From the Anglepoise lamp to the mascara wand, the Billy bookcase to the iPhone, the right design creates a “eureka” moment for consumers. Now, with the world on the verge of recession, and household budgets tightening across the globe, design could prove to be the decisive factor in empowering purchases as customers realize they simply must have the latest product. As a result, product design has become a crucial topic in the board room.
So what kind of products enhance consumers’ lives during times of economic hardship? And how can forward-thinking companies use product design to gain such a competitive advantage?
Desperate times call for innovative measures
To survive and thrive in times of economic turbulence and consumer uncertainty, firms need to find new ways to strengthen their strategic positioning and enhance brand awareness. Product design is a key lever to achieving these aims.
In recent years, design has evolved from being a purely aesthetic concern, in the context of the overall customer experience, to an issue so crucial it is top of the C-suite agenda. Today, customers demand simplicity and ease of use in their products. As technology becomes ever more advanced, tolerance for system failures has diminished. Additionally, many customers now view the products they invest in as expressive of their values and illustrative of their personality. Already, people opt to pay more to buy fair trade goods or refuse to use products that have been tested on animals. As society becomes more aware of sustainability issues, consumers will start to seek out more environmentally friendly brands that demonstrate a commitment to recycling and reduced packaging. This will prove a key way to enhance future brand reputation.
Leveraging AI and the latest technology
Technology enables transformation. Data plays a pivotal role. If both are harnessed effectively, pressure points in the customer experience can be eliminated, improving their long-term enjoyment of the product. For example, by utilizing AI and customer data, we can derive feedback on a product that will help us further understand our consumer and therefore enhance future iterations of design to best meet their needs.
Investing in the advanced technological development may be put on hold when budgets are cut back. However, making sure that consumers can trust the products they buy is vital to brand image and return customers.
The secret sauce for a “eureka” moment
“All overnight success takes about 10 years,” Jeff Bezos once confessed, and the same is true of the “eureka” moment in product design. The secret sauce for this vital moment consists of finding the emotional reason a product needs to exist and working hard to translate that into the consumer’s eventual experience. The “eureka” moment may seem like it is achieved spontaneously, when the customer finally pulls the product from the box. In fact, it requires a long and steady process of development and improvement over many months and years.
Creating products that enhance consumers’ lives
Success in design leads to copycatting. Therefore, designers need to work closely with engineers to ensure their brand keeps innovating to stay ahead of the curve. Creating products that enhance consumers’ lives requires constant vigilance.
Design in the C-suite
Visionary leadership ensures corporate success. As a key differentiator in a highly competitive marketplace, the smartest C-suites view product design as an engine to power profitability through tough times.
This article is part of a series created from the content discussed at the 2023 Future of Design summit. The discussion featured Pär Åström, president Gardena Division, Husqvarna Group; Massimo Banzi, co-founder, Arduino; and Matjaz Grm, chief executive officer, Greenline Yachts. The moderator was Marc Lakner, partner and managing director DACH, Kearney.
Held at Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, this annual event was attended by design and operations leaders from some of the world’s most innovative companies to imagine what’s next in product design.
