Business and Design: How different disciplines work in tandem and what does that mean for a design practice

Continuing the previous series of articles I’ve been posting, this time around I’m focusing on the relationship that exists between business needs and the design practice. Strictly speaking, this article focuses on the relationship between these two disciplines, and how this successful marriage always produces best results for both, and how the lack of communication between both invariably leads to a disconnect and failure in multiple fields.

1. Business Requirements and Product Directives - Invariably the motivation to create a new product or feature lies in a strategy to either add competitive edge to a company, or satiate a need that is being felt in the market (or sometimes create that need in the market, and then supply a solution to address that same need). The process in itself to justify the investment of resources into a product or feature, includes documentation gathering , market analysis, economic sustainability, growth potential, among other factors. This process can be at times lengthy, yet it can also fall on the opposite side of that spectrum - plenty of ideas and successful case studies have happened from concepts that are like lightning (though as we know, it takes time to take something from inception to successful deployment). Either way, the common denominator to a lot of these genesis stories, is that Design always plays a role in making these ideas gather further substance. The Design Practice brings the abstract notion of a product, into something that is more concrete and palpable. When successful, it marries the research aspect, the business goals, market understanding, industry trends, best practices, user input/validation, to create a compelling experience, one that allows for a memorable product or experience. At the moment of genesis of a product/idea, it’s important to understand if there is indeed the potential for its existence and growth (and tapping the needs of the market), but also understanding that this idea will only be as good as it is well designed and executed. This marriage does need to start early on, and beginning the involvement of a Design process at an early stage ends up being sensible (and provides additional contextual help).
2. Integrating Requirements into Design Exploration and Process - I should start this point by prefacing that the examples I’ve enjoyed the most in my professional career, have all involved situations where I was able to collaborate with Product Owners and other senior stakeholders, in understanding the product vision and eventually expanding it, in the process advocating for a successful marriage of the Business Requirements, with product requirements and design considerations/process. As business requirements get distilled into product requirements, I’ve found it the more interesting how these elements get touched and influenced by how an effective Design practice can be. These days, possibly more than ever before with the massive advent of technology, it’s easily recognizable that within a design process comes a plethora of disciplines, all with different phases and timings, all playing a part in creating a symbiotic relationship with requirements that are brought forth. Requirements range from abstract and vague to the complete opposite of the spectrum, but one fact remains unchanged across all these possible situations: when there’s flexibility and collaboration from different disciplines, design can and should have a crucial role in making this documentation gather further insight (through research, user testing, best practices, among many other considerations). And circling back to my own personal experience, the products that have been the most successful in my professional career, have definitely included this close relationship between Business/Product/Design requirements, where all these ties come together to shape up the product in a way that abides to different disciplines, and not solely to a distorted view of the market (distortion invariably is created by a sole undisputed perspective). It is at this point, that the Design Practice, and designers in particular should be inquisitive, understand context, and go through the process of meeting stakeholders, conduct research, understand personas, market, competitive analysis, trends, general and specific market direction. A successful practice is indeed only as realized as it perceives that it is made from the integration of many parts from other disciplines. Designers have indeed graduated from the typical view of solely creators of beautifully rendered products, to solution providers that anchor their findings in the convergence of the disciplines mentioned earlier.
3. How the Design Process creates Clarification -  One of Dieter Rams’ design principles is “Good design is as little design as possible”. Good Design Practices aim to clarify experiences and create useful products. In order to do so, there’s a need to understand different factors such as demographics, psychology, market, but also first and foremost, understand your peers, your stakeholders, your clients, who are a key component of this equation. That context gathering isn’t only about the higher level needs that the product needs to abide by. It also contemplates the product implementation process. It’s crucial that the Design Practice understands the development capabilities in all its magnitude, which includes understanding who is building the product, how it is being built, where it is being built. All these components eventually have an impact in the documentation that is produced by Business and Product. Design builds a bridge between all these phases, creating an engagement that should be seamless, something that is easily measured in the success that these initiatives reap. The Design Process does create clarification in the sense that by marrying different ends of the spectrum, it brings to the forefront all these different disciplines that have to sit comfortably side by side, and make a product as compelling and economically viable as possible.

I’ll finalize this article by stating that Design Practices these days have an opportunity to provoke instrumental and dramatic changes in corporate tissues. If a successful product can make or break a company, an effective Design Practice, and more importantly a well versed designer can create a small revolution that can touch and reach all the cells within an organization. I’m including in this article a case study I wrote concerning a specific product that I worked on while at PGi (Premiere Global Communications).