“Design is really about the way products and services come to life. The companies that build the most enduring relationships with customers often do so by creating an environment where design flourishes. They have leadership that embraces design, executives who trust their gut and their employees as much as they trust all the data they receive abut their business. To really grasp design is to intuit what customers want, often before customers even know what they want it. That’s not something you can learn in a focus group or an online survey.” – Jay Greene
This quote is from Jay’s book “Design Is How It Works: How the Smartest Companies Turn Products into Icons.” It was also quoted in Thomas Lockwood’s book “Design Thinking: Integrating Innovation, Customer Experience, and Brand Value.”
Thanks to Michael Magoolaghan for submitting this quote!
“What has been and always will be true about Design Research is its consideration of people. The future lies not in ignoring needs, but in broadening our horizons. We need to think about more than just insights. We need to be collaborators and co-creators not only with the companies we are designing for, but also the communities and individuals we are researching.” – Tara Mullaney
Tara’s quote summarizes her reflections on IIT’s 2010 Design Research conference in this Core77 article.
“Designers are by nature more inquisitive, more connected. They dig a little deeper in terms of insights. They turn those insights into innovation. That connection to the consumer is absolutely critical in driving innovation. It’s critical that design isn’t subjugated to the back room as a short order cook for marketing or for merchandising or sales. It has to be up front.” – Mark Parker
Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, explains what it is like being CEO with a design background in his interview with Fast Company.
“User experience is about so much more than taking orders… We are uniquely trained to represent the needs and desires of our customers, in a way that other groups cannot. Marketing demographics and functional specs cannot tell me if our customers are going to be delighted by the design decisions we are making… In this sense, we have one of the most valuable jobs inside our organization: We represent the customer.” – Stephen Anderson
This quote is from Stephen’s conversation with Todd Wilkens of Adaptive Path about Implementing Visionary Ideas.
“Users should feel comfortable when they visit your site. They should feel that your site is designed, arranged and filled with logical information that they know how to get to. When you are consistent you make your users happy which will compel them to return.” – Timothy Smith
“Now more than ever in increasingly complex, transient times, the need for holistic experiences is vital… To approach such design as a ‘whole’ – we need to understand the varying concepts of time and data through the perspectives of cohabitants, technology and business interests alike… We must constantly re-think our process to become melting pots of ideas, perspectives and skills that not only drill deep, but also wide.” - Rahul Sen
Catriona Cornett
