Sales guy, dealer, and you... everyone should be a designer.
The word `design’ has got a deeper meaning these days for marketers. Earlier, it was seen as only related to the product - product has a design, the packaging has a design, its communication has a design. Then came the world of branding and experience design - we design the retail environment, we design the customer support system. Today, design is a way or an approach to developing solutions. It is an exploration to see which process needs to be improved to deliver better benefit to users. Â
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But what are its special characteristics? If you see the extent to which brands like Apple and Nike do user studies and user tests, you come to know that design thinking is human-centric and customer-oriented. Earlier product development did not involve the various people in the market so much, it was seen as a technical discipline. Today, marketers, influencers, traders and customers all offer their input into the process of product development. It is a participative process for more stakeholders and draws upon the collective wisdom because the products are created for people, those people must have a say and share their expectations and dreams with us.
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Design Thinking is a marriage of commerce, science and art. Art is an exercise of the imagination to sketch many possibilities. Science is the analysis of the user’s situation and requirement and is also used to build the physical product and make it work. Commerce is applied to manage costs, aim at a market segment, and to check what features a customer will pay more for. Only a scientist, a marketer or a designer achieve less on their own but when there is a culture of coming together to do Design Thinking, then it becomes possible to look for what major change can be introduced boldly by our company and our brand. The whole thing starts with a close look at the user situation. How does the customer pick up the product, use it - what are the limitations, how can the user get more value or use from it, what is feasible etc. A specific improvement is targeted as we consider it to be valuable to the customer. Once some prototypes are developed, they are tested with users and the feedback is used to carry out improvements. Other stakeholders also add ideas for the concept to be refined.
(image credit: Amazon)
Design Thinking is a participative and inclusive process. It listens to many voices, many points-of-view. It is practical and imaginative at the same time. It uses logic and aesthetics - sense and style. Many iconic brands - automobile, electronics, sports, consumer goods and others - are implementing Design Thinking as a fundamental approach today in their Marketing.
