Design & Emotion Lab

Description

Designing brand leadership systematically in large companies is no longer just a creative matter—it’s the strategic driver behind brand management, innovation, and measurable business impact. When different teams, departments, and brands, each with their own requirements, work together on a single project, how can design management be efficiently coordinated?

The Corporate Design Management team within the Volkswagen Group holds strategic responsibility for design decisions across all group brands—from Audi and Porsche to Škoda. At exactly this intersection, a solution was developed to refine structures, optimize decision-making processes, and reinforce design—deliberately and as a tool of strategic management.

Solution

Based on extensive analyses, interviews, and workshops, we developed a process for more efficient design management together with the stakeholders. This process was strategically refined and geared toward effective collaboration.

Define roles and responsibilities clearly.

Optimize processes using psychological insights.

Set up efficient decision-making paths.

Results

To manage complex design decisions, a practical, hands-on process has been established. The Mediation Strategy Toolkit is a tool that equips decision-makers with evidence-based communication strategies for design—backed by psychology.

More effective decision-making processes—less friction, greater transparency, and better-informed choices.

Design strategy as a business driver—cross-channel synergies that help drive market success.

Lower resource use & costs—fewer feedback loops, clear ownership, and reduced operating expenses.