This document summarizes a survey of business designers conducted in 2018. It finds that while "Business Designer" is the most common title, there are other similar titles used as well that focus on strategy, services, and innovation. The top 20 countries where business designers are located are mature economies. In the US, business designers are concentrated in major cities that are hubs for business, industry, academia, technology, and finance. On average, Americans working as business designers reported salaries that were $54,275 USD higher than designers reporting salaries in Euros.

1. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
The Emerging Field of Business and
Service Design
Opportunities for Business Designers
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION AND PAY
STEVEN J. SLATER, service designer, marketing
scientist, award-winning author “Be Relevant: How
Brands Rise to the Top”
steven@servicedesigncourses.com
February 2019

2. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
The International Service Design Institute expresses its appreciation to Helsinki-based Jonas Kronlund, Business Design
Lead, who graciously offered his raw research that led to the findings included here.
Acknowledgement

3. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
Contents
Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
0Job Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Global Distribution of Business Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
U.S. Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Salary Comparison – USD/EUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
• Some may take the service world for granted, but they are part of our everyday lives. What’s more, services are critical to Western and
emerging economies, and their success helps drive our standard of living.
• Products are not services; all services share fundamental attributes and hence require distinct methods and an approach for designing.
• As such, there is a dire need for services to succeed, and for there to be more service designers who are skilled, experienced and
knowledgeable.
The purpose for business and service designers

5. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
While “Business Designer” Is the preferred title, there are others reflecting much the same work
Top five other titles poke at some commonalities: strategy, services, and innovation
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6. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
Business, service designers (et al) are spread across mature economies
N=40 Countries
2
Top 20 Represented Countries
(Largest Concentration of Business Designers)
Representation
Bird’s Eye View1
3 Bottom 20 Represented Countries
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7. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018
The number of business and service designers in world’s largest economy (U.S.)
are aligned to major business, industry and academic hubs
N=43 Respondents
Creative Arts Academia
(Savannah, Georgia is home to SCAD-The University for
Creative Careers, with recognized programs for
business design/service design.
U.S. Financial and Business Center
(New York City)
Silicon Valley
(San Francisco, California, hosts West
Coast offices for IDEO, Designit, and other
large service design firms.)
Innovation
(Seattle, WA., includes HQs for
Microsoft, Amazon, and Starbucks.)
Financial and Business Services
(Charlotte, North Carolina is third-largest banking center in U.S.)
Professional Services, Finance and Consumer Packaged Goods
(Chicago, Illinois, major offices for many global management
consulting firms. Additionally, a hub of food processing)
Center for Manufacturing and Healthcare HQs
(Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.)
Academia – Integrated Design Programs
(Texas Includes two of the largest U.S. schools: University of Texas (50k students) and Texas A&M (60K). Other recognized schools,
Baylor, Southern Methodist, Rice and others, contribute another 100K to the state’s academic population.)
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Government and Technology
(Washington, D.C.)
SDN Chapter = Service Design Network
• Atlanta, Ga.
• Boston, Mass.
• Chicago, Il.
• Indianapolis, Ind.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul,, Minn.
• New York City
• San Francisco, Calif.
• Washington, D.C.

8. Source: Jonas Kronlund, Survey of Business Designers 2018 N=68, “USD” Respondents
N=159, “Euro” Respondents
Americans Are Typically Paid More Than Everyone Else
Side-by-side Comparisons of Averages, Americans Come Out $54,275 ahead (€48,031)
USD Currency
(Normed)
EUR Currency
(Normed)
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