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Design is crucial to businesses in the technology sector. Working with designers, or learning to use design principles and tools yourself, can help technology developers to transform ideas into commercial realities.

This is because the design process:

• turns ideas into something concrete
• focuses on users, in order to make sure that new technologies meet real needs
• is naturally collaborative - helping people work together creatively

Design isn't just about the look and feel of a final product. Working with designers can be valuable in the technology transfer process, where the focus is on developing a technology so that it can transfer into the commercial marketplace and enjoy success in markets that have real uses for it.

Design thinking focuses on finding out what customers and potential customers want and need, and on generating ideas about how to meet these needs efficiently.

How can designers help technology businesses?

A designer's contribution to the process of technology transfer can help to:

• secure licence deals and new investment
• reduce risk by stopping unprofitable proposals or directions
• highlight early problems
• increase the value of intellectual property
• get to market quicker

By using design principles, new technology creators, engineers and marketers can:

• raise and answer initial questions about the product or service
• identify uses for the product or service
• explore potential markets - and recognise how to appeal to these markets
• explain and tailor technology to investors or possible clients

For more information, see design thinking for new technology developers

Whatever the type of technology development your business is involved in, you will be able to use design principles or work with a designer.

Innovative technology companies such as Rolls Royce, BT and Google put great resources into multi-disciplinary teams, including:

• designers
• engineers
• inventors
• anthropologists
• business managers
• marketing and communication specialists, etc

But it's not just big businesses that understand how design can help them develop new products that use their patented technologies. Researchers and inventors in UK universities, start-up technology companies and small businesses that work on one core technology, have all benefited from commissioning design agencies.

For more information, see design thinking for new technology developers and find out how technology businesses use good design principles.

Watch a case study below to see how one Northern Ireland business benefited from working with a design team.

Whether you plan to work with a designer or use design methods yourself, you can benefit from design thinking. Thinking like a designer means shaping ideas into practical and attractive propositions for customers.

Customer focus

Design is a user-centred discipline. Designers research and evaluate new ideas from the view of the customer or user first. User-centred design is based on getting potential customers involved in the process of developing your technology so that you can make sure you are creating products that they want to use.

Innovative thinking

Working with someone who is prepared to challenge the status quo can help you identify new, better ways of doing things. Designers can offer this sort of thinking and they:

• are willing to take risks
• can accept high levels of uncertainty
• have the drive to turn an idea into practical conclusions and applications
• are able to inspire and work with others

Early visualisation and experimentation, combined with user-testing your products, are key to innovation.

Tools or methods that help with design thinking

Your technology development/innovation team might want to use some of these tools:

• Brainstorming - to generate new ideas. It can also identify potential market applications, unique selling points and the features, advantages and benefits of a particular technology.
• Visualisations - images can help you explain your ideas to potential investors, licensees, users or interested press.
• Prototyping can help you learn from mistakes. Prototypes can also explain how your ideas could be useful and how they will look and feel. This can help you improve your design quickly.
• Branding - customers will often choose a successful or familiar brand over one they do not know. So it is important to establish your brand and use it in the right way, for the right products.
• Interface design - you should think about how people can interact with your technology. This can include software, electronics or parts of an overall product - eg a gear stick of a car.

Working with people from different disciplines

Design thinking is based on being able to see an idea from different perspectives. The way to achieve this is to collaborate with people who do different types of work - not just other technologists or engineers.

Designers can help you form multi-disciplinary teams including designers, engineers, inventors, anthropologists, ethnographic researchers, business managers, and marketing and communication specialists to drive new thinking and business development. Find out which technology businesses can use design.

Designers think innovatively and from the point of view of potential users. Your technology development process could benefit from their skills and experience.

If you want to find a designer from a discipline that's appropriate to the technology that you're developing, you can ask other businesses if they can recommend a designer - word of mouth is often an effective way of finding the right person.

Alternatively, you can contact one of the organisations that promote design:

• The Design Council is an independent not-for-profit organisation that works to improve people's lives by using design. They focus on three areas: business, the built environment and public services. Find out more about the .
• Eureka's Eurostars funding helps eligible businesses to carry out international technology research and development projects and get innovations to market faster. Find out more about the or read more about other EU funding for innovation.
• The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) is a professional body for designers in all design disciplines. You can to find suitable professionals in your area.

If you are interested in developing your - or your employees' - technology design skills, you can take a variety of training and education courses. They range from:

• Masters in Design university programmes
• full-time and part-time college courses
• one-day workshops

For example, Ulster University (UU) offers a course , which provides an opportunity to study technology in the context of design for the marketplace.

The Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) offers a to help you search for relevant design training opportunities.

Many different small and medium technology businesses use design to develop new products that meet user needs, create a recognisable brand identity and ultimately generate revenue.

For example, software developers are increasingly employing designers to help them create new products that meet user needs. This user-centred design approach tries to optimise the user interface around how people can, want or need to work, rather than forcing the users to change how they work to accommodate the software developer's approach. For more information, see user-centred design.

Product design can also make a functional tool - eg a mobile phone - more desirable for consumers. Experience design is also helping mobile phone businesses create an image for their products that goes beyond the simple, functional handset, and is more useful and attractive to people.

For examples of how businesses use good design principles, watch Invest Northern Ireland's case studies below.