The Design Ladder is a tool developed by the Danish Design Centre to evaluate a company's use of design across four steps: 1) Non-design, where design is invisible in product development; 2) Design as form-giving, where design is used for styling; 3) Design as process, where design is integrated early in development; and 4) Design as strategy, where design informs business strategy. Companies higher on the ladder in 2007 had higher earnings and exports than those lower or in 2003, showing the economic benefits of systematic design use.

1. THE DESIGN
LADDER
The Design Ladder is a tool for rating a company’s use of design.
The Design Ladder was developed by the Danish Design Centre
in 2001 to illustrate that companies’ use of design may take on
a variety of forms. The Design Ladder consists of four steps.
STEP 4
DESIGN AS STRATEGY
The designer works with the company’s owners/management
to rethink the business concept completely or in part.
Here, the key focus is on the design process in relation to the
company’s business visions and its desired business areas and
future role in the value chain.
STEP 3
DESIGN AS PROCESS
Design is not a result but an approach that is integrated at an early
stage in the development process. The solution is driven by the
problem and the users and requires the involvement of a wide
variety of skills and capacities, for example process technicians,
materials technicians, marketing experts and administrative staff.
STEP 2
DESIGN AS FORM-GIVING
Design is viewed exclusively as the final form-giving stage,
whether in relation to product development or graphic design.
Many designers use the term ‘styling’ about this process.
The task may be carried out by professional designers but is
typically handled by people with other professional backgrounds.
STEP 1
NON-DESIGN
Design is an invisible part of, e.g., product development,
and the task is not handled by trained designers. The solution
is driven by the involved participants’ ideas about good function
and aesthetic. The users’ perspective plays little or no role in the
process.
% of companies 2003 % of companies 2007
2007
4
3
2
1
21%
45%
17%
15%
2003
4
3
2
1
15%
35%
13%
36%

2. DESIGN IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS
Companies that work systematically with design have
higher earnings and bigger exports than companies that
do not use design. That is the main conclusion in the survey
‘The economic effects of design’, which was carried out
in 2003.1
The economic effects are more pronounced in companies
where design is firmly rooted in both internal and external
design investments.
With regard to the companies’ position on the Design
Staircase, a higher placement on the Design Staircase is
associated with a positive effect on gross earnings and a
clear positive effect on exports.
1 UK: https://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/economic-effects-design-2004
DK: https://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/designs-oekonomiske-effekter-2003
ABOUT THE DESIGN LADDER
The Design Ladder is a tool for rating a company’s
use of design.
The Design Ladder was developed by the Danish Design
Centre in 2001 as a communicative model for illustrating
the variation in companies’ use of design. The Design
Ladder consists of four steps.
The Design Ladder is based on the hypothesis that
there is a positive link between, on the one hand, placing
a greater emphasis on design methods in the early stages
of development and giving design a more strategic
position in the company’s overall business strategy and,
on the other hand, higher earnings.
In 2001, Danish companies’ respective positions on
the Design Ladder were evaluated for the first time.
The survey was repeated in 2003 and 2007. A comparison
of the figures for 2003 and 2007 shows a general move
up the ladder.
THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF DESIGN
The survey ’The economic effects of design’ was carried
out in 2003 by the Danish Design Centre, Advice Analyse,
I&A Research and the University of Copenhagen.
The survey was conducted on behalf of the Danish National
Agency for Enterprise and Housing (now the Danish
Business Authority). The goal was to determine the value a
company gains by using design. The survey included an
assessment of the participating companies’ ranking
according to the Design Staircase (called the ‘design
ladder’ in the report).
The survey was the first of its kind in the world, so at the
time, it represented ground-breaking new knowledge, with
the advantages and limitations that implies.
The survey employed the following definition of design:
”WHEN WE SPEAK OF DESIGN WE MEAN DESIGN
STRATEGIES, DEVELOPMENT AND STYLING –
EVERYTHING THAT TAKES PLACE PRIOR TO
PRODUCTION OR IMPLEMENTATION OF PRODUCTS
(PRINTED MATTER, SALES FAIR STALLS, WEB SITES,
INTERIORS, ETC.).”