Five Business Questions Every Master Designer Should Be Able to Answer
OK designers - to quote Sho'nuff from The Last Dragon, "Playtime's over..." We asked for a seat at the adult table and we got it. Now we have to prove that we can do more than "make it pretty." We have to be pragmatic. Shrewd. We have to take the same creativity that helps us make sense of a UI and channel it to deliver value to both customers and companies alike. We have to be... Design Masters.
(I know - super cheesy. But I really want to use images of Sho'nuff and Bruce Leroy here, so just go with it. ;)
Before we can move to the next level, we must understand our company's business. It means asking tough questions and not moving on until we understand. Now I'm no Jeff Bezos, but working for banks and insurance companies most of my career has taught me some simple questions to ask. Obviously, there are a ton more, but these are the five I start with. How many of these you can answer?
1) How does our company make money? Do we make money by selling products or services? How much per product? How many products do we have to sell to pay for our expenses? Other than direct sales, what are other ways we make money (investments, subscriptions, selling customer information *ewww*, etc.)
What products are key to the kind of customers we want? Which products are most profitable? Which are must-haves but will never be delighters? Which products are dogs that actually cost us money? Or maybe they're just loss-leaders that enable us to make money some other way?
2) What are our expenses and are we delivering more value than we're costing? Design is a cost center (meaning we cost the business money in salaries, facilities, tools and tech, etc.) It's important that we're delivering more value than we're costing. That's why we must understand the attribution model within the business.
This lens works on both a macro level (Design as an organization) and on a micro level - (if we do this project, will it deliver more value than it costs us to execute it?)
It's often helpful to assign value to common business scenarios. How much does a 5-minute phone call cost? How much is it worth to deepen a relationship with an existing customer? How much does it cost to land a new customer vs keeping an existing one? These are the building blocks for compelling business cases and for telling the story of the value Design is delivering (see #3).
3) How does Design get credit for business value we deliver? What delivers business value in the eyes of our partners? Avoiding low-value calls? Optimizing digital funnels that lead to product conversion? Providing decision support for non-digital sales? Helping to avoid compliance issues by quickly addressing findings?
Whenever companies begin to talk about the "value of design", they have a mental model in mind. Find out what matters to your company. If their definition doesn't take into account some of the things above, let them know. Tell that story. Help them understand what Design can bring to the table.
4) What kind of customers do we want? What kind do we NOT want? Most companies struggle to really answer this question. But if we try to design for "everyone", we're going to waste a lot of money.
Part of the value that design can bring is not just what we do, but what we don't do. If we save our company $250,000 by shutting down an ill-conceived project that is targeting people we don't actually want as customers, there is value in that.
5) Who are our competitors and how are we different? Copying the competition is a common play at many companies. But the reality is that those other businesses may make money differently than we do, target different types of customers, or count value differently.
By knowing who we are, we can help keep our partners honest to our strategy and save potentially wasted time and effort.
Whenever I start working with a new company or LOB, these are the questions I ask. Often, I get different answers from different partners. When that happens, I point out those points of disconnect to senior leadership. Bringing that empathy and insight adds a tremendous amount of business value in and of itself.
If we get to the adult table and only talk about affordance of buttons or the importance of vertical rhythm, we're missing the bigger opportunity. To be a Design Master, we must understand how our business works so we can innovate and make solid, pragmatic decisions.
[If you've been humming that Last Dragon song this whole time, you're welcome!] "You are the last dragon... and you possess the power... of the glow..."
