The role of design in the provision of solutions and experiences

It is recognised that companies in almost every sector are making a transition from selling products to innovative, integrated product-service packages. These packages deliver the benefits to customers while generally removing the requirement for ownership of products. The purpose of this paper is to establish the importance of studying design's role in creating innovative product-services. The paper discusses two forms of product-service, with reference to the literature on “integrated solutions” and “experiential services”. Two cases, which are considered to be representative of these two approaches, are described, to examine the role of design. This paper presents the two concepts of experiences and solutions as alternative strategies, appropriate in different contexts. This is in contrast to the literatures which describe these as universal approaches. Analysis of the two case companies allows these concepts to be compared and contrasted, with emphasis on the role of design, in terms of design activities and spending on them. This grants a unique perspective which can benefit strategic decision makers, design managers and researchers. The paper closes with suggested research questions to expand the scope of the study, beyond the limitations of the available data.