Design has been recognized to have a positive impact on the financial performance of companies. However, the process by which design usage translates into improved company performance remains unclear. This connection is fundamental to understand in order to measure the contribution of design to the financial performance. Furthermore, it is argued that design's contribution to firm performance should be measurable to enable efficient decision making concerning design investments. Therefore, to overcome these issues related to design performance measurement, the Finnish Design Business Association initiated the Design ROI project in 2011.

The study described in this thesis is divided into two phases. The first phase was conducted during the Design ROI research project, and the second phase was a supplementary study for it. One of the objectives of the Design ROI project was to develop a tool for the design agencies to communicate the value of design to their customer segments qualitatively, and where applicable, quantitatively. In order to develop, validate and test the prototype of the design measurement tool, literature review was conducted, questionnaires and interviews were carried out, and workshops were organized for the design agencies and their clients.

The objective of the supplementary study was to identify guidelines for the further development of the Design ROI tool, with the emphasis on finding more evidence about its potential target user group. The empirical study of the second phase was conducted as qualitative research where interviews were carried out in five large design conscious companies.

According to the results of the study, it was suggested that the target user group for the Design ROI tool would be the SMEs and large companies not using design or using it only as styling. In addition, it was suggested that the emphasis in the further development would be in validating the connections of design activities, benefits and financial performance in order to make the process by which design contributes to company performance visible. Therefore, the tool would communicate the value of design to the companies effectively, and as a result design would eventually achieve a more strategic role in the companies.