BUSINESS DESIGN

Shambu Nandanan Why Business Design? Design represents a great deal more than a part of a product development process. Today, it can define the difference that makes or breaks a product. Design is what earns the bread and butter (and a little bit more) for a cult of design driven companies like Apple, Braun and Mercedes Benz. The emotional differentiation that an innovative product can inspire in the mind of a consumer forms the foundation for a loyal and long standing consumer-company relationship. A boldly designed product may gain mass appeal or prompt violent opposition. In either case, it puts the spotlight on the product and its maker and thus, is the ultimate antidote to the poison of customer indifference. The nature and direction of tomorrow s market may be yet unscripted. But, one thing is certain: if products are to survive and maintain competitive advantage, they will not be able to do so banking on functionality alone. They will have to fulfill certain emotional needs that design alone can address. The same argument goes in the case of businesses as well. As companies operate in an environment that becomes more and more competitive each day, rules and assumptions that governed yesterday s business may no longer earn them the cherry topping on their balance sheets. Quality, operational efficiency and customer-centricity, though easy to preach, pose tall hurdles in the run for profitability. And even that may not be enough. Customers today understand that there are multiple products and services available in the market, which offer them almost identical benefits in terms of price, quality and features. So what is that one thing that can urge them to pick your product over the rest? In Business Design, I believe, lies the answer. Business Design integrates the designer s approach with the businessman s eye to create solutions that can help business organizations attain higher levels of productivity and market penetration. A bird s eye view on organizational functions helps them make decisions that pertain not only to their functional departments but also help realize linkable benefits to the business as a whole. How Business Design? The design process begins with an inspired thought which the designer builds upon. She/he then ideates on this until a clear path is cut, linking the idea to the end result. Factors like acceptability, profitability and feasibility are analyzed in detail. Once the idea clears these parameters, the design process is implemented. It is essential for the designer to understand human behavior and link product ergonomics to match usability. For this, he/she needs to be carefully observe, associate, integrate and constantly experiment at each stage to come up with a design that holistically answers all emotional and functional consumer needs associated with the product/service. Easier said than done. The rules of a good design are that

there are no rules. Design, even though it may follow the above mentioned steps, ultimately is a creative innovation process that improves with experience and consumer understanding coupled with a sense of aesthetic and functional integrity. Design improvements in organizational dynamics are dependent on the nature, structure and operational model of the company and as such, cannot be implemented based on a standard rule of thumb. Q. What does this mean to us? A. There are no universal solutions to profitability. The Business Designer and Innovator s job is difficult and mind consuming. However, there are tools and techniques that can be used to identify problem areas and disparities between customer wants and actual product/service features. Observing and learning from what has been done before and deriving general principles from these examples can help the business designer gain a general understanding about operational links, market probabilities and consumer behavior. What he/she does with these tools and information is ultimately a question of experience and business expertise. Studying Business Design teaches us that. Building up this business aptitude and exposure has been the key purpose of the Business Design course. Tools Listed below are the main tools that form key components of a Business Designer s arsenal. User Analysis: Identifying who the user is and what kind of difficulties he/she/they experience(s) forms the first part of the business design process. This is done through extensive user and market research using observational, open ended and survey based study. Subsequent brainstorming and idea sharing sessions help segment target groups and their lifestyles, needs, expectations and problems. Pain Points: The collection and clustering of pain points from the target user group will reveal common problems, patterns and reasons behind the user s dissatisfaction and point out directions in which the business designer can move to satisfy a customer need. Exercises in class involving the use of post-it tags for cluster formation, although a serious waste of paper (think deforestation), have been extremely useful in organizing the ideation process and hence concentrating collective mental resources. Visual Mapping: It is said that a single picture speaks a thousand words. If this holds true, the process of visual mapping, which involves the use of images for user interviews can help unravel hidden user characteristics and demands that a general survey or interview may overlook. It also helps profile the end users into categories based on lifestyles, values, aspirations and attitudes, which may, in subsequent stages, help tweak and customize the product offering to better suit the customer need.

Mind & Value Stream Mapping: This tool has been a revelation and by far, my favorite tool in business design and innovation education. It eliminates complexity and helps the business designer form visible links between different aspects in any form of study or analysis. Using value stream maps in business models help us differentiate individual functions and processes into distinct branches and thus focus modifications and improvements in each element while studying the effect that it may have on the other components. Mind maps have also helped me save costs on ink and paper significantly by reducing notebook page utilization, without compromising on data clarity and coverage. Competitor and Stakeholder Analysis: While creating any product/business improvement, it is crucial to understand what the competition is offering. Their strategies, product and service packages, features and market positioning help us determine latent needs and requirements that we may be able to capitalize on. This again involves extensive online and field research and data collection activities. Understanding who the stakeholders are, what role they play in influencing the business and what their needs and expectations are from the business will help narrow down our options and give us clarity on how to address these requirements. Back end supply chain and front end distribution chain analysis also help weed out unnecessary costs, wastage and improve the scope for process efficiency and business profitability. Ideation & Brainstorming: A very important part of the design and innovation process is the brainstorming activity. No matter how experienced a business designer is, he/she alone cannot generate as many ideas and solutions that the collaborated efforts of a team of designers from diverse backgrounds and knowledge areas can. Brainstorming sessions, utilizing the multi sensory approach of a multi disciplinary team, help tap into an idea-rich resource pool, and come up with unconventional, exciting and innovative product/service and business solutions. Merging ideas and concepts can result in products which offer solutions which offer benefits that are multisensory in terms of appeal and benefits, thus exceeding customer expectations and ensuring satisfaction. Prototyping: Visualization can only do so much in convincing both the designer as well as the customer about actual product potential and benefits. After all, they are still figments of the designer s imagination and cannot hold threads of credibility. This is why the prototyping phase of the design and innovation process is so crucial. It is at this stage that the idea actually takes form, and can act as an independent entity in its ability to convince the customer of value and benefits. Visual prototypes help explain the form of the product and give it the visual design framework to dedicate efforts and thus create enhancements that add aesthetic value while incorporating the product s functional requirements. Functional prototypes are skeletal models that explain the actual working of the product, and help display the various benefits of the product at work and how they help differentiate the product from its existing competitor counterparts. In addition to these tools of business design, sessions on marketing, quality management, operations, organizational behavior, economics and financial management have helped us gain perspective on how these factors can be implemented in an organization in sync with its financial and long term objectives of growth and sustainability. Open mindedness is a key prerequisite to managing change and it is only by

questioning conventional norms and practices that opportunities for innovation and strategic differentiation may present themselves to the business designer. Curiosity, user understanding and empathy, observation and creativity are potent skills that need to be constantly developed and honed in order to meet the tall order of being able to address oneself as a business designer.