diff --git a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Core/IoC.cs b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Core/IoC.cs
index a060db170..229dba15f 100644
--- a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Core/IoC.cs
+++ b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Core/IoC.cs
@@ -7,8 +7,14 @@ namespace Caliburn.Micro
     /// <summary>
     /// Used by the framework to pull instances from an IoC container and to inject dependencies into certain existing classes.
     /// </summary>
-    public static class IoC
-    {
+    public static class IoC {
+        static IoC() {
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode) {
+                GetInstance = (service, key) => Activator.CreateInstance(service);
+                GetAllInstances = service => new[] { Activator.CreateInstance(service) };
+                BuildUp = o => { };
+            }
+        }
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets an instance by type and key.
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform.Core/TypeMappingConfiguration.cs b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform.Core/TypeMappingConfiguration.cs
index 58589a56d..6888e3f0a 100644
--- a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform.Core/TypeMappingConfiguration.cs
+++ b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform.Core/TypeMappingConfiguration.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ public class TypeMappingConfiguration
         /// </summary>
         public string DefaultSubNamespaceForViewModels { get; set; } = "ViewModels";
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The default subnamespace for DesignViewModels. Used for creating default subnamespace mappings. Defaults to "DesignViewModels".
+        /// </summary>
+        public string DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels = "DesignViewModels";
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Flag to indicate whether or not the name of the Type should be transformed when adding a type mapping. Defaults to true.
         /// </summary>
@@ -38,6 +43,12 @@ public class TypeMappingConfiguration
         /// </summary>
         public List<string> ViewSuffixList { get; set; } = new List<string>(new[] { "View", "Page" });
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// List of design ViewModels suffixes for which default type mappings should be created. Applies only when UseNameSuffixesInMappings = true.
+        /// Default values are "ViewModelDesign", "DesignViewModel"
+        /// </summary>
+        public List<string> DesignViewModelSuffixList = new List<string>(new[] { "ViewModelDesign", "DesignViewModel" });
+
         /// <summary>
         /// The name suffix for ViewModels. Applies only when UseNameSuffixesInMappings = true. The default is "ViewModel".
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewLocator.cs b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewLocator.cs
index c9ce35e6b..71bdfce64 100644
--- a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewLocator.cs
+++ b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewLocator.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ public static class ViewLocator {
         //These fields are used for configuring the default type mappings. They can be changed using ConfigureTypeMappings().
         static string defaultSubNsViews;
         static string defaultSubNsViewModels;
+        static string defaultSubNsDesignViewModels;
         static bool useNameSuffixesInMappings;
         static string nameFormat;
         static string viewModelSuffix;
@@ -70,6 +71,11 @@ public static void ConfigureTypeMappings(TypeMappingConfiguration config) {
                 throw new ArgumentException("DefaultSubNamespaceForViewModels field cannot be blank.");
             }
 
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode && String.IsNullOrEmpty(config.DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels))
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException("DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels field cannot be blank.");
+            }
+
             if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(config.NameFormat)) {
                 throw new ArgumentException("NameFormat field cannot be blank.");
             }
@@ -79,6 +85,7 @@ public static void ConfigureTypeMappings(TypeMappingConfiguration config) {
 
             defaultSubNsViews = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForViews;
             defaultSubNsViewModels = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForViewModels;
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode) defaultSubNsDesignViewModels = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels;
             nameFormat = config.NameFormat;
             useNameSuffixesInMappings = config.UseNameSuffixesInMappings;
             viewModelSuffix = config.ViewModelSuffix;
@@ -86,6 +93,12 @@ public static void ConfigureTypeMappings(TypeMappingConfiguration config) {
             includeViewSuffixInVmNames = config.IncludeViewSuffixInViewModelNames;
 
             SetAllDefaults();
+
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode) {
+                foreach (var designSuffix in config.DesignViewModelSuffixList) {
+                    NameTransformer.AddRule($"{designSuffix}$", config.ViewSuffixList);
+                }
+            }
         }
 
 
@@ -96,6 +109,7 @@ private static void SetAllDefaults() {
             }
             else {
                 AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsViewModels, defaultSubNsViews);
+                if (Execute.InDesignMode) AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsDesignViewModels, defaultSubNsViews);
             }
         }
 
@@ -113,6 +127,9 @@ public static void AddDefaultTypeMapping(string viewSuffix = "View") {
 
             //Check for <Namespace>.ViewModels.<NameSpace>.<BaseName><ViewSuffix> construct
             AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsViewModels, defaultSubNsViews, viewSuffix);
+
+            //Check for <Namespace>.DesignViewModels.<NameSpace>.<BaseName><ViewSuffix> construct
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode) AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsDesignViewModels, defaultSubNsViews, viewSuffix);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
diff --git a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewModelLocator.cs b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewModelLocator.cs
index aa697d674..617120fe9 100644
--- a/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewModelLocator.cs
+++ b/src/Caliburn.Micro.Platform/ViewModelLocator.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ public static class ViewModelLocator
         //These fields are used for configuring the default type mappings. They can be changed using ConfigureTypeMappings().
         static string defaultSubNsViews;
         static string defaultSubNsViewModels;
+        static string defaultSubNsDesignViewModels;
         static bool useNameSuffixesInMappings;
         static string nameFormat;
         static string viewModelSuffix;
@@ -85,6 +86,11 @@ public static void ConfigureTypeMappings(TypeMappingConfiguration config)
                 throw new ArgumentException("DefaultSubNamespaceForViewModels field cannot be blank.");
             }
 
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode && String.IsNullOrEmpty(config.DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels))
+            {
+                throw new ArgumentException("DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels field cannot be blank.");
+            }
+
             if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(config.NameFormat))
             {
                 throw new ArgumentException("NameFormat field cannot be blank.");
@@ -95,6 +101,7 @@ public static void ConfigureTypeMappings(TypeMappingConfiguration config)
 
             defaultSubNsViews = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForViews;
             defaultSubNsViewModels = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForViewModels;
+            defaultSubNsDesignViewModels = config.DefaultSubNamespaceForDesignViewModels;
             nameFormat = config.NameFormat;
             useNameSuffixesInMappings = config.UseNameSuffixesInMappings;
             viewModelSuffix = config.ViewModelSuffix;
@@ -114,6 +121,7 @@ private static void SetAllDefaults()
             else
             {
                 AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsViews, defaultSubNsViewModels);
+                if (Execute.InDesignMode) AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsDesignViewModels, defaultSubNsViews);
             }
         }
 
@@ -133,6 +141,10 @@ public static void AddDefaultTypeMapping(string viewSuffix = DefaultViewSuffix)
 
             //Check for <Namespace>.Views.<NameSpace>.<BaseName><ViewSuffix> construct
             AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsViews, defaultSubNsViewModels, viewSuffix);
+
+            //Check for <Namespace>.Views.<NameSpace>.<BaseName><ViewSuffix> construct
+            if (Execute.InDesignMode) AddSubNamespaceMapping(defaultSubNsViews, defaultSubNsDesignViewModels, viewSuffix);
+
         }
 
         /// <summary>