Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

Good answer.

I’d only mention that a good designer may challenge the validity of the original idea, which can seem frustrating to people. That, imo, actually should be part of the reason for hiring a designer who follows an objective process: sometimes what’s discovered is counter to what’s expected.

That doesn’t mean it’s a problem, of course. I’ve worked with clients who have investments in How Things are Done (tools, trained labor, aso). Good designers understand that they may not want to pursue something that’s discovered during the process because it’s counter to what they’d hoped and are unprepared. However, the client can still limit the scope to accommodate their existing investments while further examining the unexpected result for markability.

Better that they be aware through their own efforts than have a competitor make them aware.

I would be wary about stretching design skills too far into another area! I spent 15 years leading a structural plastic packaging team that worked with packaging design houses to ensure the design was fit for purpose. It needs more than just an industrial designer to create good packaging. Great design is crucially dependent on how much the client puts into the creation of the brief and colaborating after! The Design Council is a good place to start finding out what you want to know! http://www.design-council.org.uk/

Some companies are clued up on the experience/no experience issue. The firm I’m working for - more of a traditional Industrial Design firm than anything else - was approached by a food company. We made it clear we had no experience (managing expectations) and they replied with “no thats a good thing, we need some new thinking”. It is important to note sometimes there is value in naivety.

csven,
Thanks for dropping by and your note. I think the problem solving ability of designers can be put to good use under many situations and environments. In particular the ability to study a company’s strengths and weaknesses and apply strategic solutions is a probably a characteristic of the best designers.

Hey Jim,
I have no doubt that there are advantages if you have a long time affiliation in a particular industry. Shoe design is a good example. Also in reality, designers do not work alone, and do understand their limits. In this question the person asking happens to an engineer looking for design help. Thanks for dropping by and great blog btw I will be keeping track of it.

Hi Nick,
Thanks for your comments, and you are right. The design environment now is much better than the last 5 years, and many companies are starting to see the value of design not only in delivering solutions, but on a strategic management decisions as well.