Companies neglect design at their own risk

TODAY’S business leaders, beset by supply chain disruptions, rising costs, energy crises and political tensions, understandably focus on controlling costs and optimising operations. In this context, design seems to appear to them as a discretionary expense suited to better times.

That mindset is mistaken. Design as “creativity with strategy”, to quote designer Robert Curedale, is a compass to navigate uncertainty and change. Design plays the role of a “human counterweight” in rational and analytical discussions, allowing companies to develop new offerings through the lens of their target-audience-to-be and stay relevant.

“The 20th-century marketing perspective of making people want things has transitioned to a 21st-century approach of making things people want,” says the UK’s Design Council.