Finland to become a leader in measuring the effects of design

The Design ROI project of the Finnish Design Business Association FDBA and Aalto University will be a tool for companies and design agencies to measure and predict financial outcomes of design. The project was initiated by the need for design agencies to be able to evaluate their work, and is especially valuable for SME sector of businesses. The Design ROI project has been carried out with the support of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 year and is part of its programme. One of the core objectives of the design capital year is to increase the understanding of design’s role as a promoter of business life and economics. Measurement of design is a major cornerstone of success in business economics and has been long awaited by businesses, design agencies and the public sector.

Design impacts have been measured elsewhere: In Great Britain an average design investment has been calculated to multiply the turnover by 2.25 when compared with the invested resources. In Denmark companies investing in design have gained a growth 22 % greater than companies that have not invested in design, and the difference will rise up to 40 % when talking about continuous investing. Design ROI is a trailblazer in compacting the collected data into a tool. Professor Jaakko Aspara from Aalto University says:

“From an exploratory point of view Design ROI is a very ambitious project. We have such knowledge of design and business management in Finland that there is a good reason to presume that we will succeed in this challenge. Design ROI is a concrete solution to an extremely large problem that has delayed the impact of the otherwise well-developed design sector on society.”

The Design ROI research report can be downloaded (in Finnish) from http://www.designroi.fi/