In the face of social problems of ever-increasing complexity, businesses have become interested in the thought process of designers, two important aspects of which focus on users and systems thinking. Business education, in turn, can benefit by adopting some of the concepts and methods designers learn. These include learning how to frame problems, conduct ethnographic research, reason abductively, synthesise information and collaborate in groups. Teaching methods need to be practically focused and reflective. As an example, a design course taught in an Austrian business school helped transform students’ perspectives.

This article aims to show readers the most significant results obtained from an analysis of design from an economic perspective which has attempted to evaluate, in a general sense, the impact of the design sector in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) and Occupation on the economy of Catalonia and that of Spain.

The article therefore attempts to demonstrate the limitations which have been presented by way of economic information and statistics throughout the development of this analysis, and finally invite reflection on the conclusions obtained.

Into(context) is a design research project developed by the Design for Sustainability group of Delft University of Technology, Kiva.org and funded by Microsoft Research’s Digital Inclusion Initiative. The initiative had as its goal to fund investigations of the role information & communication technology (ICT) can play in creating solutions for overcoming the myriad barriers facing the developing world.

The relationship between politics and design is not obvious. It is only from a general conception of politics – viewed as the way in which we regulate social conflict - that we can begin to understand this apparently strange binomial.

This article aims to convey the strategic importance of industrial design in aspects related to competitiveness and company success within the context of the industrial fabric. It also studies the Spanish manufacturing industry, with particular emphasis on Catalan industry, related to the application of design factors. The text also comments on the two most significant factors of the study promoted by CIDEM: market success and design.

Design, a magnificent advancement tool for any group activity that is focused on social improvement, will find it difficult to point in this direction while we live in an economic system whose main objective consists of obtaining profits for private capital.