Strictly ballroom or dancing in the moment? Methods for enhancing the partnership of design and business.

The relationship between design and business has been the subject of considerable research in the field of design management. The success of this relationship, in particular between business clients and design consultants, determines the effectiveness of design projects in meeting business objectives. It is in the design briefing process that these issues are brought most fully into focus. This seeks to formalise mutual and coherent understanding of the project in terms of a written agreement of objectives, drivers and requirements for sign-off. A study of the process, suggests that this can be problematic in several respects – most notably the reluctance of designers to raise questions concerning business, which reflects their lack of confidence in using business-related language. Whilst previous studies have proposed detailed guidelines on the issues that should be covered in design briefing, these can be too prescriptive and focus exclusively on the content of the brief rather than the process.

It is the contention of the authors that the briefing process provides a vital opportunity for sharing the tacit knowledge of both business and design, which is a key determinant of project success. The dynamic interaction of the client and designer during the briefing process, striving to achieve shared goals in the project context, is described by the authors as "dancing in the moment", and is contrasted to the “strictly ballroom” approach of conventional briefing guidelines.

Murphy, E. & Press, M. (2007) Strictly ballroom or dancing in the moment? Methods for enhancing the partnership of design and business. Seventh European Academy of Design Conference: Dancing with Disorder: Design, Discourse, Disaster. Izmir, Turkey.