All businesses, no matter what they make or sell, should recognize the power and financial value of good design.
Obviously,
there are many different types of design: graphic, brand, packaging,
product, process, interior, interaction/user experience, Web and
service design, to name but a few.
In this post, I am referring to
design as a broad and deliberately applied discipline, with the aim of
creating simpler, more meaningful, rewarding experiences for
customers.
You see, expecting great design is no longer
the preserve of a picky design-obsessed urban elite—that aesthetically
sensitive clique who‘d never dare leave the house without their
Philippe Starck eyewear and turtleneck sweaters and buy only the
right kind
of Scandinavian furniture. Instead, there’s a new, mass expectation of
good design: that products and services will be better thought
through, simplified, made more intuitive, elegant and more enjoyable to
use.
Design has finally become democratized, and we
marketers find ourselves with new standards to meet in this new “era of
design.” To illustrate, Apple, the epitome of a design-led
organization, now has a market capitalization of $570 billion, larger
than the GDP of Switzerland. Its revenue is
double
Microsoft’s, a similar type of technology organization but one not
truly led by design (just compare Microsoft Windows with Apple’s Lion
operating system).
Every day my Twitter feed populates
with astounding growth facts about the likes of Apple, Amazon,
Facebook, Pinterest and the more recent travel site, AirBnB. It is no
coincidence that these successful brands seem to really value design
and utilize it to secure a competitive advantage.
Even the UK government has issued its “design principles,” naturally on a clean, easy-to-navigate website.
But why have people become so design sensitive? Why does that credit card mailer look
so
bad and dated now? Why can’t you access my account details? Why does
airport signage seem so unhelpful? Why doesn’t that technology plug and
play?
Perhaps Apple’s global dominance has elevated our
design expectations, or Ikea’s vision to bring great design at
affordable prices to everyone on the planet has finally taken effect,
or perhaps the Internet has taught us what well-designed user
experiences and good design really are. Likely, it is a combination of
all.
What is certain is that the design bar has been raised and design-oriented businesses are winning.
Think
how swiftly and strongly a design experience shapes our opinion of
that brand, company or store, for good or bad. For instance, we know
quickly when a website is
bad. And we associate that feeling of frustration, or worse, disappointment with that brand.
Design-oriented
organizations invest in thinking this stuff through. They put design
at the heart of their company to guide innovation and to continually
improve products, service and marketing. They recognize that a great
design leads to differentiation, customer loyalty and higher profits.
First
Direct, a UK bank, has designed all its service touchpoints so
carefully that it has become the most referred financial brand in the
UK, with over 82 percent of customers happy to recommend it to friends.
It’s a joy to use via any channel, and despite being a bank, I’d
happily recommend it.
When you buy Apple Care, instead of
receiving the standard bland letter or email, you receive a nicely
designed box containing the paperwork, guidance and all the information
you need. You have questions? No problem. There are clear user
diagrams and a simple section on the website to help you.
The
impact on brand is that customers see these brands as both progressive
and customer-centric. Thoughtful and innovative design makes us feel
good. It is no surprise that we are happy to advocate them, talk about
them in social media and can be fiercely brand loyal.
As
Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, once said, “A brand is a living
entity—and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the
product of a thousand small gestures.” That thinking still holds true,
but it all happens a lot faster now. Thanks to the Internet and a
hyperconnected, social-media-fueled society, brands can be instantly
undermined and that experience shared with millions.
So
this is a call to action for executives to recognize this new era and
make the effort to transform even a mundane product or service into
something more rewarding and more memorable. Try to assess each element
of your service or product and better it—to see design not just as a
marketing
thing but as a genuine source of competitive advantage, customer and employee satisfaction and, lastly, a route to higher profits.
Adam Swann is head of strategy at gyro New York
Follow Adam @swanninNYC
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2012/05/03/welcome-to-the-era-of-design/
