here attributed to design can be also attributed to design
thinking.
To invest on design a company needs to be in a good financial situation, as NAEH
pointed out. This seems simple to explain, as a designer's work is highly specific and
hardly replaced by any other do to his creative mind. However, as Lawson was keen to
stress, design is a skill that needs to be trained. Adding to this, IDEO's Human Centered
Design (HCD) Toolkit1, allows non-designers to improve their chances to develop new
1
https://hcd-­‐connect-­‐production.s3.amazonaws.com/toolkit/en/download/ideo_hcd_toolkit_final_cc_superlr.pdf

18.
solutions. It appears that with proper training and with some already existing methods
or guidelines, anyone can aim to come up with new and useful solutions. If this occurs,
it is possible that the costs of investing in design may decrease, through open source
toolkits that companies may provide to their own workers.
Design thinkers, by challenging thinking patterns, standard behavior and emotions,
produce solutions that create new meanings and stimulate different aspects (cognitive,
emotional and sensory) involved in the human experience.
Like design itself, design thinking is a choice. It is an approach to solving problems
where the variables are complex, the data incomplete, and the outcome uncertain. From
design thinking it is expected to produce unexpected results.
We could identify design thinking as an exciting new paradigm for dealing with
problems in many professions — most notably IT (e.g., Brooks 2010) and Business
(e.g., Martin 2009).
Traditionally, design has been considered as a visually driven activity. However, in
some way, design thinking disrupts this stereotype conveyed by traditional education.
8.
Conclusion
'Most outsiders see design as an applied art, as having to do with aesthetics,
unlike a solid profession unto itself, with technical knowledge, skills, and
responsibilities to rely on. Insiders to design, by contrast, talk of innovative
ideas, coordinating the concerns of many disciplines, being advocates for
users, and trying to balance social, political, cultural, and ecological
considerations'. Krippendorf (2006:47)
This paper helps us to extending design towards design thinking by analyzing it from
several perspectives: social, product, consumer, process, economic and organization. It
starts with the consumer, flowing through processes, products and the organization itself
and back to the consumer to deliver a finished product/service. Design thinking has an
internal (product, process, organization and economic) importance as well as external
(social, consumer and economic). The economic perspective appears both on the internal

19.
and external dimensions as the impact can be seen, for instance, in sales and in exports,
influencing other industries. The economical factor is also both direct (e.g. sales) and
indirect (e.g. employment). Design thinking tools may allow for even small enterprises to
benefit from innovation at lowers costs, which might help them to grow.
For these reasons, design thinking represents a big change in the actual design paradigm.
In summary, by studying the impact of creative products and services we consider that
design thinking could become a catalyst to the upstream and downstream flow of
economic growth. Upstream, as it effects related organizations, companies, and projects,
which capture ideas and solutions — a direct incentive to creativity and productivity.
Downstream, as design thinking provides a creation of dynamic environments. As a
result, the relationship that design has with other knowledge-based fields is very
dynamic and could be entrepreneurial — this is the main advantage that design thinking
can provide for economic growth, especially to creative industries.
This paper, thus, contributes to reinforce the need to integrate design thinking
methodology and process to support an economic growth, as design thinking will
maintain the creative economy, as well as the others which will benefit from the
spillover effect, healthy and growing at a faster rate. The creative industries are a
precious engine for the economy and design thinking benefits, despite of any
subjectivity, seem to be getting clearer.
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