Managing Design to Leverage Organizational Objectives

Design Management Review, Summer 2004 by Walton, Thomas

The goals can vary widely: to convey an organization's values and commitment; to respond more effectively to customer needs; to uncover the most promising frontiers in technology and consumer products; to craft experiences and change customer perceptions. Design is an important element in all these achievements, and in this quarter's Review we want to articulate how design delivers this strategic contribution to business success. To many outside the profession, design is about visual issues and the making of artifacts. The articles that follow are counterpoint to this thinking, demonstrating that design has critical roles to play in the business enterprise.

Design and business strategy

This broad vision is immediately apparent in our keynote by Roger Sametz, founder and president of the Boston-based strategic communications firm Sametz Blackstone, and his colleague Andrew Maydoney, vice president of research and strategy. They discuss communications, but the principles they delineate are obviously more inclusive. A central tenet is that design solutions go beyond facilitating single transactions to engaging people in relationships. Whether the focus is products, environments, buildings, services, Web sites, or print materials, the objective is to establish a meaningful and valued dialogue. Internally, this dialogue takes place with employees who learn about and then convey an organization's culture. Beyond these boundaries, effective design, in both its context and content, opens up pathways to the minds and souls of customers and constituents. It influences behavior. It nurtures a sense of commitment. All this depends on understanding-understanding what a business is about, what its values are, and with whom it needs and wants to connect. Designers can help clarify these issues and follow up with strategies for generating the appropriate relationships. It is a compelling message and, to translate theory into practice, Sametz and Maydoney include a wonderful collection of case studies-work they admire and work they have done for organizations that range from cultural institutions and universities to businesses exploring the latest advances in science and technology.

Complementing the Sametz-Maydoney essay, a team from frog design (sic) in San Francisco-Adam Richardson, strategy director, and Jojo Roy, vice president of strategy-offers another angle on the shift from a project to a strategy orientation. Their recommendations have to do with consultant/client relationships, which they analyze to show how long-term partnerships yield the most effective design outcomes. In these situations, frog design takes a proactive role in its clients' businesses. The company works with executives and across multiple departments to smooth and expedite the development process, as well as to expand creative options and the opportunities for innovation. To support and encourage partnerships, frog design has a group dedicated to strategic thinking. It presents ideas in both business and design terms. It provides big-picture scenarios and the tactical specifics needed to implement them. It takes on projects that extend its expertise. And it accepts methods of compensation-for example, royalty payments-that strengthen the partnership by sharing client risk. Richardson and Roy cite specific projects to illustrate their points. In the case of an outdoor furniture manufacturer, they determined that restructuring the sales force-rather than investing in new pieces-was the first step to increasing market share. For a wireless products company, they created a high-tech "sandbox" that allows potential customers to test office tools before they buy. For Disney, they designed electronic toys under an agreement that part of their return would be tied to sales. The stories detail a more comprehensive approach to consulting, a model frog design believes others can emulate.

An article by Chris Conley, principal of the Gravity Tank design firm in Chicago, furthers the examination of consultant/client partnerships. Conley identifies seven competencies designers bring to the arena of strategic research.

1. Framing problems in unique and insightful ways

2. Working at multiple levels of abstraction

3. Modeling and visualizing outcomes despite incomplete information

4. Creating and evaluating multiple alternatives

5. Maintaining or even adding to value as elements are brought together to form an integrated solution

6. Establishing meaningful relationships among elements and between a solution and its context

7. Using form and visual languages to embody ideas and to communicate

He then describes how his firm has successfully applied these special talents. One corporation was interested in acquiring cutting-edge marine technology. After investigating the subject, however, Gravity Tank concluded that the systems that excited boaters were those that maximized boating time rather than those that were simply the most advanced. Based on this finding, the company dramatically shifted its business plan and design strategy to emphasize customer experiences instead of technical innovation. A second corporation needed to expand its lower-priced product line. Gravity Tank convened a workshop and after two days of intensive collaboration, the team had modeled nine new product architectures that competitively blended value and price. The lesson is that designers introduce a distinctive and essential vision to the dynamics of business decision making.