jarango

Good design = Good business

Herman Miller has published a report that concludes that good design gives businesses an edge. According to the post, “Over the decade, through markets bull and bear, design-intelligent companies beat the UK FTSE 100 index by 200%.”

This is the latest of a series of articles I’ve come across that seem to point in this direction. Of course, this shouldn’t be surprising; thoughtfully designed things are easier to use, and things that are easy to use make people more productive. This usually results in improved profit margins, lower job injury rates, a healthier, happier, and more motivated workforce, and an improved overall business environment.

However, in my dealings with other business folks over the years, I’ve often heard them imply that good design is a “nice-to-have”—in other words, not an essencial aspect of a project. This attitude seems to stem from a narrow view of what design is.

Good design is thoughtful design. It doesn’t have to be sexy. It doesn’t even have to be pretty. But it has to have been thought through. Questions like, “How will people use this?”, “What are people trying to achieve by using this?”, and even “Who will be using this?” are too often left unaddressed. The result is thoughtless—or unintentional—design. Thoughtless design is bad design. And bad design costs companies money.

April 22, 2004 | Archived in Business, Design