Design as a business is changing shape
Design is traditionally a problem-solving tool. And the problems that designers are solving are the current uncertainty businesses are facing. In the current situation, these problems are rapidly changing.
In addition to the COVID-hit market situation, we already had a VUCA world.
V: Volatile | U: Uncertain | C: Complex | A: Ambiguous
And it is not just the design fraternity but, our customers are also struggling to cope with life’s realities.
There are anxieties about how to run a business, where to look for potential customers and even how to retain the current customers, how to keep them engaged, how to change business ideas, and so on.
What can design do to solve these current issues?
Traditionally, UX design has always solved interaction problems. UX design used to be synonymous with the web application and/or mobile application design. But, it is crucial to understand that these same design thinking tools can be applied for the large scale business problems.
Design can solve business problems, operational problems, and current challenges that customers are facing. Design can solve these problems when applied well. How can businesses improve their processes through design thinking? How can they improve their products to acquire new customers? How can they re-invent their businesses if it totally depends on things like transportation?
Such and many more problems that have a wider, organizational, and the societal impact can be solved by applying design thinking. This way businesses will be able to solve tomorrow’s problems with the right tools.
For any organization to succeed, the change has to be driven from within.
Design transformation that can help customers
Design practices are changing shape to cater to more current and remote work practices. With the change in the work environment, people need to change and therefore the operations & practices will also need to change. The traditional sense and definition of UX design are fast becoming a commodity, and so the value of UX will come from something else.
It will come from versatility, a deeper understanding of users and the business, from designing the moment experiences for customers. UX designers will need to gather cross-compatible knowledge for enhanced collaboration. All of this with the ability to move fast. Along with the practices the parameters with which one would measure the impact of design will have to change as well.
With design thinking as a strategic tool, businesses can be made more efficient and effective. A constant understanding of markets and businesses is going to be of utmost importance in near future. In the moment ideation, agile and fast-paced way of working will become the norm. Designers will transform from being human-centered designers to human-machine-centered designers.
