Benchmarking Industrial Design Services

In this benchmark study, we seek to identify strategies, operating practices, and philosophies employed by some of today's best-regarded industrial design consultancy firms in both the USA and Europe. In addition, we attempt to map important trends in the field of design. To reach our objectives we compare the design practice of design consultancy firms with a strong reputation and highly esteemed client base with competitors lacking these assets. In total, we interviewed 50 well-regarded and little-known industrial design firms operating in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA. Additional information was obtained by interviewing clients of professional design services and industry experts. The findings of our benchmark study indicate that design consultancy firms face new competitive challenges, among other things, due to convergence of related markets, the challenges of the globalization process and the influence of new information and communication technologies that allow firms to exploit economies of scale and scope. Our research further identified six factors that seem critical for success in present-day design consultancy, namely being a full design service provider or niche player, maintaining excellent long-term client relationships and achieving customer satisfaction, having an entrepreneurial attitude, having an interdisciplinary and multicultural orientation, maintaining a strong focus on building and sustaining an excellent image and finally engaging in a cycle of continuous learning.