Programme

Day One: 15th March 2011

8.15am: Registration

9am: Welcome

	Keynote: Richard Needham, Deputy Chairman, Dyson >> more Everyone is talking about Design and Innovation; very few are actually doing much about it.  Why? >> read more
	Ignacio Germade, Germade Design Studios, Formerly Senior Design Director, Motorola >> more Design, Vision and Innovation >> more
	Panel Debate: Design in the Global Economy Chair: David Kester, Chief Executive, Design Council >> more Panel: Ignacio Germade, Mike Addison, Simon Bolton Global markets and supply chains, distributed manufacturing, cultural and regulatory diversity, and consumer expectations are all contributing to a shift in design practices and principles. A panel debate featuring several of the day’s speakers will respond to questions from the floor regarding the issue of design in an increasingly globalised economy.

12noon: Lunch and various networking opportunities  

3.20pm: Break

	Marek Reichman, Director of Design, Aston Martin >>more
	Ian Livingstone, Life President, Eidos >>more Living with Lara Croft >>more

5pm: Close  

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Day Two: 16th March 2011

8.15am: Registration

9am: Welcome

	Keynote: David Moss, Director for Body and Exterior Engineering, Nissan Nissan LEAF – The New Car >> read more
	Richard Heayes, Global Design Director, Hasbro >>more Exploring the importance of design to create a strong product identity >>more
Panel Debate: Design for Competitive Advantage Chair: Kevin McCullagh, Plan >> more Panel: Will King, Alastair Curtis, Richard Heayes

12noon: Lunch and various networking opportunities  

3.20pm: Break  

	Charlie Rohan, Director of Consumer Experience, NCR Anyone, anytime, anyplace. Design, usability, accessibility for the global marketplace. >>more
	Kevin McCullagh, Design Strategist, PLAN >>more Are you making the most of your designers? >>more

    5pm: Close   

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More information about topics and workshops 

Sir Richard Needham: Everyone is talking about Design and Innovation; very few are actually doing much about it.  Why?

Richard Needham will bring his experience as a Director of Dyson over the last 15 years to discuss how design and innovation affects every aspect of a business operation. He will also discuss how the design of an organisation’s management can affect its performance drawing on his role of Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland and his current position as Chairman of Avon Rubber Plc. ^back to top

Design, Vision and Innovation

Ignacio Germade is an award winning designer and creative director specialised in interaction design and innovation. He has over 20 years of experience designing a wide range of projects; from electronic books or interactive showrooms to some of the world's best selling mobile phones. ^back to top

Ami Brabbins: Creativity through Workplace Design

Ideas, original thinking, small improvements and big innovations are all essential to the success of businesses today. But how do people actually go about being creative? Can the working environment really enhance creativity, and if so, how? Herman Miller and forward thinking inc set out to explore these challenges through a collaborative research project into the nature of creativity at work and the implications for workplace design and management. The research revealed four distinctive creative types of mind, the preferences of which will be explored in the presentation. ^back to top

Designing for Billions:- Innovation Insights from the Biggest Consumer Company in the World

Procter and Gamble is renowned for its customer-centric focus that has delivered sustained organic growth and made them one of the most successful consumer product companies in the world. Mike Addison will describe the importance of brand equity to their innovation and how this helps them place the consumer at the centre of their innovation and design process . ^back to top

Ian Livingstone, Life President, Eidos 

Ian Livingstone will give an account of his struggles and the lessons he learned as an entrepreneur in the 1970s when he and Steve Jackson set up Games Workshop and launched Dungeons & Dragons. He will also talk about his Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and the rise of interactive entertainment. The third part of his presentation is the story of computer games past, present and future, including a very visual and entertaining story of a digital icon; the life of Lara Croft:Tomb Raider. ^back to top

Creativity through Workplace Design - Mark Catchlove, Director, Herman Miller

Some companies may see the ‘Third Space’ as the areas left over once the desks and meeting rooms have been mapped out –  other, more visionary organisations see a newly emerging role of the workplace, in which interactions are far less rigid and work is more dynamic both in terms of the quality of collaboration and with regards the ease with which employees can move between different environments in a self-determined way. This is what the functional third space supports. We look at what the potential is for the Third Space, how organisations perceive its value and how economic recession may have impacted the pace at which companies are ‘walking the talk’ ^back to top

Designing beyond the Physical Product - Dr Mike Slack, Ansys Technical Services

Todays designers are challenged to deliver innovative, robust, designed products in shorter timescales for less. The rewards for getting it right are great but the costs of getting it wrong have never been more expensive. Many of the most innovative and successful companies are now applying computational simulation at the onset of the design stage to trial new concepts, provide insight and to design in robustness. Effort spent getting things right, from the start, reduces the number of costly prototypes and  time to market. This session will provide an overview of simulation and some of its most interesting advancements. It will include the use of integrated multi-physics environments that can test and elegantly optimise your designs and the increased availability of high powered computational resources that can now be leveraged to evaluate more designs faster. ^back to top

Fostering Creativity - Jonathan Butters, Principal Innovation and Design Consultant, Butters Innovation Limited

Recent and ongoing open innovation and collaborative projects have provided us with opportunities to involve a wider community in the design process. Jonathan will show examples were the encouragement and nurturing of the creativity of users, clinicians, technologists and service deliverers has helped to optimise the design and deliver better solutions. ^back to top

Branding - How brands change behaviour - Grant Marshall, Group Creative Director

As consumers we are constantly bombarded by brands and their messages – often to the point where we actively choose to ‘switch off’. Yet despite this saturation of information the most successful brands are always able to connect with us on more than just a visual level, and frequently convince us to change our behaviour. In this workshop, we’ll consider what makes this emotional connection possible, using practical examples from a North East initiative that has recently achieved national recognition for successfully engaging the target audience with messages they do not want to hear. The talk will provide an opportunity to hear both the agency and client view points on how success was achieved. ^back to top

Innovating through Customer Insight - Simon Bolton, Centre for Competitive Creative Design, Cranfield University

The masterclass will explain how consumer insights from the bottom of the pyramid to high end luxury help organisations to deliver commercially successful innovations. Simon will discuss two key issues of how insights helped unlock 15 million consumers a week, and how understanding consumer lifestyles and aspirations help drive effective brand positioning and product development in SMEs. The masterclass will conclude with the audience participating in a hands on activity that will explore the themes introduced. ^back to top

Fostering Creativity ‘Using consumer insights to generate growth’ - Mike Cane and Ben Strutt, Cambridge Design Partnership

Join Mike and Ben as they discuss the development journey of the Dulux Paintpod, a product which delivered over £5m incremental sales for Akzo Nobel in its’ first year, and was heralded by T3 magazine as one of the ‘Greatest Gadgets of 2008’ according to a survey polling 54,000 readers. Key to the product’s development direction, and subsequent success were insights uncovered by the design team during early research. Workshop participants will be invited take part in an insight gathering process, and discussion of how brands and product strategies can move in new lucrative directions through better understanding customer needs. ^back to top

Nissan LEAF – The New Car - David Moss, Director for Body and exterior Engineering, Nissan

Nissan LEAF, the world’s first affordable, zero-emission car has recently been awarded the 2011 European Car of the Year. Designed specifically for a lithium-ion battery-powered chassis, Nissan LEAF is a medium-size hatchback that comfortably seats five adults and has a range of around 100 miles to satisfy real-world customer requirements. The talk will offer an insight into this breakthrough electric vehicle.
Key Points: - Has the time arrived for EV?, Nissan LEAF , Launching a mass market EV in Europe ^back to top

Exploring the importance of design to create a strong product identity - Richard Heayes, Global Design Director, Hasbro

Exploring the importance of design to create a strong product identity,  that over time builds trust and reputation with the consumer. Richard will show how Hasbroy have re-invented & re-imagined some of their key games brands to appeal to a new consumer, without losing the heritage the brands have established. ^back to top

Product Design to Access New Markets - Will King Founder and CEO, The King of Shaves Company

Using Zag to Slice out market share in a global cut-throat business: The development of the Azor by King of Shaves, inspiration & the future. ^back to top

Prototyping - A key element in the product development cycle - Craig Vickers, Sales Director,  ARRK Europe Ltd

ARRK’s product development service includes Recruitment, Design Engineering, Prototyping, Composites & Craftsmanship, through to Tooling and Low Volume Manufacture. Craig’s presentation will provide a fascinating insight into the emergence of prototyping as a key element in the product development cycle, and the number of different technologies out there that make this industry so exciting and fast moving. ^back to top

"The Best Chocolate Cake ever!!..maybe.."

Total Design is an innovation culture; it's a journey we take together; it creates and adds value, financially, socially and environmentally. The journey is about people, trust, experimentation, emotions and excellence.  ^back to top

Legal Issues in Website Design  - Bob Elliott, Partner, Crutes LLP

Website design and functionality have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. As they have done so, the legal issues involved have followed suit, including the issues of who owns what and how it can be protected. This workshop’s aim is to help you better appreciate and understand those issues. ^back to top

Anyone, anytime, anyplace. Design, usability, accessibility for the global marketplace. Charlie Rohan, Director - Consumer Experience, NCR

Automated teller machines (ATMs) and other self -service terminals have become the preferred channel for the completion of many routine transactions. With over 54 billion transactions being conducted by consumers on self-service terminals each year it is critical that these terminals are reliable, resilient and easy to use. In this presentation we will discuss how in NCR we have created the right team, structure and knowledge to maintain the number one position in our markets for over 20 years. ^back to top

Are you making the most of your designers? Kevin McCullagh, Founder, Plan

'Design has moved on from just making stuff look cool. Pioneering firms are now using designers to re-frame a much wider range of problems, and to facilitate more joined-up approach to tackling them. Are you making the most of your designers? ^back to top