DIAGNOSIS AND NEW CHALLENGES ON DESIGN. THE CASE OF MONDRAGON CORPORATION'S INDUSTRY AREA

Abstract

The integration of design in innovation processes leads to competitiveness improvement. However, investigations at national level indicate that the aesthetic-functional vision of design is still predominant in industry. This study, targeted to Innovation and Development heads of MONDRAGON Corporation's Industry Area allows to: (i) determine the maturity degree of the application of design in the industrial companies of MONDRAGON Corporation, (ii) analyze the current state in two specific areas of design that are of interest to this group: User Centered Design and Service Design, and (iii) identify future interests in the design field for this group.. The results suggest that design is partially integrated into product development processes, mainly related to the improvement of technical-functional aspects. In turn, it is identified that User Centered Design techniques are unsystematically applied, only a minority of the companies have structured processes for it. Furthermore, the study indicates that although servitización is already evident in this industrial group, only a minority of companies recognize to have a method for the design of new services. Companies indicate that user needs identification and combined design of products and services, will be key aspects in the future. Thus, User Centered Design and Service Design must be integral parts of the innovation processes. Therefore, the authors outlined the need to activate learning processes in companies, encouraging new collaboration dynamics between industry and university.