How do designers create value?
I’ve been thinking about this question for a long time.
When I first started designing, making websites was pretty new. A lot of companies weren’t even online.
Just being able to design and build a website created tremendous value for customers, and you got paid according to that value.
But that’s not how it is anymore.
Today the barrier of entry has never been lower for design.
You’ve got template-driven tools like Squarespace, Carbonmade and WordPress that make it fast, cheap and easy to get a website online. Plenty of people are using these, including big businesses.
Then there’s the “democratization” of visual design as a language. Does this sound familiar? A big beautiful photo at the top of the page, large headlines and body copy, and simple UI. It looks good, right? It’s a winning formula! I know I use it.
So in this day and age, where good-enough design is only getting faster, easier and cheaper; how do designers create value?
I believe that designers have to think beyond design fundamentals and raw production skills. Beyond the visuals.
We need to think like business owners and their customers. We need to apply our skills in critical thinking and problem solving to help businesses and organizations succeed with design.
The better you are at that, the more value you create.
Here are seven methods and practices we employ at GRAND to create value for customers and help businesses succeed.
#1 — Value Pricing
I know it seems weird to talk about pricing as a way for designers to create value, but hear me out.
Hourly billing is easy. We all know how to do it. But when you bill hourly, you’re selling time. Your incentive is to work more hours. Which means your customers incentive is for you to work less hours. Conversations revolve around time, and your incentives are misaligned.
When you start value pricing, on the other hand; a funny thing happens. It forces you to change the way you do business so that you create value for your customers. You begin working with your customer around the common goal of creating value. Your incentives are aligned!
If you’re a business owner or a freelancer, stop billing hourly. Stop selling time, and start selling value. If you work for a studio, start thinking about how your work creates value for customers.
#2 — Research
Designers, developers and our customers naturally gravitate towards trying to figure out what a product looks like, how it should function and how to build it.
We want to get a sense for scope and timing right out of the gate. Our customer wants to know what it’s going to cost before they even hire you. Besides, we’re excited to start making something!
But before we figure out what we’re building, we have to understand why we’re building it. There’s no other way to truly help a business succeed.
To understand how we can create value for customers, we conduct interviews, read books and articles, and review data to:
a. Understand the business.
b. Understand their customers.
c. Understand the product.
The first thing you have to do is understand your customers business.
You have to know your customers business goals, vision, strategy, culture and politics. What does the business do? Whom do they do it for? Who are they competing against? What makes them unique? Who’s making the decisions? What problems are they having that a designer can help solve? What internal capabilities exist to support your ideas?
Interview stakeholders and subject matter experts to figure out what the business is trying accomplish, and how you can help them achieve their goals.
You also have to understand their customer. For any business to succeed, it has to make something, and it has to sell it. Selling something implies there are customers to buy it.
You have to know who they are. How old are they? What do they do for a living? How do they use technology in their day to day life? What do customers think of the business we’re trying to help? What are they frustrated with? What motivates them? How do they think of the world? How do they speak? And so on.
Interview their customers to figure out what they find valuable.
And you have to understand the product.
Most of the projects we take on are redesigns of existing websites or apps.
Ask yourself: why does this product exist? What problem does it solve? Who is the intended audience for this product? How is it creating value for them? How is success being measured?
First — spend time using the existing product to get familiar with it.
Secondly — review analytics to get a sense for what’s working, what isn’t, and hopefully you’ll unlock some hidden value along the way.
#3. Design to solve problems
Your research will have uncovered a number of problems that a designer like you can help solve. Everything from issues with brand and positioning, to customer engagement and conversion and beyond.
Work with your customer to rank the problems from highest to lowest priority. You should be focusing on solving the problems that create the most value for the people using the product.
#4. Design for people, not for features
There are a lot of moving parts in a good product design. There are deadlines, technology, politics and content creation to name a few. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact we’re designing for people.
It’s our job to understand their customer and design for them, and to make sure that the team doesn’t lose site of the customer either.
We’ve found personas are one great way to achieve this.
#5. Better customer service
Too often, designers make their customer their enemy and projects play out like a full on war. Each side digs in their heels to win battles.
At the end of the day, people want to work with people they like to spend time with. Being a good listener, making yourself available, and giving a shit goes a long ways towards building relationships. And people value good relationships.
Stop treating customers like your enemy. Without them, you have no business. And if you think of them as your enemy, how can you ever help them?
#6. Now that you’re friends, collaborate with your customers
I know this sounds crazy, but involve your customer in the design process. This might mean weekly or regular check-ins, working in their space, brainstorming ideas together, or something entirely different.
If you incorporate any of the methods described so far, you’re already well on your way to collaborating with your customers.
#7. Last but not least — iterate
The days of the big reveal are over. We don’t aim for pixel perfection anymore. Instead, we try and get products in front of real people quickly.
Once it’s out there being used by customers, we test our ideas. Based on the data and customer feedback the product is generating, we make incremental changes to improve it. That’s iteration.
We’ve found that this greatly improves the chances of success and reduces unnecessary costs.
Working iteratively also builds stronger relationships with your customers over time.
I think you’ll find that these seven methods will help you make things that people actually use. Making your customers customers something of value is how you help their business succeed.
Creating real value for our customers might also be the only way design will succeed moving forward.
I wanted to share a few of the resources that have contributed greatly to our methods, and are making us better at what we do.
Podcasts are a great source of information and inspiration. Here’s a few suggestions to get you started.
The Businessology Show
In particular, Value Pricing with Ron Baker
http://businessologyshow.biz/wordpress/implementing-value-pricing-with-ron-baker/
99% Invisible
A weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture.
http://99percentinvisible.org/
Inquiring Minds
Weekly exploration of the place where science, politics, and society collide.
https://soundcloud.com/inquiringminds
I could list a bunch — but really, anything that helps you connect more deeply with people and gain a larger understanding of the world will make you a better designer (and probably a better person, too).
Books. I can’t stress enough the importance of reading.
Just Enough Research, by Erika Hall
http://www.abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research
Design is a Job, by Mike Monteiro
http://www.abookapart.com/products/design-is-a-job
Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms, by Ron Baker
http://www.amazon.ca/Implementing-Value-Pricing-Business-Professional/dp/0470584610
Designing for Emotion, by Aaron Walter
http://www.abookapart.com/products/designing-for-emotion
The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries
http://theleanstartup.com/
A big thank-you to my good buddy Clayton Hanmer for all of his wonderful, super-smart illustrations.
What else can I say except ‘Hire Him’.
This article is from the talk I gave at the first Method Jam: Exploring better ways to design great things together. Thanks to our co-conspirators Heist, Bolt Made and the incredibly friendly folks who showed up to take part.
