JP - Seminar by Design Council

Design Your Way Out of the Downturn Seminar by the Design Council at the Dorset Chamber of Commerce

Today, I attended a very interesting session at the Dorset Chamber of Commerce on using design as part of business strategy - or 'business ambition' as they put it. Given the nature of business I work within, I have always been a supporter of design as a tool to achieve business goals such as growth and increased profitability but all delegates were asked the question 'how might you use design to realise your ambition?'

The first step was to ask attendees to describe design. It is interesting to see the different understanding of design, that people have. On the left, I have a photo of the terms used by the group to describe design: innovation, creation, empathy, image, beauty, vision, etc.

It was at this point that I began to think more carefully about how design is an intrinsic 'shaper' of experience - irrespective of the media. For example, music ...

Apple has changed the way that we experience music, making it a 'cooler' experience, adding to the physical act of listening to music, an intangible third dimension - the feel of the music generated by the player itself. For example, one song might 'feel' more cool when being listened to on an iPod when compared to being listened to on a generic brand MP3 player ... but is that possible? Hell yeah - from the point where you pick up the iPod, the way it feels in the hand, the response of those around you, the subtle associations made with the indefinable silhouettes in the Apple adverts - all these elements enhance the music listening experience, making the music better.

So how does that relate to E-creation? Well, we also are in the business of creating experiences - from the way that business cards feel in the hand and open their information to the recipients to the website that remembers its visitors and ensures that they are 'caught out' by the intelligence of how they are guided to information. We are always making things cool because lets face it, who doesn't want to be cool?!