The word design is a lot like the word faith; it means something different to each individual person. This may be true for every word, but unlike the word tree, which most people have a similar definition for, design has a wide range of meaning. For me the word has come to mean “beautifully serving”.
I believe implementing the design process in business grows in two ways: internally and externally. Internally, the design process helps companies better understand who they are. Design can cut through the clutter of programs, products, and services companies have added on like urban sprawl and find the heart of a company. It puts the company in front of a mirror to help them identify the characteristics that make that company authentic. Authenticity leads to external growth.
As a company becomes more authentic that authenticity starts to be revealed externally through products, services, and experiences. It allows the company to have open dialogues with it’s customers because it has a sense of clarity. Think of it in terms of self. The better we understand ourselves the better we are able to interact with others. The more authentic a company becomes the more remarkable a relationship it will have with its customers.
Since the design process works internally at authenticating companies, they are able to better focus on aspects that are the most inline with their values. This means they are able to cut cost on projects that take them away from that focus. For small companies that don’t have any projects to cut, the design approach helps them grow in appropriate ways. For startups resources are scarce, so it’s important that the time, money, and energy they do use is allocated in a way that produces the maximum amount of return on investment. An error that would make a large company flinch, could send a small company to the graveyard.
The idealist in me believes that if companies take on the design approach they will have remarkable relationships with their users and grow in the truly sustainable way of people, profit, planet.
Hey Jake,
I like this post a lot. My experience working with companies to design both products and the marketing materials to support them bears out your observations on how design can help an organization find internal clarity and purpose.
I’m curious, however, what you mean by the abstract concept of “the design process/approach”. You use this phrase throughout the post but I’m unclear if there is a specific process you are referring to or a more general idea.
Thanks for writing your thoughts.
-Samuel
Hey Samuel, thanks for taking the time to read and comment! That’s a great question. If you look at design as “creatively serving” it’s a much more general idea.
The process I’m referring to can use many different techniques, but from what I’ve learned so far the basic formula is the same. To try and sum it up as quickly as possible it would be:
1) Understanding a need. 2) Research. This would include all sorts of techniques to gain information, including ethnographic methods. 3) Synthesizing all the research you’ve gathered to identify themes and patterns. 4) Taking those themes and patterns to find possible opportunities for the company (products, services, experiences, etc.)
This process does go both internally (business case) and externally (user case).
That’s a real stripped down version of what I’m talking about, but I hope that gives some bit of clarity. Thanks again!