Design and Business - A Natural Synergy?

One could argue that a successful business is designed to be that way. With proper procedures in place, an engaged and inspired workforce, ample supply of customers and an endless number of innovative ideas...any company can be immensely profitable - right?

While the concept of good design traditionally applies to products or services that perform and satisfy the user (and ultimately leads to profits), it also applies to the way an organization communicates, collaborates and strategizes on an everyday basis.

Either way, good design, whether at the organizational or product level, leads to positive customer experiences. To take it a step further, innovative design evokes meaning which can lead to long lasting brand recognition.

In order to get the benefits from good design, both designers and businesspeople have to take an integrated approach to strategy. This integrative approach is being adopted in a new program to be launched in 2008 by the California College of the Arts.

The program, called an MBA in Design Strategy, "unites the studies of design, finance, and organizational management in a unique curriculum aimed at providing students with tools and strategies to address today's complex and interconnected market. The program's approach encompasses performance, strategy, innovation, and the encouragement of meaningful, sustainable social change."

Led by Program Chair Nathan Shedroff, the program seeks to develop innovative solutions to economic and social challenges using design techniques and business metrics. Perhaps most innovative of all, is the program's inclusion of a course on Effective Communication that teaches students how words can seriously impact business interactions.

DMI (Design Management Institute) in Boston is also a thought leader in the area of business and design. In September, DMI will be hosting a conference about The Changing Role of Design and Design Management in Business. Conferences held on similar subjects have attracted attendees from companies such as: Kodak, eBay, Fossil, Kraft and Hasbro.

DMI believes that the integration of design and business is now a reality. The new world of work requires a cross-disciplinary approach with integrated design solutions. Designers are now just as responsible for the bottom-line as managers and executives, and it's essential that they realize the implications of their work both inside and outside of the organization.

As Steve Jobs said in an interview with Fortune magazine in 2000, "Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product.” The implication that design is something that expresses itself from the 'inside out' has meaning for organizations as well. If we can design things or places directly from the core, then this will positively affect a company on several levels as design will incorporate the true essence of a place or product.

What impact has good design had in your workplace? At the mall, supermarket or in your home? Does it affect your decision on whether or not to buy a product?