Everyone's a designer

In a recent article published in the Harvard review. Tim Brown, CEO of the global design company IDEO, argues that in order to succeed today businesses must embrace innovation and the best way to do this is to think like a designer.

Design thinking is not the product of a 'lone genius' nor is it the reserve of trendy types in turtle neck sweaters. It is a process that uses a designer's sensibility to match a real need with a viable business case and turn it into an opportunity which will ultimately deliver value.

The article cites examples of how IDEO used this methodology to help a US healthcare provider save time and staff resources while increasing patient contact. They also worked with a Japanese bicycle manufacturer to develop a new type of bicycle designed for 'coasting'. Rekindling the American public's childhood love of cycling and getting more of them back onto two wheels.

The design thinking process has three phases:

Inspiration
A project begins by assembling the project team. This is made up of designers, project managers, clients, writers, and other specialists. Although roles and responsibilities are defined everyone contributes and the approach is one optimism, honesty and openness. The entire team understands who the target audience is and what their needs are. Initial research is undertaken and inspiration sought from a variety of sources.

Ideas
Here initial ideas are discussed and explored - many are rejected but the process continues until, collectively, the team decides upon ideas worth further development. The chosen idea is then developed through sketches and prototyping. It is then tested, tweaked and refined until a solution is reached.

Implementation
The execution phase - bringing together the concept and the creative into the chosen outputs. Close attention is paid to detail and quality.

This collaborative approach ensures buy-in at all stages of a project and builds a sense of ownership amongst the entire team. And because clients are involved in the process they understand the rationale behind the thinking and how and why solutions are reached.

I agree with Tim Brown when he says design should not just be seen as just adding a veneer or aesthetics. Design is more effective when it is introduced earlier in the life of a project and there is more chance of success when everyone thinks like a designer.

To read the original article click here.

DIY – the end of the expert?

It is tempting in these tough economic times for marketing managers to reduce their reliance on external expertise when developing communications.

Advances in technology mean the power to create is now in the hands of everyone. So why go to the expense of engaging professionals when you can keep it in-house?

• Social networking means you can keep in touch with your audiences.
• Easy to access software packages allow you to do your own graphic design.
• Affordable digital cameras mean you can produce photography and videos.
• The internet offers a myriad of copy styles from which to crib.

Of course businesses should utilise internal resource wherever possible as long as the output quality is high. But in my experience when materials are produced this way managers tend to be more forgiving of poor quality than they would be if external expertise was employed.

“Yeah our pictures aren’t great but at least we didn’t have to pay for an expensive photographer.”

“OK the typography on the brochure isn’t good but our team are really busy and at least we didn’t have to employ an expensive design agency.”

“Why pay for a writer? There’s nothing wrong with our own copy.”

This approach can lead to a change in mindset and ultimately a lowering of the bar – towards mediocrity.

Whatever market you are in the chances are it will be mature and your competition fierce. Standing out means you need be remarkable – mediocre simply won’t cut it.

Accepting mediocrity says “I don’t care” and if you don’t care about your message then why should your audience.

90% of design companies are cr*p

Theodore Sturgeon, an American science fiction author, coined a phrase that became known as ‘Sturgeon’s law’. It states that ‘90% of everything is cr*p’. If this is true then it follows that 90% of design companies are cr*p too.

Without casting (too many) aspersions on my profession I first have to say there are many great design companies producing creative and effective work for their clients. That said, there are an awful lot more out there producing work which on the surface may look good but, in the end, does not deliver.

These are the ‘stylists’ and they start a project with the solution already in mind. Their methodology involves searching the internet or design magazines for the latest design trend or idea to repurpose and sell to a client as 'their' creative solution. Their clients are taken in by this approach only to become hugely frustrated, when at the end of a project, they don’t achieve their objectives or any tangible return on their investment.

This is because ‘stylists’ don’t question a client or think around the brief. They don’t get under the skin of a project or take the time to really understand a client’s business and they never ask how success will be measured.

'Stylists' only think in terms of short-term personal gains not long-term relationships. They concentrate on what will look good in their portfolio and not what will make their clients more successful.

I have ran a design company for over 20 years and, if Sturgeons law does apply, I have always strived to ensure we are in the other ten percent.

I am not normal – neither are you

Brands are such a part of the fabric of our world that it is difficult imagine our lives without them. Major products and services have embedded themselves into our phyche fashioning and communicating their values and connecting with us the audience.

But a sea change is happening. Historically major brands grew because they could connect to the mass market though a single channel such as TV. Marketeers would develop and transmit their messages and we, as consumers, would respond accordingly.

In his latest book ‘We Are All Weird’ Seth Godin argues that the age of mass marketing is over. He says ‘The key to mass marketing is normal and normal was important because profits depended on it.

Normal diets made it easier for mass food manufacturers to generate a profit. Normal driving habits made it easier for mass car manufacturers to reach their production minimums. Normal behavior made us easier to control’.

Today they are many more channels and audiences have become more fragmented and harder to reach. As our lives have become more integrated with technology major players such as Apple, Google and Facebook have given us the control to decide what content we want and when (and in doing so have become some of the fastest growing brands of all time).

Social media means we can now connect to everyone, we can easily customize our messages, create and share our own content and, in doing so, express our own vision and values. This is the rise of brand you.

But what are marketers to do now that a one size fits all approach no longer works?