The Design Mission Statement

A mission statement is a written declaration of an organization’s core purpose. Properly crafted mission statements:

  • serve as filters to separate what is important from what is not
  • clearly state which markets will be served and how
  • communicate a sense of intended direction to the entire organization

A mission is different from a vision – a mission is something to be accomplished whereas a vision is something to be pursued for that accomplishment. Vision statements and mission statements work together like this:

IKEA vision

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people.

IKEA mission

We make this possible by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at process so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

A good Design mission statement:

Provide Design Direction – The Design mission statement serves as a “North Star” that keeps everyone clear on the direction of the Design organization. It tells everyone what the Design team is doing today that will take the organization where we want to go in the future.

Provide Boundaries – It provides a framework for thinking throughout the Design organization that sets boundaries and guardrails to stay on the path to our preferred future.

Alignment – the Design mission statement gets everyone on the same page when it comes to what Design does and why they do it, which leads to better effectiveness and efficiency.

Informs the strategy – effective strategies accomplish the mission.

Facilitates Improvement – tells us what to measure and how to measure it.

Mission statement examples:

Microsoft

At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.

The Walt Disney Company

The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.

Writing a good mission statement Answer these questions:

What do we do?

How do we do it?

Whom do we do it for?

What value are we bringing?

Why do we serve our clients in the way that we do?

Why are we in this industry?

Why did we start this business?

What image of our business do we want to convey?

Examples of a Design mission statement:

The mission of our Design is to make our products more intuitive, learnable, and coherent by: Partnering with customers and key product stakeholders; Providing attractive, unified, consistent experiences that exceed market and customers’ needs across all of our solutions; Attracting and retaining a team of expert Designers by offering them challenging and rewarding opportunities in a supportive environment.

If you have a solid vision statement and good alignment with the overall organization, developing your Design mission statement can be inspiring. Workshops with the right stakeholders is a great way to develop your mission statement. Contact me if you need a hand with this.