value by design

8/10/2019 Value by Design

1/5

EmpathyThe action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to,

and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, andexperience of another; also: the capacity for this

InnovationThe introduction of something new;

a new idea, method, or device; novelty

ValuesPrinciples, standards or ualities considered intrinsicallyworthwhile or desirable!


2/5

Design as Value

There is no dispute or doubt any more that design adds value tovirtually any & every product, service, communication/content orambience offering intended or meant for a consumer

What makes design unique is that it privileges the user/consumer'sneeds, tastes and preferences, life & self contet, values andaspirations, and her circumstances, constraints and conditions of use

!eeping these considerations uppermost, it seeks to audit/restructure/streamline/innovate the materials & technologies used,modes of production, features and configuration, user"friendlinessand aesthetics/attractiveness, packaging, branding/communicationand presentation/retailing #of the product/service/etc in question$around these

This is ho% design adds value

The core value that motivates design therefore is empathy%ith the

user/consumer( embodying the clich) the customer is *od


3/5

+s our markets become more competitive and less monopolistic,businesses have no choice but to vie %ith each other in deliveringever"greater value to their intended consumers

sually, this means they need to understand and respond toconsumer needs better than their competitors

nderstanding requires research, and responding requires design

-n this competitive scenario ho%ever, it doesn't take long for others tocatch up %ith a pioneer or leader in terms of achieving parity ofoffering, or coming up %ith an equally compelling alternative

This unrelenting pressure enforces them to gain better research/empathy/insights and respond %ith better designs/innovations on analmost continuous basis. this becomes a never"ending cycle

These countless empathy/response loops mean that businesses as a%hole should have attained a very sophisticated level of empathy %ithconsumers. but is that so


4/5

The fact is that businesses are constrained by their legacy culture &investments, their present infrastructure, systems & %orldvie%s, eventheir future visions & plans. all this constrains their response toconsumer needs 0 larger/older/more capital"intensive businessesoften more so than smaller/ne%er/lo%"overhead ones

1onsumers too are changing constantly, %hat they aspired for orvalued yesterday may not be true today or tomorro%

This results in an ever"present and substantial gap bet%een the idealscenario and that %hich businesses actually deliver

2usinesses are perfectly a%are of this, most accept this as aninescapable fact of life, many even become dogmatic about this 0and thereby devalue empathy and innovation in their scheme ofthings #they have to find other %ays to cope %ith competitivepressure$

3o%ever, this gap ensures that designers are never short ofopportunities and challenges 0 as long as this trend persists


5/5

Design as Values -n addition to empathy and innovation, there is another

concept that makes design unique, a rather subversiveone( and that is Values, or 4thics or 5orals6

-n order to avoid confusion #or competition$ %ith engineers,design never chose to be a technical practice6

+s its stage for performance, design bracketed itself %ithbusiness 0 but never quite settled do%n %ith#in$ it6

+t core, design still retained its origins in art, and retainedart's concerns about meaning and taste6

2y virtue of its intrinsic human"centricity, design hasal%ays concerned itself %ith humanistic values and ethics6

value by design

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