Insights

Imagine walking into one of your favorite stores. You’re expecting a quality visit as always, but this time you find it hard to locate the products you’re most interested in. The customer service associate is sitting behind the counter playing a game on his phone and you can see open boxes with merchandise scattered on the ground, as if the stock person didn’t finish their job.

The parallels between pandemic-related problems and product and service design issues create an intriguing design process conversation. It’s critical to get the right message to the right people at the right time, as the pandemic reminded us. For example, the UK’s NHS “Stay at home” campaigns were clear, concise, and used effective information design. The minimalist designs of “How to wash your hands” infographics also reduced cognitive load.

“Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions…”

Great design is simple, beautiful, and easy to use. It creates a sense of purpose and place. It responds to user needs, and it just works. Aside from these characteristics, how can we know whether a design is “good”? Moreover, how can a business know whether the investment of time and money into a design was worth it?