Creating and communicating the business value of design is a complex task. This case study set out to bridge the fields of business and design by investigating how design consultants can communicate the value of design to their clients. More specifically, the study investigates (1) how desirability can be linked to viability by using Strategy Maps and Conditional Statements, (2) how to quantify design output by calculating Return on Investment of Retention and (3) how to verbally and visually communicate design through relevant terminology and communication techniques. To do this, a Business Thinking approach was applied. A first research phase consisting of 12 interviews were conducted, focusing on understanding the work environment of design consultants at the digital consultancy firm Futurice and how they collaborate with their current project clients. The results were used as a blueprint for the second research phase, consisting of one-on-one co-creation workshop sessions between design consultants and their current clients. The sessions were evaluated in Business Thinking experiments and interviews. Physical co-creation canvases were implemented and used in the workshops. The experiments demonstrate that tools and methods inherited from Business Design and Business Thinking can be integrated without disrupting the existing DesignOps at Futurice. Further, the results indicate that the Business Thinking approach can be applied both to the design process of individual design consultants and into DesignOps management, which encourages application beyond the case of Futurice. To what extent is profoundly dependent on the design maturity of the individual designer and the organization. This is assessed and discussed based on the Design Ladder. / Att skapa och kommunicera affärsvärdet av design är en komplex uppgift. Denna fallstudie syftar till att sammanlänka områdena affärsutveckling och design genom att undersöka hur designkonsulter kan kommunicera affärsvärdet av design till sina kunder. Mer specifikt undersöker studien (1) hur önskvärdhet kan kopplas till genomförbarhet genom att använda Strategy Maps och Conditional Statements, (2) hur man kan kvantifiera design-output genom att beräkna Return on Investment of Retention och (3) hur man verbalt och visuellt kan kommunicera design genom relevant terminologi och kommunikationstekniker. För att genomföra detta tillämpades ett tillvägagångssätt baserat på Business Thinking. En första forskningsfas bestående av 12 intervjuer genomfördes med fokus på att förstå arbetsmiljön för designkonsulter på det digitala konsultföretaget Futurice och hur de samarbetar med sina nuvarande kunder. Resultaten användes som ett underlag för den andra forskningsfasen, bestående av one-on-one workshop-sessioner mellan designkonsulter och deras nuvarande kunder. Sessionerna utvärderades i experiment och intervjuer baserade på metodik från Business Thinking. Fysiska a co-creation kanvaser implementerades och användes i samtliga workshops. De utförda experimenten visar att verktyg och metoder baserade på Business Design och Business Thinking kan integreras utan att störa befintliga design operationer (DesignOps) på Futurice. Resultaten indikerar även att Business Thinking-strategier kan tillämpas både vid designprocessen för individuella designkonsulter och vid DesignOps inom en organisation, vilket även uppmuntrar till tillämpning utanför Futurice. I vilken utsträckning detta kan göras beror på mognadsgraden för design, både för individuella designers och för organisationer. Detta bedöms och diskuteras baserat på metoden Design Ladder.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to define and describe the work of external instructional design consultants. Study participants included seven instructional designers with varied educational backgrounds and work experience who work in a variety of contexts supporting clients in the design and delivery of learning experiences. All seven participants completed an initial survey with demographic and background questions. Five participants then took part in semi-structured interviews. Collected data was coded using both deductive and inductive methods with each case considered individually before combining the data for analysis across cases. Study findings support previous research suggesting that the work of instructional designers is dependent on context. Results further indicated that external instructional design consultants regularly engage in project management, communication and collaboration, and the analysis and evaluation components of the instructional design process, all in keeping with existing literature. External instructional designers differed in that they do more sales-related work, and, in the analysis process, focus more on client needs than learner characteristics. Study participants were invested in creating high quality, engaging learning experiences, while also willing to accommodate the unique challenges facing any given client. The study findings suggested that prospective employees' instructional design knowledge is of limited value during hiring interviews; instead, participants reported being more likely to hire former educators and subject-matter experts who can be trained to do instructional design work. Two broad themes emerged from the study's findings: 1) instructional designers can be organized into instructional designer and manager roles with corresponding responsibilities; and 2) the question of how best to prepare instructional designers is a question of what knowledge and skills are needed and where those skills should be developed. These themes formed the basis of five instructional design personas that resulted from this study, as well as a proposed program for preparing instructional design professionals.