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CHAPTER 5

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Thinking Like a Designer

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The October 2007 Fast Company’s letter from the edi-

tor featured an intriguing chart depicting how design

contributes to the bottom line. The Design Council com-

pared a portfolio of 63 design-driven British companies

and how they beat the broader market:

The Value of Design

To quote the letter, “Studies have shown that design-

oriented firms in all kinds of industries outperform their

more-traditional peers—that design and innovation go

hand-in-hand with financial success.”

It’s easy to tell when a company has

design as a systemic value system.

From product design to slides, you can

tell which companies cherish design

and value their brand.

What is a “design-oriented” firm? Companies like Apple,

Target, Procter & Gamble, and Dyson all have design as

a core part of their value-system.

This is not to say that dressing up your presentations

will cause your stock to increase. Indeed, dressing up

anything is counterintuitive to good design.

Thinking Like a Designer 83

You can also tell that these companies value their custom-

ers. Design is not solely about making things aesthetically

pleasing, although that is part of it. Design, at its core, ...