(A) study on the strategic role of design in internet business

Abstract

As design plays a critical role in establishing a company’s product, manufacturing process, and business model for innovation, leading companies around the world have been garnering huge profits through design. An increasing number of companies have become aware of design as a strategic resource for value creation and then have steadily incorporated design-oriented thinking and activities into the entire corporate organization. In light of the growing importance of design management, the primary aim of this research is to identify paradigm shifts in design management as well as strategic roles and effects of design in internet business. Through a content analysis of papers published in periodicals since 1989, the priorities of design management studies and authorship patterns were analyzed. In addition, the major effects of the strategic use of design have been identified: developing a core competence for innovation, bridging the brand and consumer, and enhancing business performance. Along with the emphasis on the importance of strategic issues in design management, the results of the content analysis suggest a growing interest in visual communication design including emerging digital design fields in the digital economy. This research identified the roles and effects of design in internet business through a triangulation methodology: (1) literature reviews on the growth of internet business and internet service design; (2) two survey questionnaires on the current state of internet service design given to 30 digital design agencies and 60 clients; (3) comparative case studies between two in-house design groups\mdashNHN Corp. and SK Communications Corp.\mdashand three digital design agencies\mdashVINYL Inc., Design Fever Inc., and Sugarcube Inc. Through analysis of these research results, it was discovered that the design activities in internet business have expanded and diversified from the web design level to the strategic management level. Along w...