ESG by Design. Envisioning the transition.

Of the 80% of CEO’s who intend to invest in new or improved products this year and next, environmental sustainability has been cited as the third largest driver just behind functional performance and general quality*.

To address this, the innovation process should be intentionally ‘design-led’. Over the last decade, the role of design has been elevated to new levels and it is now common for a Chief Design Officer (‘CDO’ not to be confused with Chief Digital Officer or Chief Data Officer) to be appointed to join Top Management in the boardroom. Now is the time for the CDO to prove themselves and ensure that the design talent in their company realises its full potential.

This post is intended for CEO’s and their CDO’s responsible for the development of new products and services. It will explore some of the key challenges and approaches that should be considered during the innovation process in order to realise a more positive environmental impact.

Despite the elevated role of the CDO, they still often lack the right language in the boardroom. Most CEO’s can’t even say what their CDO does or how their success should be measured. ESG and sustainability provides a common and important ground for Top Management and the CDO to communicate. The requirement to deliver environmental sustainability provides a great opportunity for the CDO to play a critical role in leading corporate transition. But they will have to grasp it and take leadership for the next generation of innovation by intentionally baking in ESG and sustainability into their product portfolio.

A key challenge the CDO will face will be to work with uncertainty and determine what to focus on. They should start by interpreting the often used CFO language of ‘materiality’ into their product design. ESG materiality is a measure of how important a particular E, S or G issue may be on the company and environment. There are developing international standards that provide guidance on materiality such as SASB and GRI. The Paris Climate Agreement is a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change. There are numerous other frameworks and standards that can help the CDO to understand the uncertainty and start to untangle and tame the opportunities.?

There will be many principles that the CDO may seek to address. From reducing material waste and the adverse impact on the environment upstream through design to circulating materials to keep them in use at their highest value for as long as possible and regenerating nature. Designers should embrace these principles across the ‘cradle to cradle’ of innovation.

In practice, this will involve new material choices, consideration of industrial processes that impact emissions, designing in recycled alloys, commenting on 3D modelling with emissions, and building digital twins to simulate emissions. They will need to consider designing for repairability and upgradability, as well as creating the reuse, repair, remanufacture, and recycling systems and business models (resale, rental, sharing) that allow products and materials to be used more times, by more people, and for longer.

These practices will become ever more important in the role of industrial product design. However there is another important area where the CDO can deploy their verbal and visual toolkits. The CDO can help envision a better future. Through design, they can tell stories about how they are putting nature, people and the planet at the heart of value creation.? By way of example, there are two excellent and iconic designs that each tell an important story.

The first is the icon grid representing the UN’s Sustainability Goals. Just seventeen boxes tell an empowering story and a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.?

The second example is the initiative of HRH Prince Charles, Terra Carta, a roadmap for recovery with the intent of helping to further and where possible exceed the goals and targets outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Inspired by the? Magna Carta which inspired a belief in the fundamental rights and liberties of people, Terra Carta aims to reunite people and the planet by giving fundamental rights and value to Nature, enduring a lasting impact and tangible legacy for this generation.

The seal of Terra Carta, to honour sustainable firms, was designed by the UK’s greatest CDO of our time, Jony Ive (formely Apple CDO). After leaving Apple, Ive created a new font, the LoveFrom Serif, that he has used on the seal. His use of imagery in the style of William Morris captures the essence of Terra Carta and helps to tell a very powerful story.

‘ESG by Design’ is the way to lead the sustainable corporate transition. The Chief Design Officer is well placed to step up and take responsibility to not only help envision a sustainable future but to lead the end to end process of innovation.

Step up CDOs!

* (Gartner CEO Survey, 2022).