Choose and work with a designer

Design is integral to almost any part of your business operations. From website development, brands and logos, to marketing and product or service development - all these elements rely greatly on design. It is therefore very important to manage your design projects efficiently and methodically.

Here are some steps you can follow to help you manage the design process while working with creative people like product designers, brand consultants or web design agencies.

• Project team - you should build a team to work out how design can address your business problem and manage the design process. See how to create an effective design team.
• Team leader - you should assign a project manager with the authority to make decisions and consult the whole business to define the design process objectives.
• Targets - you should set budgets, timescales and measurable targets.
• Research - you should investigate your customers' needs and make sure your project responds to them.
• Design brief - make sure your brief outlines the project's aims, budget, timetable and any legal, technical, or other constraints on the design.
• Consultation - you should speak with as many people as possible in your business to help you create the brief. See how to write an effective design brief.
• Designer - carefully research different designers before making a choice. See how to choose the right designer for your project.
• Design concepts - you should aim to develop your concepts from an original idea. See how to manage your design project effectively.
• Prototypes - you should create, test and evaluate prototypes of your designs.
• Evaluations - you should use these to refine your design prototypes and concepts.
• Implementation - you should sign off on the design before it goes live, to print, production or manufacture. Read more about design sign off and approval.
• Evaluate - appraise the procedures involved and the overall success of your design project.
• Review - assess whether you have met your objectives and whether you could improve the process in future.

For more information on the design process, see managing your design projects.