Design has been evolved from developing tangibles to offering transformations of organisational behaviour. Specifically, in design academia and leading design-driven businesses (organisations), a role of design – design thinking and design-driven innovation – is to address change in organizational ways of doing business. Also, to employ design at a strategic level as a living entity, it is claimed that it is fundamental for organizations to shift towards challenging what they currently face. However, design is still recognised as developing tangibles in the FMCG industry from the survey research: product development, technological development, etc. On top of that, there has been limited research into the FMCG industry and this is less highlighted in academia due to the status quo of FMCG industry. Hence, the central aim of the research is to investigate the use of design-driven approaches within FMCG brand development and their value to companies.
My interests include investigating how design can elevate its role beyond conventional activities within brand development and other organisational activities and stimulate me to start the PhD research project. This interest is driven from my previous work experience. Before starting my PhD, I worked at Interbrand Seoul as a senior designer and Gaid Associates for six years. I have wide experience of working with large Korean companies to develop corporate brand and packaging designs for many industries. In terms of academic experience, I graduated with an MSc in Communication Design from the Pratt Institute and gave lectures at Woosong University in South Korea.
Publications
Lee & Evans. (2011). Investigating how the FMCG industry employs design-driven approaches: the dichotomy between literature and practice. In: IASDR (International Association of Societies of Design Research), the 4th World Conference on Design Research, Delft, the Netherlands 31 Oct.-04 Nov. 2011
Lee & Evans. (2011). Design-Driven Approaches: The Dichotomy Between Corporations and Consultancies, the 1th Cambridge Academic Design Management Conference, Cambridge, the UK 7-8 Sept. 2011
Lee & Evans. (2010). An Investigation into Features of Design Thinking in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Brand Development: Integration and collaboration, In DRS (Design Research Society), 2010 Design Research Society (DRS) International Conference Design & Complexity, Montreal, Canada 7-9 July 2010