Ultimately, design is foremost about the experience people have and feel. For him and his partners at Ammunition, what matters is connecting to people. Whatever you create is speaking to people. Design also requires that you work with people--it requires partnership. "I can create one thing that's perfect; to create 1000 [of them], I need a partner to make it. I have to understand them and they me. Good design can cause disruption--design can be extremely disruptive in the market place in a positive way. Design can redefine who you are.
He thinks for a long time, in business, executives didn't understand design. Why do people care about companies? Because of how the product makes people feel. And design is the interface between a company and its constituents. He tells companies to ask themselves, "Would your customers care if yout company was gone?" And we can all think of the companies that could answer "yes" to that question.
His theory on business and innovation success today can be boiled down to three words: Design or Die.
He offered four thoughts on the design or die mantra:
1. Great products are more than objects. Take the iPod. It's more than the pretty little case we all thing of. Rather it's the design, the interface, the brand, the communication, retail experience, and all the materials that make up "my music." If you strip all that out, just looking at the packaging, you have a well-executed object.
2. Your brand is not your logo: Then what is your brand if it's not you logo, ads, products, retail display? Your brand is a gut feeling. It is something that exists in people's hearts. When more than one people have a feeling about you you have a brand. And its hard to get rid of. You cannot define it; you can only influence it. If you do it well, you shrink the psychic gap between you and your constituents and you have a relationship. It's always benn there but it's more impotant today because all shopping is in warehouses or online where you can't make a snap decision what to buy. It comes down to brand. Also, the global BS meter has become very fine-tuned. Before gong to the warehouse, everyone knows everything. So be yourself, but just be good at it. E.g. Harley Davidson--how many organizations' constituents tatoo the company logo on themselves. Harley is the ideal=they spend little money on ads, but everyone understands them and has a feel for them.
3. In a design driven company, everyone in the room is a designer: Recognized brands produce products that require management, marketing, design, engineering, manufacturing, operations, sales, distribution, customer service. The design is the chain. But that doesn't mean decision by committee. Every company needs the CEO, the Chief Experience Officer. Consensus is the root of mediocrity.
4. Risk is not a 4-letter word: Innovation = risk. Risk begets failure, which eventually begets success.
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