Why Design-Infused Start-ups Can Change Markets

Dan Whaley discusses why it’s easy to talk about the importance of design, but much harder to become a design-infused organisation.

A design-infused organisation is one that makes it a priority and has a clear vision of what their user experience (UX) should be like.

However, we only have to look at our own lives to understand how design-infused businesses can quickly capture customers and completely disrupt existing markets.

Once we all rented DVDs from Blockbuster, now we turn to Netflix or other movie download sites. Ironically, Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix early on but didn’t do the deal.

Once we all had Nokia mobile phones, then BlackBerry devices for email – now it’s immensely powerful iPhones or Samsung models that capture our attention.

Once we used to stay in hotels when we travelled, now the default, digital-first choice is Airbnb. And now, it’s the same with Uber vs. traditional cab services – except maybe not now in London.

What distinguishes all these transitions is the immediate user realisation that the new product or service is much easier and more intuitive.

Sure, the BlackBerry had loads of buttons and features, but the iPhone changed everything by ditching the keyboard and allowing for a much bigger screen.

We didn’t know that was what we wanted until we first used it. A decade on since the first iPhone launch, and we are still hooked on smartphones – even as the latest iPhone models creep past the £1,000 price point.

User Experience Shifts Priorities

We’re also now finding that a convenient and accessible user experience can trump product or service features we used to think were deal-breakers.

We buy from Amazon because the end-to-end service is easy – even though the prices aren’t always the most competitive.

Services like webuyanycar.com now freely admit that they won’t give you the best price when you want to sell your car – but it’s simple to use, saves you time and protects you from the inconvenience of advertising and managing the sale of the car yourself.

When presented with this kind of stripped-back, customer-centric experience, it’s surprising just how relieved people are.

Particularly when you contrast this style of customer journey to the more clunky engagement that demonstrates more about an organisation’s own internal processes rather than its understanding of actual customer requirements.

It’s this clear focus on the increasingly AI-enabled user interface that I’ll be exploring in more detail at Sabio’s upcoming ‘The Art of CX Conference’ in London on the 12th of October.

Click here to register now!