Award winning business and technology journalist Jay Greene was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about his insightful and ground breaking book Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons.
Jay Greene describes, through real world examples, how design creates a powerful competitive edge and a deeper relationship with customers, in a globalized economy where products become commodities almost overnight.
Thanks to Jay Greene for his time, and for his very informative and comprehensive responses. They are greatly appreciated.
What was the background to writing this book, Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons?
Jay Greene: The idea for the book really came from an article I wrote for my previous employer, BusinessWeek, about the design process at Bang & Olufsen, the Danish maker of high-end consumer electronics. I traveled to Struer, a remote town in western Denmark where B&O is based, to learn how the company creates their televisions and stereo equipment. A handful of those products are so beautiful they’re part of the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection.
What was remarkable, though, is that B&O doesn’t have any designers on staff. The company decided that it’s best to contract with a handful of designers who are removed from the internal politics of the company. And yet it gives those designers complete control over the products they make. It was a fun article to write and it came out well enough that an editor from Portfolio, Penguin’s business book imprint, suggested I write a book about the process of product design.
Your book is about design, but you go far beyond the usual idea that design is only style and form. How do you define design?
Jay Greene: The title of the book comes from a Steve Jobs quote, in which he describes Apple’s definition of design. He says that most people make the mistake of thinking that design is merely the glossy sheen that’s put on a product at the end of the development process. Apple doesn’t view design that way. At Apple, “design is how it works,” Jobs says. It’s hard to disagree with that.
If you think about the iPhone, for example, it’s a beautiful device, no doubt. But what makes it such a coveted product isn’t merely its aesthetics. It’s the ability to put all those different applications on the phone, to customize the experience precisely as you want it. The design genius of the iPhone isn’t that it looks great; it’s that it works great.
Why is it important to consider design in a much wider context than is usually thought?
Jay Greene: More and more, executives are recognizing design as a critical business strategy for the twenty-first century. As the world economy becomes truly global, commoditization of markets is happening on a broad scale. Companies are learning that competing merely on cost is a dangerous game. The ones that have instead tried to compete by creating better experiences for their customers are often able to avoid the commoditization trap. The smartest executives have figured that out. They understand that creating products that both look great and work well build durable bonds with customers.
What is the concept of "design thinking" all about and why are executives so eager to embrace it?
Jay Greene: Design thinking is really the practice of applying the skills designers use to create products to solve all sorts of business challenges, even ones that don’t require a focus on aesthetics. Designers intuitively use creativity and empathy to help them create something that has an emotional connection with customers. They prototype concepts and collaborate with colleagues to test theories and come up with novel approaches to new products.
Design thinking, whose greatest champions may be the folks at the Palo Alto design firm IDEO, apply those concepts to businesses that people don’t typically think of as being design-savvy. Design thinkers use anthropology, sociology and psychology to study customers in order to understand their unstated and unmet needs. It’s pushed design consulting into all sorts of unexpected areas. IDEO, for example, has worked with the Transportation Security Administration to improve the process of going through airport security.
Jay Greene (photo left)
You write that design is critical at every stage of development. Why should design be more than just an afterthought in the process of development?
Jay Greene: If it’s merely an afterthought, it’s unlikely to engage customers. Great looking but poorly made products often do the opposite – they alienate customers who feel duped because the product didn’t deliver on its implicit promise. Conversely, companies that attend to design from the very beginning of product development are often the ones that have the most loyal customers.
Think about Porsche, a company I focus on in the book. Its 911 is one of the most successful car models of all time, dating back to its debut in 1963. It’s not just a beautiful car. It performs exceptionally well. That’s because Porsche focuses on every detail from the very beginning of the development process. It cares about the look of the car, for sure. But it works hard on aerodynamics, on the layout of the dashboard instrumentation, on the sound of engine. Nothing comes by accident.
That’s really created a cult around Porsche. There are Porsche clubs around the world, everywhere from New Zealand to Lebanon.
When it’s time to get a new car, trust me, the first place those folks look is at a Porsche dealership. That’s allowed Porsche to move beyond sports cars to SUVs, with its Cayenne, and sedans, with its Panamera, as its customers seek out different car types. The Cayenne has actually sold better than every other Porsche model since its 2003 introduction and the Panamera, which debuted last year, is by all accounts off to a good start.
You write that design should become part of the company DNA. How can design enter that deeply into corporate thinking, especially when so much of the process is siloed in different departments and even locations?
Jay Greene: That’s the real challenge for executives. There are plenty of CEOs who’d just as soon put design in a silo too. It’s just not a business strategy with which they are comfortable. Design doesn’t lend itself to business metrics that executives like to use to measure to their companies stack up against industry standards. So they often give the idea of design lip service at best.
Great design flows as much from a culture that nurtures it as it does from the creative minds that often get the credit for it. The companies that do design consistently well have CEOs that embrace the importance of design, even if they’re not designers themselves. They give employees the mandate to take risks to come up with the most innovative products and services. They accept the occasional failure as the cost of being creative, and rather than bury that misstep, they use it as a tool from which employees can learn.
CEOs say they embrace risk, but shoot down the most creative ideas because marketing data doesn’t exist to support a business plan. That, in turn, leads employees to pursue more incremental advances.
Many people will argue that considering design will increase costs. Is this additional investment worth the risk?
Jay Greene: In most cases, a focus on design does increase costs. And without obvious metrics to measure its impact, executives often shy away from spending that money. But the companies that do design best don’t try to measure the return on design investment. They understand the value of design because their businesses have flourished from of it.
Apple is perhaps the design poster child of the day. The company has produced a series of products – starting with the iPod and moving to the iPhone and now the iPad – that lean heavily on design to avoid commoditization and even extract a premium over rival products. Apple’s financial results and stock performance have soared as a result. Executives there certainly know design has an impact on perception, even if there’s no easy way to measure it.
Can enhanced design be measured in the bottom line through greater competitiveness in the marketplace?
Jay Greene: I really think it’s a mistake to try to measure it. I understand the impulse. It gives executives, many of whom have risen though the finance ranks to senior positions at their companies, a peace of mind. Business consultants have perfected benchmarking manufacturing processes, supply-chain operations and customer-service departments. It makes it much easier for those executives to analyze new strategies in those areas.
Design doesn’t really lend itself to metrics that can be measured. You could look at something like cost per designer and measure that against rivals. But it’s painfully imprecise. And while I’d agree that design leads to greater competitiveness in the marketplace, as you suggest, I doubt you could make a direct correlation to design investment.
How has design helped companies compete in the real world, and are there some notable examples?
Jay Greene: The eight companies I focus on in my book are a good place to start. Take Virgin Atlantic, which is in one of the toughest industries in the world these days. Airlines have been hammered by the double-whammy of a global recession and soaring oil prices. Most airlines decided to deal with that financial challenge by cutting back services, charging travelers for pillows and serving up the least expensive and least tasty meals possible. Virgin Atlantic isn’t immune to those financial challenges.
But it realized that if it could design a great experience, one that makes flying pleasurable, even fun, it could take share from rivals. It pays attention to everything from the fourteen lighting settings onboard that create the proper mood to lie-flat seats in first class that won several design awards. Its service is cheeky and fun. All of that helped Virgin grow both revenue and profits in 2009, a rarity among air carriers.
LEGO is another interesting case. Just six years ago, the toy company was hemorrhaging money, a victim of management disengagement from design. The top brass focused on expanding the brand instead, moving into such unfamiliar businesses such as TV show production. They let the designers who created the plastic brick models go wild. And those designers did, creating increasingly complex models that looked cool but didn’t resonate with kids.
Worse still, the complexity drove up supply costs. LEGO got out of unfamiliar businesses and refocused on innovation, establishing a detailed process to guide design decisions that helped it reconnect with its core customers, kids. It turned the business around and now LEGO is posting huge profit gains and adding workers.
What is the future of design?
Jay Greene: Given the success of the companies in my book, and plenty of others that focus on design, it seems indisputable that it will become an ever more important business strategy. Companies that want to thrive in the twenty-first century will need to learn how to use design to stay ahead of rivals because, more and more, those rivals will be using design to succeed.
I also think that the notion of design will evolve. Executives will recognize the important role that design can play in creating terrific experiences for customers, regardless of the look and feel of the product. The tools that designers use to create emotional connections will evolve into strategies that can be employed to develop products and services in which aesthetics don’t much matter at all.
What is next for Jay Greene?
Jay Greene: Clearly, you’re saving the toughest question for last. Right now, I want to do whatever I can to help promote this book. The plan is to discuss the concepts in this book at companies and conferences. Folks who are interested in having me to chat to their group can contact me or my lecture agent through my Web site www.jaygreene.com. After that, we’ll see. I’d like to think there’s another book in me.
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My book review of Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons by Jay Greene.
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