31 Aug Design Buzz
“Design” is a term that has crossed boundaries, from the creative to the practical. You can thank Apple for bringing public awareness to good design and that awareness has now spread to the common consumer. Tim Brown, CEO of branding giant, IDEO has written Change by Design which examines how the creative process and design methods are helpful in all areas of business.
At its core, design isn’t just about being pretty but about a great customer experience, a concern that any type of business has. How do designers answer those questions? First and foremost, from talking to customers, finding out what their current pain points are, what would encourage them to use a product or to try a different brand. The book gives a great example about new bicycle design at Trek, Raleigh and Giant and how actually designing the bikes was one of the last step, after figuring out why novice bikers are intimidated at bike retailers, building a new brand identity and creating campaigns with local government and business. The people involved moved from designers to design thinkers. See more of Tim’s ideas here: