Opinion
What is a design culture, especially within the tech industry and during scale-up stages? I’ve been asked this question a few times. It is easy to use this term within creative agencies or producers of fashionable items, but it is difficult to explain within technology startups and even established companies such as Apple. Is Apple a design-first company? Depends on who you ask.
I would argue that when a company makes design a strategic pillar with a dedicated executive, resources, and staff, it takes design very seriously, not as a matter of aesthetics but as a matter of R&D, innovation, and a direct impact on long-term vision and short-term market shifts and trends.
Design is a lateral thinking methodology. It is a pattern of using various inputs and insights to create something new or solve a problem. Using HCD methodologies and implementing design thinking and design workshops within the various levels of the organisation eventually create a design culture where ideas and solutions emerge from creative exploration, sub-conscious thought, and a lot of trial, error, and failure. At the end of the day, it is much better to fail on paper than in a production environment.
So, design culture can be seen as a business value, whereas design first is a tactical process. Designers are at the front of the decision-making process alongside other business executives and leaders, and they are not a ‘good to have’ service layer when things go pear-shaped.
Here are some design processes, team structure and brand-to-product asset flow.
