A Trend of the Development of Innovation Designer in the United States

Abstract

Design thinking is one of the notable keywords regarding innovation promotion. Since design thinking has been gradually acknowledged among universities and industries in the United States, a few universities have launched design thinking programs to foster innovation designers who are capable to raise innovations in industries. In addition, a new type of consulting firm, design consulting firm, has been emerging in the US; design consulting firms hire innovation designers and promote their clients’ innovation. By sorting out the competencies of innovation designers from these universities and firms, this paper describes a way to develop and utilize innovation designers.