Designers face complex and multifaceted problems, blending creative problem solving, psychology, technology, and business to develop new solutions to difficult problems. Challenges run the gamut, from proving the economic value of Design to making complex technology accessible to fostering and sustaining creativity.

While many of us predominately learn through exposure in the field, reviewing relevant academic research and drawing upon their findings as well can prove fruitful.

Defining the value of Design

Creating Economic Value by Design by John Heskett in International Journal of Design.

What is the article about?

This paper examines how major economic theories influence how we define the value of design. Heskett argues that economics doesn’t acknowledge design, and “if designers cannot argue the economic relevance of their practice in convincing terms…they will remain what the American designer, George Nelson, long ago termed ‘exotic menials’.”

Heskett reviews the shortcomings of dominant economic theory, Neo-Classicism, and how it overlooks and discounts design, and then he explores alternative economic systems that are more cognizant of design. By exploring various economic theories, Designers can analyze business activity, learn what business managers care about, and more effectively communicate the value of their work.

Key points

• Neo-Classical theory is the dominant theory in the Western world, focusing on markets and zeroing in on supply and demand. However, it characterizes markets as static, uses price to determine value while ignoring quality and differentiation, and it disregards how goods and services are formulated, designed, developed, and ultimately used.
• The Austrian school of economics, alternatively, focuses on how value is attributed to products. Carl Menger, the founder of the school, argues “Value is thus nothing inherent in goods, no property of them, nor an independent thing existing by itself. It is a judgment economizing men make about the importance of the goods at their disposal for the maintenance of their lives and well-being.” Thus value is subjective and determined by users. Customers only pay for what is useful to them and brings them value.
• To illustrate this point, consider lemon squeezers. We see great variation in their materials and design, despite the fact that they all do the same basic function. This shows how quality and taste factor into purchase decisions, illustrating how design drives differentiation, preference, and value.

• Institutional theory seeks to explain differences in economic performance by examining the larger historical, cultural, and institutional context. It explores how markets result from the complex interaction of individuals, companies, states, and social norms. It examines how an organization’s approach and views of design impact the quality of their product or service.
• For example, Olivetti, an Italian electrical manufacturer, only hired designers part-time so they could explore other topics and companies and stay energized and inspired. This approach helped Olivetti become a design icon among the world’s manufacturing companies.
• Unlike Neo-Classicism, new growth theory asserts that growth is innate to capitalism, driven by the interaction of technological change, competition, and innovation. Competition forces people to constantly improve upon existing offerings or invent new ones, using knowledge and new technology to continuously innovate. Ideas are crucial to big discoveries as well as incremental improvements.
• For example, Japanese assembly lines pioneered systematizing discovery and giving every worker autonomy and space to experiment. Workers were encouraged to try slightly different ways of doing things and find what was most efficient. Over time, this created a huge competitive advantage. Investing in discovery, research, experimentation, and iteration is key to firms’ overall success and sustainability.

Implications and applications

• Designers help mitigate risk and imagine what is unknowable. Neo-Classical theory assumes products and markets are static and price is the only determinant of value. However this completely overlooks the value and contributions of design. In contrast, “a central assumption of design practice is that it is innately concerned with change: designers’ concepts become the products, communications, environments and systems of the future. Design, in other words, is about envisioning change.”
• Companies need to invest in R&D in order to innovate and stay competitive. Focusing on short-term profits at the expense of high quality R&D is incredibly short sighted, yet it’s a consequence of Neo-Classical theory. “G.M.’s biggest failing, reflected in a clear pattern over recent decades, has been its inability to strike a balance between those inside the company who pushed for innovation ahead of the curve, and the finance executives who worried more about returns on investment.”
• Creating a culture of experimentation and learning increases a company’s chances of success. It’s important to create space and grant all employees autonomy to explore, tinker, iterate, and advise. Ideas are valuable for both big discoveries and iterative improvements. Designers can help generate, explore, and translate ideas into innovations.They take abstract ideas and make them tangible, bringing together humanity and technology.
• Investing in and prioritizing Design can be a significant differentiator and value add. For example, Germany had few natural resources, so it purposely focused on creating high quality products that other countries couldn’t imitate. Germany’s success influenced Japan, where state policy significantly invested in design capabilities. In the mid-1950s, there were very few formally trained professional designers in Japan, however by 1992, they had approximately 21,000 industrial designers alone as a result of targeted national policies.
• Design brings customers value by making products more relevant and useful. Customers determine value, and they will only pay for things that are useful to them. Design helps companies focus on and solve the right problems, which leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, which ultimately leads to increased business success.

Read the full article here.

Creating a bridge between customers and complex technology

Distinguished Industrial Design Professionals and Educators’ brief in support of Apple in Samsung v. Apple case (August 4, 2016)

What is the brief about?

Apple sued Samsung, arguing that they copied the iPhone’s design for their Galaxy S series.

Apple’s chief litigation officer argues, “We firmly believe that strong design patent protection spurs creativity and innovation. And that’s why we’ve defended ourselves against those who steal our ideas. Eleven times now, Samsung has been found guilty of intentionally and blatantly copying the iPhone. Every court at every level has agreed. We think that’s wrong and that it poses chilling risks to the future of design innovation.”

Prominent industrial designers, fashion designers, design museum directors, design research professionals, and design academics wrote this amicus brief in support of Apple. “We all share a strong professional interest in seeing that design patent law continues to protect investments in product design.”

Key points

• Industrial Design is “the professional service of creating products and systems that optimize function, value, and appearance for the mutual benefit of user and manufacturer.” In 1887, Congress determined that “it is the design that sells the article” and they established the design patent.
• Companies realized design drives sales of consumer and commercial products. In fact, a product’s visual design becomes the product itself in consumers’ minds. For example, Coca-Cola’s signature bottle, designed and patented in 1915, helped Coke become the most widely distributed product on earth. A 1949 study found more than 99% of Americans could identify a bottle of Coke by shape alone, and customers routinely say Coke tastes better when consumed from the patented bottle.
• Design is particularly important for consumer products with complex technology. Cognitive science shows that a product’s visual design influences decision making and ultimately represents the underlying function, origin, and user experience of the product to the consumer.
• Sight is our strongest sense, with 90% of information transmitted to the brain being visual and 40% of nerve fibers to the brain connecting to the retina. Visual designs are processed more quickly than words, and the connection between an image and its meaning is more direct than that between a word and its meaning. Additionally, memories and emotions connected to visual stimuli persist longer than those of words.
• Attractive products are considered higher quality and easier to use. Attractive things make people feel good, and people experiencing positive emotions may be more inclined to try new things. Interestingly, emotional responses and connections to products and brands are significant drivers of customer loyalty. Additionally, consumer psychology has shown that beautiful design can even overshadow negative functionality information.
• When a competitor steals the design of a successful product, it captures the consumer’s understanding of what the product does, what the product means, and the emotional connections associated with the original company’s brand.

Implications and applications

• Design is an important competitive advantage. Good design differentiates products and drives sales. As markets become more crowded and products reach feature and functionality parity, design can differentiate products and forge valuable emotional connections with customers.
• A product’s design becomes the product itself in customers’ eyes. Investing in and prioritizing good design will pay dividends in the form of improved customer sentiment and increased sales.
• Design creates a bridge between complex technology and customers. Companies with complex products in particular should invest in design, since they have the most to gain. Design can overshadow functionality in some instances, and it can make the product feel more approachable and high quality.

Read the full brief here.

Designing persuasive and effective products

A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design by BJ Fogg in Proceedings of the 4th international Conference on Persuasive Technology

What is the article about?

This article introduces a new model, the Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), to understand human behavior. FBM asserts that behavior is a product of three factors: motivation, ability, and triggers. All three factors must be present in the same instant — someone must be sufficiently motivated, have the ability to act, and be triggered in order for the desired behavior to occur.

In order to build successful products, we need to understand psychology and human behavior. This model provides a clear framework to design and analyze persuasive technologies. It can create a shared understanding and help teams work together more effectively.

Key points

• FBM includes three elements: motivation, ability, and triggers.

• Core motivators are pleasure and pain, hope and fear, and social acceptance and rejection. Pleasure and pain are powerful yet primitive motivators, however they typically don’t play a huge role in persuasive technology. Hope and fear involve anticipation of something good or bad happening, and they are more common motivators in technology. Hope plays a role in signing up for a dating website, while fear motivates us to install an antivirus package. Additionally, social acceptance and rejection are highly motivating. Social media thrives based on people sharing information about themselves in hopes of gaining social acceptance.
• Simplicity involves six components: time, money, physical effort, mental effort, social acceptance, and routine. The less time, money, effort, and social deviance something requires, the simpler it is, and thus the more likely the behavior is to occur. These factors vary by individual as well as context.
• Finally, there are three types of triggers: sparks, facilitators, and signals. Sparks increase motivation, facilitators make the behavior easier to do, and signals simply serve as reminders.

Implications and applications

• When designing experiences, make sure users have sufficient motivation, ability, and trigger to perform the intended action. Designers should understand what motivates users to act and focus on increasing the simplicity of the interaction in order to facilitate users’ ability to perform the intended action. For example, 1-click purchasing makes buying something online as simple as possible.
• Focusing on increasing simplicity may be the best way to increase the desired behavior. Humans are fundamentally lazy and are often resistant to learning new things and forming new habits. So instead of trying to increase users’ abilities, it’s often easier to make behaviors easier to do. People often resist attempts at motivation, but we naturally love simplicity.
• FBM can provide a framework and common understanding to drive effective interaction design. If a new product or feature isn’t driving the intended action or behavior, try using FBM as an evaluation framework to troubleshoot. Are users lacking motivation? Is the behavior too difficult? Is the site not triggering appropriately? Work collaboratively to determine the problem and iterate on the interaction.

Remember that we should seek to enable, not manipulate. Use these principles responsibly to drive positive behavior, not to drive dark patterns.

Read the full article here. See also Creating Persuasive Technologies: An Eight-Step Design Process.

Driving product satisfaction and adoption

A Theoretical Integration of User Satisfaction and Technology Acceptance by Barbara Wixom and Peter Todd in Information Systems Research.

What is the article about?

Companies invest millions of dollars into technology and development, but what factors actually influence user adoption and thus business profits? User satisfaction and technology acceptance are common theories, and this article seeks to integrate these two frameworks to create a more holistic understanding of product adoption and usage.

Key points

• This paper argues that beliefs about information quality and system quality influence satisfaction, which influences perceived usefulness and ease of use, which influences users’ attitude toward a product and thus their intention to use said product.

• In assessing information quality, users consider completeness, the degree to which a system provides all necessary information; accuracy, the user’s perception that the information is correct; format, the user’s perception of how well the information is presented; and currency, the user’s perception of the degree to which the information is up to date. Completeness and accuracy are the most important factors.
• In assessing system quality, users consider reliability, the dependability of system operation; flexibility, the way the system adapts to users’ changing demands; integration, the way the system allows data to be integrated from various sources; accessibility, the ease with which information can be accessed or extracted from the system; and timeliness, the degree to which the system offers timely responses to requests for information or action. Reliability and accessibility are the most important factors.
• Research found there are significant relationships between information satisfaction and perceived usefulness and between system satisfaction and perceived ease of use. The more satisfied someone is with the system itself, the more likely they are to find the system easy to use and deem it useful.

Implications and applications

• Beliefs and attitudes about a system influence beliefs and attitudes about using that system. Users’ assessments of a product’s information and system quality influence their perceived ease of use and usefulness, which in turn influences usage intention. Focusing on completeness, accuracy, reliability, and accessibility can increase user sentiment and ultimately product adoption and usage.
• This model provides a framework to evaluate information and system characteristics. Designers can consider completeness, accuracy, format, and currency when thinking about information quality and perceived usefulness, as well as reliability, accessibility, flexibility, integration, and timeliness when thinking about system quality and perceived ease of use. Understanding these factors can help with task prioritization and resource allocation.

Read the full article here.

Fostering and sustaining creativity

Downtime as a Key to Novelty Generation: Understanding the Neuroscience of Creativity with Dr. Rex Jung by Rohit Mehta, Punya Mishra, and The Deep-Play Research Group in TechTrends.

What is the article about?

This article explores neuroscience research around creative cognition. It explores the relationship between intelligence and creativity, the importance of knowledge acquisition, and the importance of downtime for the brain to play, experiment, and forge new connections.

Key points

• Intelligence is predominantly determined by biological (i.e. genetic) factors, but creativity is more influenced by environmental factors.
• Creativity has been defined as the “production of something novel and useful,” but it’s important to find a balance of novelty and usefulness.
• Both intelligence and creativity rely on knowledge acquisition. Intelligence uses knowledge to navigate a predictable world, while creativity uses knowledge to build new skills and adapt in new, unpredictable situations.
• Creative cognition includes four key stages: preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification.
• During the preparation phase, people focus on gaining knowledge. People gain core and cross-disciplinary knowledge in order to build expertise. By going deep into a specific domain, they have time to play, practice, and gain expertise in that area. And by exploring a variety of domains, they have opportunities to make connections and apply knowledge in creative, new, and useful ways.
• During the incubation phase, people have time to reflect. Ideas can flow freely, “run” into each other, forge connections, and combine in new ways.
• During the illumination phase, ideas collide, your brain makes connections, and suddenly you have a “eureka” moment, realizing you may have stumbled upon a good idea.
• During the verification phase, you share your idea with others, collect feedback, and iterate as needed.

Implications and applications

• Creativity is influenced by environment, and it can be cultivated. Purposely create an environment that fosters creativity. Clarify your goals and identify your desired outcome, but allow flexibility in how you approach and solve the problem. Explore other industries and companies, identify interesting ideas and practices, and consider how you can experiment and build upon them. Mix things up, change your space, break down silos across teams, and approach things from a new perspective.
• Creativity requires both broad and deep knowledge. Acquiring expertise in your specific domain is important, but it’s also helpful to have broad knowledge of other fields. Exposure to other ideas and ways of doing things can inspire you to find relevant applications in your own field (remember Olivetti only allowing Designers to work part time so they’d explore other fields and roles in their remaining time?). Become a well-rounded person and pursue a variety interests, travel, read books from a variety of fields, and work cross-functionally with other teams to approach problems in novel ways.
• It’s important to give our brains time to wander, incubate ideas, and make novel connections. Creativity is crucial to progress, adaption, and innovation. Yet some argue we’re in a “‘creativity crisis” due to our constant consumption of digital media. Build in mental breaks throughout your (work) day. Go on a walk, cook something, meditate or sit in silence for a bit, or explore other ways to give your brain time to relax. And make sure to take adequate time off!

Read the full article here.