"Design process," says INDEX: CEO Kigge Hvid, "may be described in mystical terms and referred to with a lot of confusion, but it's neither the Beast in Revelations nor is it the answer to all threats to the human race. It's not even the only way we'll collaborate in the future."

"Design process, she says, is simply a way of working that identifies solutions based on the knowledge, responsiveness and methodology of designers."

To start with a good definition of design, itself, Kigge turns to John Heskett, a member of the INDEX: jury and Chair Professor of Design at the School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

"'Design,' John tells us, 'is the human capacity to shape and make our environments in ways that satisfy our needs and give meaning to our lives.'"

And the procedures of design process, Kigge says – ways of thinking and approaching issues – have been developed over the last 30 years as a formalization of that human capacity cited by John Heskett.

"The design process," Kigge says, "is presently successfully applied in very diverse arenas – from commercial product development to the work of NGO's (non-governmental organizations) and the way non-profit organizations may identify needed services."

Many of us are accustomed to linear processes. The first differences one might notice in design process, Kigge says, "is that it is iterative, circular and highly intense.

"Design process," she says, "is based on cross-disciplinary teamwork and it utilizes the designer's capacity to visualize, give form to concept, and understand the user. Contrary to many people's perceptions of creative processes, the design process is highly structured, well-planned and carefully led."

"The starting point of a design process," Kigge asserts, "is knowledge, dedicated research and fact-finding. From that base, the process widens to embrace inspiration, user-understanding, experimentation, testing, open-ended questioning, building, and trial and error – to end up at production, implementation, communication and distribution."

"The final result of design process," Kigge says, "can be tangible or intangible. It may result in products, systems, services or processes."

Relating design process to INDEX:Design to Improve Life

"Here at INDEX:," Kigge says, "we believe that modern design process comprises ways of working that have the greatest chance of leading to relevant and suitable answers to complex problems and challenges.

• "On the other hand, we accept that great Design to Improve Life can also be made by accident or by divine inspiration. No matter which process was used to create the design, we recognize it as a great Design to Improve Life if it ranks high on three parameters: Form, Impact and Context."Form is concerned with color, material, aesthetics, surfaces, as Hvid explains it. "It is what you can touch and feel," she says. And as such, Form is what has traditionally been perceived as the concern of design.

• Impact is about the positive effect of a design. "How it addresses a challenge," Hvid elaborates, "how it improves life, its possible distribution, its relevance, and the economic and environmental sustainability of the design." Impact, in short, is about how a design "Improves Life."

• Context is about the setting in which a design is proposed to function. "It's about how a design fits the culture, geography, ethics and society in which it's intended to be used. It's about Life."

Together, Form, Impact and Context, then, compose "Design to Improve Life."

Design traditionally may have been limited primarily to assessments only in terms of Form, Kigge says. "But after the INDEX: jury added the two parameters of Impact and Context," she says, "the trio of parameters have gained widespread applause and respect."

These three criteria are now evolving into a sturdy and useful formula of evaluation, Kigge says, for assessing many types of design – not only Design to Improve Life.

Download Design Process

DESIGN PROCESS and INDEX:DESIGN TO IMPROVE LIFE
WHAT:	A "design process" is used to identify solutions based on the knowledge, responsiveness and the methodology of designers.
WHO:	Modern design processes have been developed by designers over the last 30 years – since the 1970s -- and now are used by companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments.
WHY:	Design processes are used to secure profound understandings of a challenge and to enable relevant solutions to this challenge. Using a design process is the most dependable way to develop Design to Improve Life.