Designers: Get Your Business Gears Rolling and Understand the Business Context
Importance of understanding the business context in order to design successful solutions that are tailored to the needs of clients and competitive landscape
Part 1
As designers we probably all agree that talking to customers is good, doing experiments is great and that making shitty prototypes is amazing. But I was triggered by a discussion I had a few weeks ago, in which mentioned that not making a journey map if you don’t plan on using it is not a very popular opinion among service designers.
Understanding the business context and how their solutions will help to achieve the goals of the business stakeholders is essential for designers. This means breaking down the business context into manageable chunks, and maybe creating a simplified business context diagram to help visualize the bigger picture. Doing so will help designers create solutions that are better aligned with business goals and avoid being seen as just another cog in the machine. Ultimately, designers need to remember that they are not designing in a vacuum — their work is part of a larger whole.
The larger whole looks like a complex network of stakeholders, customers and business goals. It is important to understand how these different pieces all fit together, as they can have a big impact on the success of the design.
When creating a solution, designers need to consider all of these elements, from the customer journey and user experience to the business context and goals. This can be a daunting task, so it is important to break it down into manageable chunks. In order to visualize the bigger picture and understand the business context, designers can create a simplified business context diagram. This will help to ensure that the solution is correctly aligned with the business goals and will ultimately lead to a successful design.
Part 2
When it comes to solutions, it’s important to take two steps. First, make sure you are addressing the right problem. Second, understand how people experience the issue. This involves understanding how people come up with their requests and mapping out the journey they take to fulfil them, as this is where design comes into play.
Which begs the question: what other unpopular opinions am I missing? What is your most underrated unpopular opinion when it comes to design? For me, it’s that design isn’t always about making things look good. Sometimes it’s more important to make things work well. That might mean sacrificing aesthetics for function, or vice versa.
I know that’s not a popular opinion, but I stand by it. In fact, I think it’s one of the most underrated aspects of design. It’s about function. It’s about usability. It’s about user experience. And, yes, it’s about aesthetics, but it’s not all about aesthetics.
Part 3
Designers are great at empathising with users, but generally suck at empathising with business stakeholders. In fact, they often have a hard time understanding what business stakeholders are trying to achieve. This is because designers are focused on solving problems, while business stakeholders are focused on achieving outcomes.
Designers need to understand the business context in which their solutions will be used. They need to understand the goals of the business stakeholders and how their solutions will help to achieve those goals. Only then can they create opportunities to delight the users of the solution.
The business context is also often complex, with factors that designers need to consider when creating a solution. It is not just about users. Designers can easily get overwhelmed with all the thinking they need to do. They need to break it down into bite-sized chunks.
Designers can create an easier-to-swallow pill for the business stakeholders by first creating a simplified business context diagram. This will help the designers see the big picture and make it easier for them to understand the business context.
Understanding the business context is critical for designers, not just for reducing their anxiety, but also for creating solutions that are better suited to the business goals and objectives. With a clear understanding of the business context, designers can ensure that their work is seen as a vital part of the company or organization, and not simply as another cog in the mechanical process. Moreover, having a clear understanding of the business context can help designers to be more strategic in their approach, by better understanding the needs of their clients, the competitive landscape, and the wider industry. Ultimately, this improves the chances of success and boosts the value of their work.
Conclusion
By understanding the business context and creating a simplified business context diagram, designers can ensure that their work is aligned with the business goals and objectives and is seen as a valuable contribution to the company or organization. This can help them to be more strategic in their approach, as well as increase the chances of success and the value of their work. Additionally, it can help designers empathize with business stakeholders and understand the bigger picture of their solutions. Ultimately, this will help them create solutions that are tailored to the needs of their clients and the competitive landscape.
Thanks for reading this far!
