Interaction between client and design consultant: The stance of client to design consultant and its influence on design process

Abstract

Design is essential in product development but several small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) relatively capable of manufacturing are suffered from lack of in-house design ability. For new product design, these SMEs typically employ external designers. In this clientdesigner interaction, designers propose design solution alternatives to their clients, which clients may accept or reject. In some cases, clients provide designers further design requirements. A study on how interactions are performed and what effects these interactions have on the results of product development is essential to determine what is needed to achieve successful collaborative relationships. Thus, this study analyzed three design development cases that were previously performed to understand how interactions work between clients and designers and its effect on the outcomes. In all cases, the design team developed designs for the clients based on their technological requirements. This study focused on the effect of client stance on the process and deliverables. Clients usually take various actions that accept or reject design solutions or give additional demands. This is because clients take initiative in decision making. Clients' stance was divided into receptive and expressive stances. As a result, a receptive stance ensured the design capabilities of design consultants, whereas expressive stance confined design capabilities to some extent but a new design direction may be proposed based on a client's knowledge, information, and judgment.