NOT Shifting to a DESIGN Focused Process?
The shift from a traditional product development process to a design-focused process is happening across industries, but unfortunately, most of the legacy companies still run the horses of the traditional processes.
What is a Design-Driven Process?
We all already know it, so I’m not going to describe it. Rather would jog your memory. Some call it innovation, some call it solving real problems, some call it design thinking, it goes by many names. It’s not about giving people a faster horse, it’s about giving them a motor car.
A design-driven process requires us to learn what the users themselves don’t know what they want, and then build just that.
We’ve all heard the “People would have asked for a faster horse” argument. And that tells us that what people say they want and what they actually want may not be the same thing. To build a new product what we need to analyze are the underlying needs, problems, or emotions.
For Tesla, Elon Musk captures this with the emotions to use a non-polluting product and building a cult around his brand.
Not to miss the perfect quote:
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs
Why take the high road to Design?
- Because it works! And it works better than the most traditional product development processes
- It leads to saving lives. Think of an EMR built for the sake of record-keeping, compared with one built to solve the problems of the clinicians and patients.
- It gives people what they really want. Imagine the joy of people when Mr. Ford came up with a CAR!
- It makes the product development process much more efficient and fun! Imagine you building something, go to the market, and turns out no one’s buying it.
- It DISRUPTS!
Can you prove it?
Absolutely! It’s already proven. A lot of the new generation companies are design-driven or invest a lot in design. And for some design is in their DNA, like Airbnb, Muji, etc. Here are some of the findings:
- “Design-driven companies have outperformed the S&P Index by 219% over 10 years*” — report by DMI
- “Companies that foster creativity enjoy 1.5x greater market share” — as per reports from Adobe
- “5 Brands That Show How Design Thinking Pays Off” — CMO
- “10% of the Fortune 500 have stated that design is their No1 priority” — CMO
So why is everybody not doing it?
Because change is naturally not welcomed by humans. And for traditional companies that are still making money, their customers are either stuck with the horse or they are yet to wake up to a car.
The shift to a design-driven process can come with a shift in the mindset of the decision makers. And this will probably happen only with the change in the people, with the new generation, who realizes the true meaning and value of design.
What is astonishing is that traditional companies would rather die than make design run their engines.
Tells us so much about human nature :)
What do you think about a design-driven process? Would love to hear in the comments.
Originally published on LinkedIn in 2018.
