Design Directions and Future Trajectories

This chapter discusses the future trajectory of design, beginning with the ‘here and now’ and then explores the contested boundaries of its influence. The design profession has advanced considerable over the last decade, moving from suppliers of design expertise to business enterprises, now becoming an unlikely source of inspiration when engaging with wider societal challenges and associated wicked problems. One such initiative, is the international network of DESIS Labs, based in design schools and in other design-oriented universities and operating with local, regional and global partners to promote and support social change towards sustainability. In essence, its main aim is to use design thinking and design knowledge to trigger, enable and scale-up social innovation for the common good. Then, it turns its attention to the democratisation of design in the form of participatory design, a philosophical approach that could be considered as both a process and a strategy—which connects end-users and customers to design. An excellent example of the democratisation of design is the living lab movement, where the labs acts as intermediaries among citizens, research organisations, companies, cities and regions for joint value co-creation, rapid prototyping or validation to scale up innovation and business enterprises. Following this, the next chapter introduces the theme of data driven innovation and in particular, the rise of the ‘internet of things’ and how this growing trend is disrupting established markets. It concludes with a succinct glimpse into the future as to the role of design set against the backdrop of an era of uncertainty, especially when discussing globalisation, emergent technology, demographic change and the environment.