Presentation of the results and the final deliverable Design Options Paper (DOP) of DesImO project

The main goal of DesImO project was to create and propose a guideline on how any agency could develop a mechanism to monitor Design – or any other driver of innovation – and its impact on SMEs.


The 4 partner organisations of DesImO project (Business and Cultural Development Centre – KEPA, Danish Design Centre – DDC, Cardiff Metropolitan University – PDR and Estonian Design Centre – EDC) followed a methodological process, passing from the phases of Discovering good practices, Defining the framework of a proposed methodology for measuring Design and its impact on SMEs, Developing the tools/questionnaires to monitor the state of Design in SMEs and the impact of a specific Design intervention, and Delivering the pilot testing, which led to the elaboration of the Design Options Paper (DOP).


Based on the outputs of these interrelated activities, including 2 peer-learning workshops, 5 selected good practices, 2 research tools and 4 pilot tests, the final deliverable of the project, that is the Design Options Paper (DOP), was elaborated, leading the way to a monitoring system of Design – or any other driver of innovation – at the service of all interested parties (innovation agencies, policy makers etc.).

The project’s results and the DOP were presented at the online final event that was held on 11.01.2022 during the Open Doors Dialogue of BEDA.

The final version of DOP is being published and becomes available to anyone interested, with the present article.

The final deliverable of DesImO project can be found here: Design Options Paper

More information about DesImO project can be found here.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 959271.



Desimo