Much has been made about a lack of leadership positions for designers and needing a seat within the C-suite. Our survey did find that 19% of business leaders work within a company that has a Chief Design Officer (CDO), and 34% have their senior-most design leader reporting to the CEO. However, over 40 percent of respondents noted that their senior design leader reported to either the CMO, GM of a Division, CTO or the head of product. This highlights a gap in recognizing the value of design expertise within companies. Therefore, there is undoubtedly room to advocate for the establishment of more dedicated design leadership roles to ensure that design principles are ingrained in the company’s DNA.

“92% noted that good design has become more important in increasing revenue for their organization over the last decade.”

This is especially true given the increasing role design is taking in generating revenue for companies. In fact, over nine out of ten respondents (92%) noted that good design has become more important in increasing revenue for their organization over the last decade.

Investing in design excellence is proving to have significant returns for organizations. Design prowess helps companies stay competitive and meet evolving customer expectations. Organizations should adapt strategies to align with this trend and ensure design considerations are integrated seamlessly into product development processes to maximize revenue opportunities.

Design is undergoing a rapid redefinition, with designers increasingly being hired and assigned roles that entail revenue-driving responsibilities. Perhaps that is not surprising, given that an extensive study McKinsey completed in 2018 illustrated that companies incorporating design-driven approaches into their business outperform their non-design-focused competitors financially. Further research from Adobe shows that companies that prioritize design have 1.5 times greater market share than their competitors who don’t. These studies affirm why companies see design as instrumental in optimizing key aspects of their operations.

In fact, the C-suite and senior managers agreed that growth strategy is the most common design or product development expertise within their organization today (62%), and also the skill set that has the biggest impact on their company’s revenue (31%). Other skills that organizations most typically employ today are user research (50%), industrial design (41%), futurecasting (36%), engineering (33%), and UI/UX (29%).

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