The Design Research Society

What The Design Research Society does

The Design Research Society (DRS) is a UK-registered learned society and charitable company (registered charity number 1210067, company number 15064224) founded in 1966, operating as the longest-established multi-disciplinary worldwide society for the design research community. It serves design researchers, educators, and practitioners across disciplines including architecture, engineering, industrial design, software design, HCI, healthcare design, service design, and policy design. Its core offerings include the biennial international DRS conference series (DRS2024 Boston, DRS2026 Edinburgh marking its 60th anniversary), the LearnXdesign conference series focused on design education research, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), a Research Studios pilot programme, the open-access DRS Digital Library (archiving conference proceedings back to 2002 and newsletters from 1977), and the peer-reviewed academic journal Designing launched in 2025 in partnership with Sage Publishing. Digital infrastructure is non-commercial: a SilkStart-managed website, the Mighty Networks community platform adopted in September 2025, the open-access DRS Digital Library, and the Sage-hosted Designing journal.

The Society operates a membership-subscription business model. Standard membership is priced at GBP £60 per year, student membership at £30 per year, and Fellow (FDRS) membership at £105 per year, with approximately 1,000 paying members. Additional revenue is generated through biennial conference registration fees (members receive discounted rates), with non-member pricing on conference-specific websites. The free monthly Design Research News newsletter, reaching over 10,000 subscribers via Jiscmail, functions as the primary top-of-funnel acquisition channel alongside the website, social sharing, and conference presence. Governance rests with an elected International Advisory Council of 30 members and an Executive Board of 5; the Society is operated by a small core administrative team comprising an Executive Director (Justin Sacks), Communications Manager/Online Editor (Anna Talley), and Digital Librarian (Lenny Martinez). DRS incorporated as a limited liability company in 2023 and achieved UK registered charity status in 2024.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Triangulating from ~1,000 members at an average fee of roughly £55, biennial conference fees (e.g., LearnXdesign 2025 hosted 176 delegates from over 30 countries), and ancillary offerings, annual income is estimated well below $1M, with material biennial conference-year spikes. There are no external investors, no parent company, no funding rounds, and no disclosed commercial monetisation beyond membership and conference fees; the Society is wholly member-funded and operated for charitable purposes advancing design research scholarship.

Name

The Design Research Society

Legal name

DRS (The Design Research Society)

Website

https://designresearchsociety.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Design Research Society is a UK-registered learned society (founded 1966) serving the global design research community through biennial conferences, Special Interest Groups, the Designing journal, an open-access Digital Library, and annual membership subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Professional Society

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAE)

Keywords

• Design research
• Academic society
• Scholarly publishing
• Professional membership
• Research conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: DRS generates primary revenue from annual membership subscriptions. Standard membership is GBP £60 per year; student membership is £30 per year; Fellow membership (FDRS) is £105 per year. Membership benefits include reduced conference fees, access to SIGs, the monthly Design Research News newsletter, the DRS Digital Library, and the online community forum.
2. Conference Fees: Revenue is generated through registration fees for the biennial DRS conference series (DRS2026 Edinburgh, DRS2024 Boston, etc.) and affiliated events such as LearnXdesign conferences. Members receive discounted rates compared to non-members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Design Research Society is a UK-registered charitable learned society that promotes design research through individual and institutional memberships, peer-reviewed academic publishing, biennial and specialist conferences, digital archives, and recognition programs such as fellowships and special interest groups. It operates primarily on membership subscriptions, conference registration fees, and journal/article processing charges paid by individual researchers, educators, students, and institutions worldwide.

Product overview

The Design Research Society operates as a learned society offering a portfolio of interconnected products and services for the design research community. Core offerings include the biennial DRS conference series, the peer-reviewed Designing Journal (published with Sage Publishing), the open-access DRS Digital Library for proceedings and archives, LearnXdesign conferences focused on design education, and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) organized around specific research domains. The Society also offers membership with benefits including reduced event costs and SIG participation, and publishes the monthly Design Research News newsletter. The Research Studios pilot program represents an experimental initiative in studio-based design research. DRS Fellowship (FDRS) provides peer recognition for established researchers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DRS Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• DRS has been advancing design research for over 60 years (since 1966) and has organized more than 30 biennial conferences.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sage PublishingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDRS has a strategic partnership with Sage Publishing for the publication of its official journal Designing. Sage handles peer-review management, typesetting, distribution, and online hosting at journals.sagepub.com/home/DES. This is a significant partnership as the journal is central to DRS's mission of disseminating design research.
• International Association of Design Research Societies (IASDR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDRS sponsors and is affiliated with IASDR, an umbrella organization for design research societies worldwide. DRS and IASDR co-organize major international conferences (IASDR 2023 Milan, IASDR 2019 Manchester, etc.).
• Cumulus — International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and MediaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDRS is affiliated with Cumulus, the international association for art, design, and media education institutions. The two organizations collaborate on events and initiatives relevant to design education and research.
• Elsevier (historical — Design Studies)minorOthersDRS had a long-term affiliation with Design Studies journal (published by Elsevier), which launched in 1979. The affiliation ended in 2023 when Elsevier demanded a 10-fold increase in publications and the Editor-in-Chief and entire editorial board resigned. Design Studies no longer publishes under the DRS brand.
• Northeastern University (Boston)minorOthersNortheastern University in Boston, USA hosted the DRS2024 biennial conference. Host universities provide local organization, venues, and administrative support for DRS conferences.
• University of Edinburgh (DRS2026)minorOthersThe University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK is hosting the DRS2026 biennial conference (8–12 June 2026), marking DRS's 60th anniversary.
• Griffith University (Brisbane)minorOthersGriffith University in Brisbane, Australia was the virtual host for DRS2020 Synergy, the first fully virtual DRS biennial conference.
• University of Aveiro (Portugal)minorOthersThe University of Aveiro in Portugal hosted the LearnXdesign 2025 conference (8th International Conference for Design Education Researchers) from 22–24 September 2025, with 176 delegates from over 30 countries.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America): US professional association for industrial designers with member benefits, conferences, and recognition programs. Comparable as a member-driven design society running events and awards, though oriented to industrial design practice rather than multidisciplinary design research.
• ACM SIGCHI: The premier global community for HCI research within ACM, running the CHI conference and publishing related proceedings. Comparable to DRS as a scholarly society hosting a major annual/biennial conference and a digital library of proceedings, with strong HCI/design research overlap.
• Design Council: UK-based strategic design body promoting the value of design across policy and industry. Comparable as a UK-headquartered design membership/advocacy organization with events and publications, though focused on practice and policy rather than academic research.
• AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts): Large US professional association for design practitioners across disciplines. Comparable as a long-established design membership organization that publishes, runs events, and recognizes excellence — though focused on practice rather than research.

Direct peers

• The Design Society: International non-profit society for design research and education, jointly founded by design academics across Europe. Comparable as a learned society organizing conferences (ICED), publishing proceedings, and awarding Fellowship in design research.
• Service Design Network: International non-profit advancing service design research and practice through events, publications, and chapters. DRS has a Service Design SIG; SDN is comparable as a design-sub-discipline scholarly community organized around events and membership.
• IASDR (International Association of Design Research Societies): Umbrella organization for design research societies worldwide. DRS is a core member and co-organizes major international conferences (IASDR 2023 Milan, IASDR 2019 Manchester). It is the most direct structural peer of DRS.
• IxDA (Interaction Design Association): Global member-driven network for interaction design practitioners and researchers. Comparable through its conference program (Interaction), local events, and focus on advancing a design sub-discipline as a scholarly community.
• Cumulus Association: International association of universities and colleges of art, design, and media education. DRS is affiliated with Cumulus and collaborates on events; Cumulus is comparable as a global, member-driven scholarly association serving design education and research.

Regional players

• European Academy of Design (EAD): European academic association for design research, hosting the biennial EAD conference. Comparable as a scholarly society advancing design research through conferences, peer community, and publications, though geographically narrower than DRS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thisisDRS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Design Research Society