The document discusses the growing importance and impact of design in business. It notes that design is increasingly seen as a strategic asset that can deliver strong returns on investment. Examples are given of large companies that have invested heavily in building out their design capabilities. The document also explores how design can be evaluated and its impact measured, in order to demonstrate the ROI it provides. It concludes by emphasizing that craft and execution, along with the ability to measure impact, are increasingly important for designers to remain valuable in their careers.

1. does business
need design?

2. Nope.

4. Q: Is craigslist a nonprofit?
A: No, craigslist was incorporated as a for-profit in 1999.

5. does business
need design?

6. does business
need design?benefit from
How

7. does business
need design?
Convincing
es
they .

8. does business
need design?
Partnering with
es
that .
Alex Turnwall
(a look at design in terms of ROI,
and other corporate jargon)

9. Agenda:
Quick perspectives on design and business today
Act 1
Closing the gap: why design got a seat at the table
Act 2
Holding up our end of the bargain: delivering ROI
Act 3
Being a designer today: when design is a buzzword

10. Act 1
Closing the gap:
why design got a
seat at the table

11. “There’s no longer any real distinction
between business strategy and the
design of the user experience”
Bridget van Kralingen
Senior Vice President
IBM Global Business Services
Starting in 2013—IBM is making a $100
million investment in building a massive
design organization and hiring 1,000
designers by 2020

12. “We’re changing from being a
manufacturing-based company to
being a product company... Why
change? Because good design is
very profitable.” Pat Schiavone
VP of design, Whirlpool
Schiavone was hired from Ford, where he
most famously rebooted the Mustang’s
design.

13. “For every dollar spent to resolve a
problem during product design, $10
would be spent on the same problem
during development, and multiply to
$100 or more if the problem had to
be solved after the product’s release.”
Robert Pressman, Ph.D.
Software Engineering: A
Practitioner’s Approach
Pressman was an early advocate of
agile software development

14. Holy s**t !?!
Are you f***ing kidding me?
how did we get here?

15. “Good design is good business.”
Thomas J. Watson Jr.
President, IBM 1952-1971
In a 1973 talk at the University of
Pennsylvania
During his tenure, he hired many now-
famous designers, including Paul Rand
(who designed the iconic logo, as well
as the rebus poster for the “THINK”
campaign, left), Eliot Noyes, Mies van
der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, and Charles
and Ray Eames.

16. Moore’s Law
Commoditization (rectangles with rounded edges)
Departure from physical goods (next up: IoT)
So, why is it different this time?

17. DMI’s 10 year study of market-
cap-weighted design-driven
companies shows 228% higher
returns over the S&P 500
DMI WINTER 2013 11
from other investments in research, marketing, or
operations. That said, we see three key patterns
in how organizations use design: first as a service,
DESIGN-CENTRIC
ORGANIZATIONS:
APPLE
COCA-COLA
FORD
HERMAN-MILLER
IBM
INTUIT
NEWELL-RUBBERMAID
NIKE
PROCTER & GAMBLE
STARBUCKS
STARWOOD
STEELCASE
TARGET
WALTDISNEY
WHIRLPOOL
leading companies, but doing it requires both a
tight integration and an innovative use of the tools
used to track traditional corporate objectives.
outperformed the S&P by 228
percent over the past 10 years.
$5,000
JUN’03
JUN’04
JUN’05
JUN’06
JUN’07
JUN’08
JUN’09
JUN’10
JUN’11
JUN’12
JUN’13
DEC’03
DEC’04
DEC’05
DEC’06
DEC’07
DEC’08
DEC’09
DEC’10
DEC’11
DEC’12
DEC’13
$39,922.89
$17,522.15
$10,000
$20,000
$15,000
$25,000
$30,000
$35,000
$40,000
$45,000
D.INDEX
S&P INDEX
228%
DMI DESIGN-CENTRIC INDEX
Design ROI: 2014 Design Value Index Results

18. UX design dominating growth of
the design profession
1 2 3
Once design is recognized as a strategic asset and
integrated into the corporate hierarchy, it must
develop a consistent, accessible operating model
so that it can collaborate with other corporate functions
such as marketing, brand, R&D, IT, operations, and
manufacturing to extend and implement design work.”
Significant investments in design
transform business as usual
New design exemplars on the
horizon
Design ROI: 2014 Design Value Index Results

19. Act 2
Holding up our
end of the bargain:
delivering ROI

20. R.O... what?
Return On Investment:
what did the business get in return for what it spent?

21. “The key to winning:
is achieving a resonance between
what’s meaningful for people
and what’s profitable for companies.”
Continuum Design Consultancy
“Resonance” Film
Samsung, Philips, Herman Miller, MIT Media
Lab, 3M, Boston Beer Company, Coca-cola,
Harvard, Kraft, L.L. Bean, Logitech, OXO,
Pepsi, Siemens, Sprint...

22. How effective are my designs?
How do we evaluate design?
What’s the impact of my work?

23. How effective are my designs?
How do we evaluate design?
What’s the impact of my work?
*asking these questions
(even if your boss/client doesn’t)
and knowing how to answer them
makes you a more valuable designer.

24. visual /
graphic /
brand design
Build brand image and corporate reputation
(Increased awareness = more inbound)
Design patents and trademarks
(Create measurable financial assets)
Develop communities of customers
(Increased engagement and lifetime value)
Create intellectual property
(Build defensibility)
Increase customer satisfaction and engagement
(Or, decrease churn)
Improve time to market
(Increased efficiencies)
Improve usability
(Retain customers longer)
Speed product innovation
(Stay ahead of competition)
ui /
product
ux /
service /
strategy

25. visual / graphic / brand design
Build brand image and corporate reputation
(Increased awareness = more inbound)
Design patents and trademarks
(Create measurable financial assets)
Develop communities of customers
(Increased engagement and lifetime value)
Create intellectual property
(Build defensibility)
Advertising & “Math” Marketing:
conversions, impressions
Brand value survey
Brand and community “reach” and
influence scores
*you often cannot split these metrics
out from the marketing team

26. ui / product
Conversion / funnel tracking
A/B testing
Randomized control trial
Defined quantitative success metrics
(increase in X, decrease in X,
more on this in a moment...)
*you should not split these metrics out
from the larger product team
Increase customer satisfaction and engagement
(Or, decrease churn)
Improve usability
(Retain customers longer)

27. ux / service / strategy
Habit testing
Qualitative research / measurement
NPS score
*it’s often not possible, nor necessary,
to split these out from larger business
goals—remember the IBM quote
Improve time to market
(Increased efficiencies)
Speed product innovation
(Stay ahead of competition)

28. Project
Project Brief Template
Invoice upload flexibility improvements
Goal Increase number of food-specific invoices being captured, uploaded, or input
into our ordering tool by kitchen staff
Success Metrics • Increase average weekly food invoice creation by 20%
• Decrease creation time by 50%
User Segment Food users: chefs, kitchen staff
Assumptions We think the current P.O. / invoice tool is too cumbersome for food segment
users, because food-specific product information changes too often and
cataloging them in the system takes too long.

29. “you make technology human-
centered not with grand gestures,
but with one tiny insight at a time.”
Brett Lider
Android Wear Design Lead
Google

30. Act 3
Being a
designer today:
when design is a
buzzword

31. The “Design Mix”:
Collaborate
Innovate
Differentiate
Simplify
(Customer) Experience
Thomas Lockwood
Former President, Design
Management Institute
Wrote first-mover books on integrating
design and business: Design Thinking,
Building Design Strategy, Innovation by
Design

32. The “Design Mix”:
Collaborate
Innovate
Differentiate
Simplify
(Customer) Experience
Notice something?
There’s no mention
of ‘visuals’—or any
tangile output here...

33. if everyone in the organization
is customer-focused, then
what sets you apart?
So,

34. Craft and execution matter more than ever.

35. Craft and execution matter more than ever.
(Especially early in your career.)

36. How effective are my designs?
How do we evaluate design?
What’s the impact of my work?
*asking these questions
(even if your boss/client doesn’t)
and knowing how to answer them
makes you a more valuable designer.
And remember,

37. craft & execution
+ measurable impact
= a very employable designer
So:

38. Thanks for listening.
Alex Turnwall
Chief Design Officer, BevSpot
alex@turnwall.com
turnwall.com