We are increasingly calling for teaching design in schools. Why is design important?
McKinsey Consulting recently reported that companies with good design processes (top quartile) outperformed their industry by about 2:1: higher revenue growth, larger return to stockholders, and better financial performance.
It’s not just design for designers, McKinsey outlined four characteristics of these organizations that outperform their peers:
The leadership/design connection
Those companies made design a top management issue. Yes, there are people tasked with design, but designers and top management worked together to analytically choose the designs that would have the most impactful effect on the organizations. Design decisions were not relegated to middle management, and top management did not just make decisions based on gut-feel. Top management were well versed in the ramifications of different design decisions so could make objective decisions based on the impact of the designs on their customers.
Design as UX
Design isn’t just about a product, users and customers are making their own decisions based on a total experience. The best organizations consider (and measure) how design affects the customer journey, and also consider how alternative design can affect aspects of the customer experience that are outside of just using the product.
Cross functional design
While there may be a design department, it is working hand in glove with the other functional departments in the organization, sharing responsibility for the design. Design in these organizations is about the user, and however different departments touch the user experience, they need to be part of the process. Isolationist tendencies (or silos) can be hard to overcome and resist, yet the best organizations figure out a way to do it. And designers should be spending their time and efforts touching all departments to enhance products and services for customers, not on creating slide shows or presentations or marketing materials.
Continuous Iteration
The best organizations don’t just design a product, service, or operation and then move on. Ongoing learning, testing, iterating, and measuring with users is critical. The best organizations prototype early, share prototypes with potential users, and use that feedback to inform design modifications. And monitoring externalities like actions of competitors, emerging technologies, and psychometric trends are all blended into the functions of all departments and funneled into the design process.
Organizations that are strong in design outperform other organizations. McKinsey concludes that design excellence is within the grasp of very organization, and depends on design being integrated in all four areas. We should be building that framework into student learning.
By the way at the end of the McKinsey article there is an organization survey. How does your organization stack up?
And if you feel like you would like to take action to improve your organization’s performance or impact, please contact us at [email protected]