Can creativity deliver measurable business impact?

In strategic design projects, creative processes don’t stop at conceptualizing solutions – they also visualize, prototype, and test them. This approach builds a strong foundation for estimating the commercial results expected once the solutions are implemented. Detailed insights into the solution’s functionality and appearance enable informed assumptions about future usage, pricing, and cost implications, strengthening the business case.

The business case as a decision-making tool benefits from early validation and clear visualization. Commercial opportunities become more tangible, and alignment with stakeholders becomes easier. To focus on commercial success, project KPIs often include dimensions such as:

• Sales growth: How will the new product or service boost sales?

• Price justification: Can the solution support higher pricing?

• Cost efficiency: What savings will result from improved processes?

Strategic design creates experiences, products, and services that meet and exceed user expectations while delivering value to organizations. For example, in a recent project for a leading European aviation brand, Manyone redesigned an airport lounge using experience and spatial design. Alongside creating a ready-to-implement solution, we developed a business case to quantify the lounges’ commercial impact.

Using data provided by the client and insights from our creative processes–such as enhanced product quality, increased lounge capacity, and streamlined operations–we analyzed potential revenue growth and cost savings. By mapping out scenarios, we evaluated the profitability of the redesigned lounges, calculating revenues from sales and pricing impacts, and estimating operational costs over five years post-opening. These were compared against construction investments, showing when the lounges would become profitable.

A critical success factor in the commercial impact of design projects is integrating creative processes with business management early on. Embedding a commercial perspective ensures outcomes align with strategic planning, improve internal alignment, and reduce investment risks.

The true potential of strategic design is realized when the company makes well-prepared commercial decisions and commits to the required budget. Early collaboration with commercial teams ensures that project outcomes are not only visionary but also actionable and measurable. The most impactful design projects are those where solutions are implemented, benefiting both the company and its customers.