I just finished reading “Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company” by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery.
This book had such a promising title, but sadly, fell short of its promise. For me, anyway, it just didn’t deliver. The first reason was because the example of how Apple, Brunner’s former employer, runs its company was way over used. It was used in every single chapter. I understand that Apple is an awesome company built on a philosophy of being a design-centric business. And to be fair, the authors did use some other examples such as OXO and Whole Foods, however, I grew tired of the Apple examples because no matter what other company was referenced, they always came back to Apple.
Next, I thought the book would be more about designers and the importance of our role in corporations and society on the whole. It – (sigh) wasn’t exactly focused on that. Instead the authors spoke mainly to CEO’s in companies who make products. Not service-based companies or to professional designers. Just companies who make products. Leaves out quite a few of us, don’t you think?
On the plus side, this book did give me several great examples of why design is so important in business that, okay, wasn’t exactly news to me – but was put in such a way and packaged with a solid example (usually about Apple and Apple products) that I wanted to jot some passages down and share them with my clients if only to make a point that I would otherwise struggle to convey.
And that was the best take-away I can offer from this book as the “CEO” of a service-focused company or as a graphic designer. If you are a marketing director, I hope you keep reading while I excerpt the best of the best – and save everyone a whole lot of time from reading this entire book (that’s again, mostly about Apple).
Here are my notes all excerpted directly from the book “Do You Matter?”:
1. “Become brillant at using design to provide an amazing customer experience.”
2. “The difference between a great product and a merely good product is that a great product embodies an idea that people can understand and learn about – an idea that grows in their minds, one they emotionally engage with.
3. “When it’s all said and done, your customer doesn’t care about your process. In the end, none of this matters if the design experience is wrong.”
4. “Great products are about ideas; they are not just objects.”
5. “Effective design establishes the emotional relationship you develop with a brand through the total experience, to which a service or product provides a portal.”
6. Here is the core idea of this book. I printed this excerpt out and pinned it to my wall: “Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter? Would the world be a darker place without you? If someone took a poll today of your customers, constituents, followers, whatever, and asked if you matter to them, how do you think you would come out? If you ceased to exist tomorrow, do you think anyone would really care? In other words, has your product, service, or brand established an emotional connection with your customers to the extent that they are invested in the interest that you not only survive, but also prosper?”
7. “Developing an awareness of excellent design as the connective tissue that defines and ensures an excellent experience for your customers is a vital key to the future of your business.”
8. “Don’t just play the game, change the game.”
9. “Design is a living, ongoing process that has to learn from mistakes, refresh itself, and take new risks all the time.”
10. “The idea behind Whole Foods is more than being a market. It is an informative, rewarding experience.”
11. “Learn what you can change, because that’s how you achieve longevity.”
12. Oh, how I love this one: “If, on the other hand, you start by saying, ‘OK, we’re going to do this product – let’s ask people what they like,’ you wind up with the sort of mediocre outcome that comes of designing by committee. When people think as a group, they end up liking a bland type of product because that’s what makes most of them feel comfortable.” Raise your hand, designers, if you’ve ever been part of that scenario. I know, right? Design by committee = EPIC FAIL.
13. “Mediocrity is what you end up with if you try to make something everybody likes.” Yes, yes and YES.
14 “Most customers have a difficult time articulating their design preferences. You can do far better by watching, listening, and observing.”
15. “When your brand communicates well, you create a context of expectations. The product is emotionally prequalified before the purchase is made.”
16. “There is still a gap in business culture, at least American business culture, of really viewing design as a business partner.” True!
17. Another good one: “You need to believe that design matters, you need to believe that experience is important, and you need to look at the things that create great experience. We are talking about emotional reality here, and you can’t put emotions on a spreadsheet.”
18. “Look to design to uncover new territory.”
19. “The core aspects of a design-driven company … can be arranged to form the acronym FLAVOR. Here is what the letters stand for: Focus, Long-term, Authentic, Vigilant, Original, Repeatable.”
Focus: on the customer experience;
Long-term: “Becoming a design-driven company takes deliberate practice and time.”
Authentic: “If your slogan is ‘We Care,’ this had better be the case.”
Vigilance: “It is also ‘forward looking’ as well as keeping track of what is going on around you. In a way, it’s like continuous due diligence.”
Original: “We apply the 80/20 rule. You want 80 percent of the market to love it. But you’d also like 20 percent to be challenged by it.”
Risk: “You have to take chance to keep moving ahead. Try to balance risk with research. It doesn’t mean that you can’t cross a boundary when designing – it just means you have to know when you’ve crossed it so you can assess and discuss.”
20. “The creative process is really hard to compress; it really is very difficult. You just need time to experiment and try things. Because when you get compressed, what you do is revert to what you know.” So to all the owners,CEO’s and marketing directors reading this post – please think about this critical point the next time you ask your design agency to ‘rush’ a project. When you do, you risk compressing the creative process which will give you a sub-par result when we have to take shortcuts in our thinking to meet a hurried deadline. It is worth it? Sometimes, we understand, it is a necessity. But overall, it’s probably not worth what you lose. It is far better to give your creative team the time they need to think, observe, research, test and then create for you the best possible result.
That pretty much sums it up. I hope you found my notes and excerpts useful and enlightening – not to mention, time saving.
Onto my April book, “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath.
Meanwhile Readers, any feedback on my above book review would be greatly appreciated. Did you find it useful? Have you read this book and agree or disagree with my review? Did any of my 20 takeaways resonate with you and why? Thank you for sharing!
~Amy
