OUR PERSPECTIVE

Business Impact Through Strategic Design

By Brian Gillespie, Principal Experience Design Consultant, Molecular ®

THE IPOD WAS FIRST RELEASED IN 2001. SINCE THEN, THE MARKET FOR DIGITAL AUDIO DEVICES HAS EX-
PLODED, AND MANY COMPETITORS HAVE INTRODUCED BETTER DEVICES TO THE MARKET THAT ARE LESS
EXPENSIVE. DESPITE CRITICISM, THE IPOD REMAINS THE WORLD’S BEST SELLING DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER
AND ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR CONSUMER BRANDS.

How has Apple managed to convince consum- Strategic design is the deliberate application of
ers that if they want an MP3 player, they need these tools and techniques to the envisioning and
an Apple iPod? Successful brands capture implementation of customer-facing business initia-
consumers not by selling “product attributes”, tives. It not only aligns the design of products with
but by creating “superior experiences.” Compa- customer needs, but also with the strategic goals
nies like Apple, Target, Amazon.com, Starbucks of the company. A strategic design approach has
(the list goes on..) have all inspired extreme proven particularly successful when the company’s
customer loyalty by embracing a concept known strategic goals include innovation, competitive po-
as Strategic Design. sitioning, brand differentiation, cost efficiency and
quality. Apple, Target and Starbucks are excellent
examples of companies that have incorporated a
WHAT IS STRATEGIC DESIGN? strategic design approach into their business mod-
A basic premise of business is that companies els to drive innovation, deliver breakthrough cus-
have goals and customers have needs. The sat- tomer experiences, and build long term customer
isfaction of these goals and needs occurs in a loyalty and brand equity.
successful commercial transaction and invariably
involves a tangible touchpoint between company Figure 1 (see next page) outlines a basic design
and customer. These touchpoints are embodied in process and a sampling of tools and techniques
all types of products, services, environments and used to uncover the kind of helpful customer data
communications, and take shape in output such companies need to optimize their business-fo-
as web sites, media communications (print, broad- cused design projects. While there is no standard
cast, online ads, search, etc.), retail stores, office process, design and business teams must leverage
space and consumer products. Designers are in- these tools in a way that is optimized to the specific
variably involved in the design of these touchpoints needs of their company and their industry.
and employ a variety of tools and processes, such
as design and brand audits, customer and com- STRATEGIC DESIGN IN ACTION
petitor research and more, to produce the custom- Many companies employ designers in a very
er intelligence that drives their successful design. tactical fashion, bringing them aboard at the last
minute to simply add form. This ad hoc approach

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 FIGURE 1: DESIGN PROCESS AND TOOLS

Design Build Extend

Idea creation Idea execution Strategic Vision:
& planning & site development Iteration & extension

Tools and techniques include:

• Field Studies • User experience management • Design & business continuum:
• Surveying and team planning • Log File Analysis
• Organization design
• Focus groups • Site Analytics
• Business process re-engineering
• Customer segmentation • Search Log Analysis
• Information Architecture and
• Persona development • Experience monitoring &

• Ideation
Experience Design
reporting
• Visual Design and Branding
• Prototyping • Customer research
Strategy
• Competivite analyses • Market research
• Experience Validation/Testing
• Content Strategy • Trend research
• Interface Development and
• User Experience Strategy
Maintenance
• Business process analysis

What to build How to build it How to make it better

may produce an occasional satisfactory result, but different from more traditional approaches to prob-
companies wishing to better exploit design need lem-solving in that it is at its most effective when
to take a much more strategic approach. Figure 2 it includes all, and not just some, of the following
(see page 3) provides a holistic view of the strategic attributes:
design environment. In this environment, tight rela-
tionships between business, marketing and design • Consumer, Customer, and User-focused: It is ul-
managers make design a shared responsibility that timately about satisfying the customer and user
integrates business divisions with the goal of creat- of the design.
ing positive experiences between companies and
• Creative and Innovative: It is about evoking new
customers. It is an iterative process that both origi-
ideas and solutions and successfully bringing
nates and ends in the marketplace; beginning with
them to market.
customer research tools to determine the needs
of users, and continuing after a product or service • Experimental: It is about conceiving, building
is launched to determine how well it is perform- and testing prototypes in an iterative fashion.
ing and how future trends look. This information, in
turn, feeds a process of continuous improvement • Evaluative: It requires gathering the best informa-
and adaptation to evolving market needs. tion and allowing stakeholders to make recom-
mendations about which steps to take and what
to build.
STRATEGIC DESIGN AND DESIGN THINKING
By adopting a strategic design approach, compa-
• Collaborative: It incorporates multiple viewpoints
nies benefit from a form of thinking that is unique to
from various organization divisions and global
designers. Often referred to as design thinking, it is
operations.

POINT OF VIEW: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN 2

 FIGURE 2: THE STRATEGIC DESIGN ENVIRONMENT

Planned Strategy Strategy Iterations Emergent Strategy

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIC MARKETING
Corporate Business Operational Marketplace

Products

CUSTOMERS
Big ideas: Services Needs,
Strategic Brand &
Strategic Projects Goals,
Initiatives Identity Communications Perceptions
Planning
Environments

Research-
Strategic Tactical Functional Customer Experience

driven
Planned perceptions
STRATEGIC DESIGN & DESIGN MANAGEMENT Actual perceptions

• Integrative: It provides solutions that keep the are examples of powerful branding moments. The
bigger business picture in mind. experiential interactions that generate these posi-
tive perceptions are critical to achieving customer
• Emotive and empathetic: It builds emotional loyalty with increased and repeat business.
appeal and encourages positive perceptions
through experience. Creating positive customer perceptions is particu-
larly important for businesses that are increasingly
• Experiential: It’s about usability, emotability, aes- relying on the Internet to attract, convert and retain
thetability and culturability. customers. A strategic approach to design, driven
by design thinking and user-centered design prin-
ciples, can have a profound impact on e-business
STRATEGIC EXPERIENCE DESIGN AND
strategy. For companies whose customers are in-
BRANDS
creasingly doing business with them through digital
Companies have traditionally relied on branding
channels, and where traditional channels are being
and communication to develop positive customer
increasingly redesigned to drive business to digital
perceptions of their products and services. Mar-
channels, creating a positive experience across all
keting teams often work closely with their design
digital touch points – including web sites, mobile
partners to ensure that what is promoted is actu-
devices, information appliances, interactive televi-
ally delivered. However, function often suffers at
sion, and more – is critical. To succeed, companies
the expense of form. The messages communicat-
must:
ed through advertising, public relations and digital
marketing support only one side of the branding • Design an online customer experience that suc-
equation. It has become increasingly clear that cessfully connects the strategic goals of a com-
the customer’s user experience of products and pany’s business and brand with the goals, needs
services themselves is a powerful branding mo- and expectations of their customers.
ment. For instance, a customer’s delight with the
functionality of an Apple iPod, an airline’s online • Design an online customer experience that is
reservation system, or the interior of a coffee shop in-line with the other customer touch points, as

POINT OF VIEW: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN 3

 well as a company’s overall brand and marketing • We don’t know who our customers of the future
strategies, to create a unified experience across are.
all customer touch points.
• We need outside thinking to help spark new
• Build a design organization with the necessary ideas.
business and design skills to support the e-busi-
ness strategy and to ensure that design is incor- • We want to expand to new markets and/or new
porated into the innovation effort. customers. How do we satisfy their needs and
attract them?

WHAT KIND OF ONLINE BUSINESS CHAL- • Our marketing and brand messages are out of
LENGES CAN BE TACKLED WITH STRATE- line with the actual experience our customers
GIC DESIGN? are having.
There are many circumstances in which a strategic
approach to design can help meet a company’s • We don’t know how to manage our design
goals. Companies finding themselves saying or projects.
asking any of the following can benefit:
• How do we innovate? What is the best path
• We are no different than most of our competi- for us?
tors.
If you are a business manager facing any of these
• Our competitors are doing more and more busi- challenges, a fresh approach to how you manage
ness online; our online experience is out-of-date your design requirements will help you address
and no longer competes. these problems.

• We want to divert a large portion of our market-

CASE STUDY: STRATEGIC DESIGN AND
ing budget to digital media and drive traffic to
ONLINE FINANCIAL SERVICES
our web site, but have feedback from customers
When faced with the re-design of BrownCo’s
that our site is a dead end.
online brokerage site, Molecular and BrownCo took
• When we modernize our digital domain, what a strategic approach to defining what to design in
does it mean for other interactions with our the best interests of the company and its extremely
customers? loyal customers. Working with Molecular’s digital
strategy team and a team of BrownCo stakehold-
FIGURE 3: BASIC STRATEGIC DESIGN PROCESS ers from senior management, product develop-
OVERVIEW FOR BROWNCO ment, customer experience and marketing, the de-
sign team implemented a strategic design process
Online Business and Design Strategy
that drove the formulation of the online business
Customer strategy and ensured a design brief that satisfied
both the goals of the business and those of their
Corporate Web Site Design
very demanding active trader customers. In addi-
Brand
Strategy Strategy Strategy

Competitor
tion, the business intelligence heavily influenced a
Research & Analysis Definition & Design
fresh reiteration of the company’s overall business
strategy.

POINT OF VIEW: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN 4

 FIGURE 4: THE BROWNCO STRATEGY VISUALIZATION

The BrownCo business and design challenge could paigns. BrownCo was uncertain how to translate
be summarized as follows: this strategy to their web site.

CUSTOMERS Approach
Outdated segmentation research, along with un- To address these challenges, Molecular proposed
certainty about the allure of new Web and software a strategic design methodology that involved
functionality offered by competitors, left BrownCo primary and secondary research in the areas of
in need of better defining their share of the active corporate strategy, customer needs, competitive
trader market and understanding the wants and analysis and brand evaluation. Activities included:
needs of those segments.
CORPORATE STRATEGY
COMPETITION • Key company stakeholders were interviewed to
The BrownCo web site lagged behind key com- understand BrownCo’s vision for future business
petitors in providing features and functionality growth.
desired by active traders. With trade price no lon-
ger a major differentiator, BrownCo needed a way CUSTOMER RESEARCH
to effectively compete on the quality of a suite of • Customers were interviewed at their place of
offerings focused on the needs of its customers, trading to gain an understanding of their day-to-
rather than the diluted quality of competitor offer- day trading experience.
ings not entirely required by their largest and most
profitable customer group. • Through surveys and interviews, customers and
prospects were asked to identify their values,
BRAND needs and goals.
Recent marketing communications had reinvigo-
rated the brand in print and television ad cam- • Customer segments were established based on
analysis of customer responses.

POINT OF VIEW: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN 5

• Personas encapsulating all customer insights • Design principles provided objective guidelines
were carefully ormulated. for design teams and ensured their efforts were
aligned with the strategy.
COMPETITOR RESEARCH
• The customer research provided insights into • Accurate personas, representing the goals,
their relationships with competitors and the motivations and values of customers, ensured
competitor offerings they valued most. that the project team focused on meeting those
needs without adding scope creep.
• A Competitor Experience Audit was conducted
on competitors’ web sites to reveal opportunities • User interview findings aligned the brand strat-
for differentiation by evaluating competitor online egy with the preferences of users and defined
customer experiences through the combined a design direction that would be perceived by
lens of personas and industry best practices. users as superior in its appeal, usefulness and
usability.
BRAND EVALUATION
• A brand and visual design audit including user • A defined online brand strategy guaranteed a
interviews was conducted of leading competi- solution consistent with offline channels.
tors to plan for distinctive brand differentiation
• The full body of research was crafted into a
• Brand discovery, which included extensive in- visualization which was used to communi-
terviews/workshops with internal stakehold- cate the strategy to 440+ employees and build
ers and marketing partners, was conducted to solidarity around the goals of the business and
gain an understanding of the overarching brand the ability of staff to support those goals.
and marketing communications strategy across
channels Design tools and techniques employed during the
course of this work include the following:
These tools and techniques informed key findings
that were distilled into three strategic drivers and • Personas
a set of design principles. Deep knowledge of the
• Contextual inquiry
customer, condensed into three personas, and the
overarching design mantra, “the right information, • Online surveys
at the right time, in the right place”, ensured a con-
sistent approach to rolling out the strategy into the • Personal interviews
activities of site design.
• Brand audit
Outcome/Benefits
• The findings helped define and prioritize the • Competitor experience audit
scope of the initial launch and provided a road-
• Creative brainstorming
map for the future development of the online
channel.
• Prototyping
• Strategic drivers, developed from the body of re-
• Remote usability testing
search, catalyzed the product development and
management team around a core set of func- • Mind mapping
tionality and guided discussions with outside
vendors. • Brand discovery workshops

• Visual interface design

POINT OF VIEW: BUSINESS IMPACT THROUGH STRATEGIC DESIGN 6
 Copyright © 2007 Molecular, Inc. All rights reserved. Molecular and the Molecular logo are registered trademarks of Molecular, Inc. All other names and marks are the property of their respective owners.
CONCLUSION
In an increasingly global, digital and multi-channel business environment, delivering a consistent and excep-
tional customer experience across all channels and customer touchpoints has become more essential and
more difficult than ever. Companies who take a strategic approach to the design of their customer-facing
touchpoints, one that aligns business strategies, customer needs, and well-designed products and servic-
es, can build competitive advantage through differentiation and customer loyalty. Companies that take this
approach and make it a central component to their overall business strategy development can, over time,
develop a core competence that is very difficult to imitate.

Molecular, an Internet consulting firm, designs and builds digital solutions to help companies increase revenues and decrease
operating costs. Since 1994, Molecular has directed successful Web initiatives for the nation’s top companies, including The
Finish Line, Inc., Fidelity Investments, MFS Investment Management, Hewlett-Packard and Talbots.

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