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The areas covered by the Design Atlas
audit framework are shown in Figure 1. Within each area the framework
contains questions against which a business can be scored from
one to four. The objective is to allow organisations to assess
their capability and identify opportunities for development.
The first section of Design Atlas deals
with Planning for design. The section
begins with two general planning questions querying the existence
of strategic plans for any part of the business and the level
of communication of these plans. Both these questions are important.
If a company is not thinking strategically about any of its activities
it needs to develop this attribute in parallel with developing
design plans. Other elements of the planning section deal with
planning horizons and structured thinking.
The second section deals with Processes
for design. Again recognition of a design process within
the business is unlikely unless the business is familiar with
process thinking, in a general sense. The questions ask about
process awareness before examining the way the design process
is managed and the role-played by structured thinking within project
level design activity.
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Figure 1: Design Atlas framework |
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General planning awareness
General planning communication
Design planning awareness
Design planning thinking
Design planning horizons |
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General process awareness
Design process awareness
Design process management
Design process tools |
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General budget alllocation
Design budget alllocation |
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Design skills
Design organisation |
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Design commitment
Design attitudes |
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The third part of the Design Atlas audit
asks about the allocation of Resources for
design. This starts with a general question on resource allocation
before asking about the specifics of design investment.
The fourth section deals with People
for design and in particular the network of design skills
that the business has access to. This section then examines the
way design skills are organised.
Finally, the audit framework deals with
Culture for design. This is of
enormous importance but is probably one of the most difficult
aspects of a business to audit. Two general questions are framed
in this section to gain some insight into the business's design
values.
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