Getting the best out of product design(ers)

Getting the best from product design

wills watsonassociates

wills watsonassociatesGetting the best from product design

Why commission design?

— users, buyers and specifiers expect good design;




— in a price sensitive market, differentiation is vital;





— your competition is already doing it;






— it raises your profile;






— it raises your profile;

— it makes a profit

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs


The buying process from a salesman’s point of view:

— price;

— features and benefits.


The buying process from the buyer’s point of view:

— I like that!

“Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is”.

Robert Pirsig


The buying process:

— I like that!

— what is it?


The buying process:

— I like that!

— what is it?

— how does it work?


The buying process:

— I like that!

— what is it?

— how does it work?

— how much is it?


Qualitative and quantitative

— ‘I like that!’ is a direct, qualitative response that is experienced before quantitative judgement;

“And what is good Phaedrus, and what is not good? Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?”

Robert Pirsig




— part of a designers job is to infuse the product with the qualities that will evoke the ‘I like it’ reaction;

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them”.

Steve Jobs




— part of a designers job is to infuse the product with the qualities that will evoke the ‘I like it’ reaction;

— the qualities that make a Finance Director good their job can make this aspect of the design process difficult to accept. However, this does not in any way deny or invalidate it.



— ‘I like that!’ is a direct, qualitative response that is experienced before quantitative judgement.

— part of a designers job is to infuse the product with the qualities that will evoke this reaction.

— the qualities that make a Finance Director good at their job can make this aspect of the design process difficult to accept. However, this does not in any way deny or invalidate it;

— to deduce that product designers believe ‘beauty is skin deep’ would be very wrong indeed.


“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service”.

Steve Jobs


What to look for in a design team:

— the design speciality relative to your product;




— the right technical and visual skills;





— a team that under promises and over delivers;

‘Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river’.

Nikita Khrushchev






— people that you like;







— recommendations from other clients;

“A fair exterior is a silent recommendation”.

Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)







— recommendations from other clients;

— an ability to integrate with your in-house designers.

“One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork”.

Edward Abbey


What to avoid:

— the delegation of your project to junior designers;


What to avoid:


— open ended fee proposals;


What to avoid:



— superficial concepts (all look and no content);

“Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow”.

Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC


What to avoid:




— a very strong house style (unless you really like it);


What to avoid:




— a very strong house style (unless you really like it);

— free pitching.


Apart from design, what can designers bring to the party?

— background research;




— help with writing the brief;

“The engineer’s first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is”.

Unknown





— product development strategy;

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to un-derestimate the ingenuity of complete fools”.

Douglas Adams






— materials research;







— manufacturing research;








— clarification of features and benefits;









— training sales staff;










— help with launching the products;










— help with launching the products;

— help to create a rolling design programme;


Well communicated and clearly understood expectations of both the client and the designer are the bedrock of long lasting and successful partnerships.

So, what do designers want from clients?


What do designers want?

— to win your business;




— interesting and challenging projects;





— to find the ‘big idea’;






— excellent rather than competent results;

‘It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity’.

Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)







— projects delivered on time and in budget;

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by”.

Douglas Adams




— interesting and challenging projects

— to find the ‘big idea;’



— design awards;








— design awards;

— a positive effect on your business;








— design awards;


— a positive effect on their business;







— projects delivered on time and in budget;;

— design awards;



— acknowledgement;








— design awards;



— acknowledgement;

— to see the product in the market place;


Design management

— a design champion at board level is essential;


Design management


— a design manager is an important role;


Design management



— NPD should be parallel not subservient to production;


Design management





Design management




— information management;


Design management

— a design champion at board level is essential



— information management;

— budget and fee payments on schedule;


The brief

— The more precisely you ask question, the better the designers’ answer will be.


Fees

— consider design fees in the context of the value that the design work will add to your business;


Fees


— you are buying several lifetimes of experience rather than something that can be measured by the hour;


Fees



— you could strike a hard bargain but loose out if the designer only delivers precisely what is agreed;


Fees



— you can strike a hard bargain but loose out if the designer only delivers precisely what is agreed;

— consider your designer as you would your lawyer or accountant rather than as a material supplier.


Royalty contracts

— trust should not be the issue;


Royalty contracts


— commissioned or non commissioned work;


Royalty contracts



— territory;


Royalty contracts



— territory;

— minimum yearly payments;


Royalty contracts



— territory;

— minimum yearly payments;

— clarity is everything.


Intellectual property

— non disclosure agreements;




— design before patent;





— protection by ‘know how’;






— search existing patents first;



— non disclosure agreements



— search existing patents first;

— absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.


Prototypes and details

— prototypes built any other way than to the designer’s drawings are a very expensive waste of time;


Prototypes and details

— prototypes built any other way than to the designer’s drawings are a very expensive waste of time;

— the right kind of model or prototype at the right time for the right reason.


Teamwork, a context for innovation

— ‘this or better’;


Teamwork, a context for innovation

— ‘this or better’;

— innovation usually comes from the context rather than an individual.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.

Steve Jobs


Product design is a vital cog in a much bigger machine

— the designer can only be responsible for that which they can control;




— the design process affects all parts of a business;





— innovation has a high failure rate;

“I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... It’s very character-building”.

Steve Jobs





— innovation has a high failure rate;

— not innovating has a total failure rate;


Why design and innovate?

“The stone age did not end for a lack of stone”

Zaki Yamani, member of OPEC