Business Week is running a special report on The Value of Design. There are a number of good pieces in the report. Let me pick out one that I think crystallizes the way design is important. This is from Dave McClure's article The Value of Design to Startups:
We have a lot of government programs to spur engineering teaching and research. Yet, if we believe McClure, design is a least just as important. So where are our programs in design teaching and research?
Design and marketing aren't just as important as engineering: They are way more important. ..."Addictive User Experience" -- I like that. When I used to teach, I would talk about irrepressible functionality ---giving consumers something they didn't think they needed but now can't live without. The classic case being the TV remote. Addictive User Experience is a level beyond that. And McClure is absolutely right: it is a process for design, not engineering.
Addictive User Experience (Design) and Scalable Distribution Methods (Marketing) are the most critical components of success in consumer Internet startups, not Pure Engineering Talent.
We have a lot of government programs to spur engineering teaching and research. Yet, if we believe McClure, design is a least just as important. So where are our programs in design teaching and research?
Leave a comment