Design ladder is a concept or better to say a method that Danish Design Center (DDC) developed to measure the level of design activity adopted by a company.

It has four stages:
+ no use of design;
+ design as styling;
+ design as a process, and
+ design as strategy.

Out of that DDC developed two special programs. One is the Designer ISO – a certification program for design companies and the other is in-service training in design management aiming primarily toward executives who are not designers by profession. In Denmark, they know that Design-Aware Executive is important.

Source:
Ulla Havgaard Ramlau and Christina Melander. 2004. In Denmark, Design Tops the Agenda. Design Management Review. 15/4.