September 1, 2021
|
2min read
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”
While it’s not clear if Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to most of us a Mark Twain, actually said these words, their common sense directness seems to fit. A more recent version of this, made famous by Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says simply, “Begin with the end in mind.”
For us, strategic design is all about dealing first with the “end in mind” of the organization or product from a business perspective. Where does the organization want to be and by when? How does it want to be positioned in the market place? What are the specific objectives that the organization is moving towards? What are the attributes that define the organization?
These types of questions, and the many more in-depth ones we ask, in one sense have nothing to do with design as it is normally defined (logos, layouts, websites, color, typography, etc.). At the same time, however, these types of questions have everything to do with the design process because they help set the constraints under which design can be most effective – and often most innovative. Without constraints design is no longer design – it’s art. And while art doesn’t need to have a reason for its existence, your company, organization or product (and your position) probably does.
With design being increasingly seen as a core component of organizational success, we feel it is no longer enough to think of design in traditional terms. By utilizing a strategic design approach that echoes the diverse talents of our team, we feel that we are better able to help clients not only better understand what they do, but help them present themselves in the most competitive way possible.
