The first Business of Design Deep Dive from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) was held November 2-3, 2021 and welcomed hundreds of designers from around the world.
All of the replays are now posted to the Event Hub for those who registered for the live event.
“Good design is good business”
These words from Thomas J. Watson Jr., who worked closely with Eliot Noyes, FIDSA at IBM, remain true and urgent today. We know design leaders help to increase returns to shareholders and revenue to organizations (“The business value of design,” McKinsey, 2018). However, this value is often underappreciated and largely untapped. We need more advocacy for designers to grow into leadership roles and more ways for them to communicate their value, whether to clients, top executives, or the general public.
The Business of Design Deep Dive was built for this purpose, convening diverse attendees from across the globe for two days of knowledge exchange and inspiration. Participants logged in from Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Twenty of these attendees received complimentary registration, thanks to generous donations throughout the year to IDSA’s Design Foundation DEI Event Access Program.
Professional development for industrial designers
Experts with backgrounds across the in-house/corporate, design firm/consultancy, and academic realms provided their insights and tips for getting ahead. These presenters included Mauro Porcini, IDSA, Chief Design Officer at PepsiCo; Blair Enns, founder of Win Without Pitching; Jeanette Numbers, IDSA, co-founder of Loft; David Allan, IDSA, Director of Design at Stryker Instruments; Christopher Tobias, Solutions Architect at athenahealth; Stacey Stormo, Sustainability Consultant at Stormo & Co; Shari Novick, co-founder and CEO of Vee; and Claire Lorman, Senior Experience Designer at Method.
Breakout sessions were led by Karim Merchant, Industrial Design and Creative Specialist at KeyShot; Yariv Sade, Director of Product Application Engineering at Stratasys; Joseph Meersman, Senior Design Director at Intapp; Pieter van Gool, IDSA, Business Development Manager at SÜDPACK MEDICA AG; Mike Bubolz, founder of EISEN DEV; and Xue Dong, IDSA, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at East Stroudsberg University of Pennsylvania.
The Deep Dive was co-emceed by Stephanie Battista, founder of Humanity Innovation Labs, and Jeevak Badve, FIDSA, Director of Strategic Growth at Sundberg-Ferar.
Here’s what just a few of the participants had to say…
“I was blown away by the energy and engagement in the chat and discussions. The questions were so specific, it was really great to see people leaning into the meat of the panelists’ talks (rather than just asking the generic question).” – Jeanette Numbers, IDSA, presenter
“The engagement was phenomenal. It was interesting to see the correlation from all speakers about the value that industrial designers bring both outside the design office and outside the typical design business role to ultimately propel growth for the business.” – Pieter van Gool, IDSA, presenter
“This was a really solid event, lots of really well-focused talks. Thanks to all who made it happen.” – Bradford Waugh, IDSA, attendee
Special thanks to our event sponsors and media partners
SPONSORS: Designcraft Prototypes, KeyShot, PepsiCo, Sherwin-Williams, Stratasys, and Teague
MEDIA PARTNERS: Advanced Design, Design Museum of Chicago, Female Design Council, Museum of Craft and Design, and World Design Organization