Linking Design and Strategy: The Business Imperative for Design

For many designers the entry point on projects is at the brand strategy level, working with marketing to understand how to take the business imperative and bring it to life through design. It is at this point in the process that context building begins – what the business is about, what it does and how it will do it. Once business strategy gets worked out, then designers have a foundation for design.

The purpose of business analysis is to understand and help define the goals of the client. For the designer this leads to intelligent design decisions and enables them to have informed conversations about the clients business and ultimately provides them meaningful information for developing a design solution that transcends style. Beyond being a strategic tool, business research lets the client know that the designer is serious about helping them, is concerned about the outcome, and has an interest in their work. This goes a long way in forging long-term relationships.

So how do you go about collecting business information? This can seem a daunting task, especially if you don’t have a background in business. The good news is that there are a few basic pieces of information that designers can collect without first having to earn an MBA. Essentially, designers need to know the right questions to ask. By doing this they can initiate important conversations within the client organization. During this phase, designers have more in common with therapists than creatives. Instead of asking, “How does that make you feel?” a designer might ask, “What are your strengths?” and “Who is your primary audience?” and “What can you tell me about your competition?”

Generally, there are four basic key facets to strategy development. An overall approach to strategy development includes; the setting objectives that the organization wishes to achieve, an evaluation of the organization, the environment that the organization exists, and the competitive landscape. By understanding of these four key areas, designers can develop a deeper understanding of the constraints and possibilities that exist for the client. It would be inappropriate to assume that designers will formulate strategy for their clients – that is not their responsibility. It is however crucial for designers have an understanding how their client’s strategy was developed and the forces that dictate how they will maneuver in future. The expectation for the designer is not to know the answers, but to be able to ask the proper questions that will initiate conversations on the client side.

Business research centers on three key areas: mission, competition and the business environment. There are any number of basic business analysis tools that can be adopted by designers to gather valuable insight into these areas. These tools provide a common language as well as a means to frame discussions with clients.

Step 1: Defining the mission and vision statements
Understanding the mission and vision of the business is the first step. The mission and vision statement of the client expresses the reason for the businesses existence, who they serve and where they want to go in the future. Mission and vision statements have gotten a bad rap over the years for their use of meaningless jargon and vagueness. But when well crafted, these statements can act as a compass for design decisions. Mission questions include; why are we in business, what do we do and how do we do it? Vision questions include; where do we want to grow, what objectives will we pursue, and what do we need to do to get there?

Step 2: Goal development and SWOT analysis
The goals of the organization are based on the mission and vision. As part of defining the organizational goals, an internal audit can be conducted. SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis is a simple tool that can be used to create a picture of the organization, identifying where it can grow, where it needs to build, and what it should watch out for. The SWOT ensures that goals make sense in the context of the mission and vision, the organizations competencies and the business environment.

Step 3: Goal prioritization
Often there are a number of goals that vie for resources. An important function of strategy is pairing down goals to those that are most important and feasible. Organizations that try to be all things to all people are generally spread too thin to be strong in anyone area, making them vulnerable to competitors. To prioritize the clients goals designers can take their clients through a simple exercise of listing organizational goals, rating each goal based on feasibility and importance, then mapped the results onto a matrix. Goals that are both high in importance and easily achievable should be tackled first. This exercise reinforces the idea that strategic differentiation is based on being able to say “no.”

Step 4: Core competencies and differentiation analysis
Once the most important goals have been identified, it is then time to define a competitive strategy. Differentiation strategy, in which a business promotes a unique value that they can provide customers, is the basis of all competitive strategy and is often expressed through the design of products, services and brand. A common tool for conducting differentiation analysis is USP (Unique Selling Proposition) analysis, in which the needs of target audiences are listed, then assigned a number rating based on how well the organization and its competitors meet each need. Once plotted, areas of differentiation can be identified and built upon.

Step 5: Business environment analysis
The environment in which the organization is competing is also critical to design decision-making. For designers, cultural mores, trends, the political atmosphere, environmental and sustainability issues and technological trends should all be considered when developing design solutions. PEST (Political, Environmental, Social and Technological) analysis is a simple and accessible tool designers can use to consider these outside influences.

Through the use of business research designers can achieve several things. From a client/designer relationship perspective, questioning provides opportunities for designers to position themselves as strategists who are not solely focused on aesthetics, but see their work as an integral part of moving the organization’s strategy forward. By doing this they build respect and trust in the relationship by providing a rationale for their design decisions. Ultimately research ensures that designers are providing design solutions that are aligned with the organization’s overall strategy. It’s important to remember that designers are not expected to be business analysts, but that by asking the right questions they proved an added level of value to their clients and ensure that their work is target to meet specific business needs.

Once the business objectives and strategy are understood, then the next step is to look at the audience.