Where is it written in stone that designers need to know business? Why don’t business people have to learn about design? 1
There are a lot of fine businesses out there, but there is a distinct shortage of well-designed products. I’m saying that the critical ingredient in successful products isn’t middle management but rather design. 2
And when I talk about good design, I’m not talking about white space and the color wheel, I’m talking about knowing what motivates the user and then giving it to them. 3
Isn’t that, in fact, what a good business does? They find their user community, figure out what they are trying to accomplish and why, and then give it to them. That’s design, not business. 4
Remember when Apple kicked out Jobs and hired all those great business people? That didn’t really work out for them. When Jobs finally came back, he made the user the most important thing, and they succeeded. 5
Look at a company like Nest. Running a thermostat company is NOT a great challenge. Designing a thermostat that changes the entire thermostat business is. The critical ingredient is user-centered design, not business. 6
All this talk about designers needing to know business is a lot of crap perpetuated by people who have learned that business is much easier than design is. 7
To paraphrase an old comic book, Design will get you through times of no business, better than business will get you through times of no design. 8
