Boosting innovation through design
Design is about finding ways to solve problems, improve, and move forward. It is a natural capability to most of us. In this article, you will find out how leading companies apply design principles to problem-solving to get better business results and what you can do to start innovating in your business.
Solve a problem, get results
McKinsey, an international management consulting company, spent five years tracking design practices of 300 companies. Their report, The Business Value of Design, proves that companies that invest in design perform nearly twice as well as businesses that don’t.
Companies that participated in the study come from the medical technology, consumer goods, and retail banking industries. This suggests that design can make a positive impact no matter if your company is selling goods, digital products and services, or a combination of all. Putting it in T.J. Watson words “Good design is good business”.
“Good design is good business.”
The Design Council also highlights the positive business impact of design in their Design Delivers for Business report. The report is a summary of the Design Leadership Programme created to teach businesses how to identify and solve problems using strategic design techniques. Businesses that participated in the programme got great results demonstrating that design increases turnover, is linked to profit, and boosts exports.
❍ Design increases turnover.
For every £1 invested in design, businesses can expect over £20 in increased revenues;
❍ Design is linked to profit.
For every £1 invested in design, businesses can expect over £4 increase in net operating profit;
❍ Design boosts exports.
For every £1 invested in design, businesses can expect a return of over £5 in increased exports.
— DESIGN COUNCIL, DESIGN DELIVERS FOR BUSINESS
Stunning results yet very few companies embrace the potential of design for their business. InVision - a digital product design platform - uncovers that only 5% of companies use design strategically to make their business better. 41% of companies are only focused on the visual aspect of design. Read full InVision report The New Design Frontier.
“41% of companies are focused on the most visible aspects of design—the pixels on the screen.”
5 steps to unlock design potential in your business:
① Put customers first.
Understand their key challenges and invest in designing great customer experiences. Empathise and observe.
② Involve a wider team.
The problem is experienced in context so the solution should be designed with a bigger picture in mind. The best results are achieved by a cross-functional effort and understanding multiple scenarios and experiences.
③ Ask questions before proposing solutions.
Approach the challenges with a beginner’s mindset and ask questions so you can understand why something is not working. This way you will be able to see things from a fresh perspective and find innovative solutions that will move the needle.
④ Prototype and test solutions.
The final solution of your product or services will be experienced by your customers. To make sure that you are not investing in something that will not work for them test the solution along the way, get feedback and iterate.
⑤ Improve continuously.
Products and services need to adapt to the changing needs of the customer as well as the changing environment - the design process never stops. Small and focused improvements often can make a big difference.
