'Experience Design' Helps Business and Design Firms

As more and more businesses look to tap into the power of design, two of the founders of an award-winning global design firm challenge the foundation on which business and design collaborate. In a newly released book "Experience Design: A Framework for Integrating Brand, Experience, and Value," authors Patrick Newbery and Kevin Farnham argue that in order to be successful, businesses need to engage customers through value, not just look and feel, and this requires a different approach from both sides-business managers and designers.

Authors Newbery and Farnham point out that although innovation has been a prominent topic of focus for businesses and the media, statistics show that only 25% of new product innovations ever reach commercial launch, and only 45% of these meet profit goals. That nets out to 11% success rate, which is not a guaranteed lifeline.

"Apple's reinvention of itself changed the world in many ways. The design of the end products and services is brilliant. But it wasn't just how they were designed-it's what Apple chose to design, and why, that mattered," says co-author Kevin Farnham, CEO of Method. "Apple created value by redefining the experiences people could have with products they already wanted to use."

"Experience Design" advocates that businesses should view their engagement with customers as an integrated system of brand, experience, and value, that changes over time. Experience design helps business take a portfolio-based approach to exploring new areas of value as natural extensions of the brand and customers' needs.

Hiring the best design talent to finish and market products that were developed as reactions to change is an outdated model. Experience design requires unlocking a brand's purpose and intent in order to define and differentiate products and services that meet the real needs of customers. Teams must focus on customer engagement and experience throughout the customer life-cycle. Business and design must have a common view of objectives, options, and decision-making criteria.

"Value drives relevance which drives engagement, which is the best way to drive revenue," adds co-author Patrick Newbery, Method's Chief Strategy Officer. "The age of image as brand is closing. Trying to fix the experience at the 11th hour through brilliant design alone cannot create value that doesn't exist."

Experience design gives business a reason to invite design to the table earlier, and helps business understand how design can help solve problems beyond look and feel. It outlines how business can structure engagements with design partners to increase the chances of success and reduce the risks.

"This isn't a radical new view or a proprietary methodology. It's an observation that many on both sides of business and design have been making over the past decade. The book is a wake-up call and an outline for how to change," says Newbery. "We think that businesses that can't learn and adapt will find themselves operating at a disadvantage."

About the Authors

Patrick Newbery is the Chief Strategy Officer of Method, Inc. He uses his experience with strategy, brand, innovation, and design to develop the tools and frameworks that the company uses to shape client engagements. He lives in Berkeley and spends much of his free time trying to keep up with his two children.

Kevin Farnham is the Chief Executive Officer of Method, Inc., where he is responsible for company strategy, global recruiting, and business development. His passion is for helping companies create truly great brands, products, and services through design. Over the course of the past two decades, he has worked directly with business leaders from companies such as Apple, BBC, Microsoft, MoMA, Nike, Google, and TED Conferences.

About Method
Method is an international experience design firm that builds integrated brand, product, and service experiences, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London. Method is owned by GlobalLogic, a full-lifecycle product development services leader that combines deep domain expertise and cross-industry experience to connect makers with markets worldwide.

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