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What Next? Future Strategy for UK Product Design Consultancies

<jats:p>This paper focuses on the "micro" and practical challenges facing product-led design consultancies in the UK. Here we define <jats:italic>product-led design consultancies</jats:italic> as creative design consultancies in which the original service was product and/or engineering design. The evolution of these consultancies has already occurred over the years; hence some consultancies now identify themselves as "innovation" or "multi-disciplinary" design consultancies. The agenda of this paper is to suggest possible future directions in which the traditional product design consultancies can become more competitive as they begin to integrate business thinking into the creative thinking process. Harnessing the skill sets inherent in product design and blending in readily accessible new expertise could result in powerful creative strategic consultant organizations, allowing the opportunity for a consultancy to design not just objects but also a strategy for its clients. This optimization between the current interests of design and the development of strategic offerings will have a synergistic effect and will help UK design consultancies to retain their value as leaders in creativity and design.</jats:p>