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Why Johnny Can’t Read
Design
By Stephen Megargee, Creative Director
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| Stephen
Megargee |
For some time, designers and businesspeople alike have subscribed
to the dictum, “Design must educate business that ‘Good
design is good business.’” I will accept at face value
the latter part of this declaration and focus on the first part;
“Design must educate business…” The all too obvious
implication is that business is not educated. But wait a minute—before
we charge design with business’ education, there are some
important questions to be considered. Why isn’t business
educated? If this is so, what is business doing about it? Is it
realistic for design to take up the responsibility for business’
education? Does any of this matter?
Why Isn’t Business Educated?
One answer is that educating people in subjects related to design
is of little or no importance in America. Our nation’s educational
system, from kindergarten through graduate school, is dominated
by the study of quantitative, to the practical exclusion
(or at the very least, diminished importance) of the qualitative.
Witness the esteem in which “the humanities” are held.
The intellectual demands of the study of the sciences, mathematics,
and business differ significantly from the intellectual gymnastics
necessary for the study of philosophy, language, and the arts. As
we all know, the very first subjects to suffer when education budgets
are cut are the arts. America demonstrates its priorities with financial
support. Sports are better funded than the arts.
I have worked with and for business people who hold advanced degrees
from what are considered to be our finest universities. They certainly
didn’t lack resources or opportunities to learn about design,
yet not one of them is capable of holding an informed conversation
about design. My recent experience taking business courses at a
local university verified my suspicions that at least at an undergraduate
level, students are unable to grasp multidimensional concepts. I
don’t think that it is a coincidence that my best client experiences
have been with Europeans. It seems that they receive a superior
education in subjects that require a multidimensional intellect
and are better able to contribute to design projects than their
American counterparts.
Design as a process and a product is not quantifiable—it
demands the ability to recognize, analyze, and assess the qualitative.
I challenge anyone to “quantify” the value of the design
of the iMac, the Aeron chair, or the IBM logo. One can cite sales
figures, customer satisfaction, or brand recognition, but they are
only byproducts, and not the products of design. Design
itself has enabled business’ attitude towards the discipline
of design. In Andrew Hoffman's recent eBulletin
article, “Digging Deeper into ‘Good Business’,”
he exhorts us:
...act together! The effort to quantify the value of design could
start with a single firm measuring projects consistently over
an extended period of time. But how compelling it would be to
see a well-planned, well-funded study guided by academia bring
substance to the understanding of “good design is good business.”
While I believe that this call to action is well intended, the
tendency to quantify design's value establishes and reinforces a
one-dimensional perspective that diminishes both its process and
product. It also neglects the human qualities of those who commission
design services, design professionals, and the public for whom the
products of design are intended. The result of this trend is that
business remains unaware of what it is missing, as does the society
that it is supposed to serve.
Can Design Educate Business?
In the context of the relationships that design organizations have
with business organizations, it is impossible for design to truly
educate business. At best, design can make informational presentations
to improve its relationship with business, foster good will, and
stimulate business’ belief in the value of design. If the
issue is truly education, then mere belief is not good enough. One
may believe that something has value, but without education,
they cannot hope to know its value. It is the qualitative
nature of design that makes it a bewildering terra incognita
for the average businessperson tasked with supervising design projects.
To suggest that design can overcome the educational and social
orientation of a lifetime in the brief contact that it has with
business is misguided. A designer spends the better part of his
or her life learning, internalizing, and practicing the various
and complex aspects of this qualitative discipline. I do not criticize
business for its lack of education, because it is the product of
its environment. Expecting a businessperson to participate as an
equal in the relationship, when his or her exposure to the subject
is the occasional presentation, is unfair and unrealistic to both
business and design.
At one corporation that employed project managers who interacted
daily with designers, there was frequent conflict between the two
groups. When asked how project management could improve its relationship
with design, I suggested that they take design courses at any one
of many local universities offering them. The company offered reimbursement
for both tuition and professional development. Despite this, not
one project manager took any courses. They are responsible for design
projects and made the conscious decision to avoid an education
on the subject. The reason for this is that their reviews, promotions
and bonuses are based solely on the quantitative assessment of their
projects—completed on time, on budget, etc. There was never
any follow-up to determine the success of the qualities of the project,
because those involved lack the consciousness, interest, and skills
to do so. This is just one illustration of the utter lack of impetus
for business to learn about design.
Does Any of This Matter?
To people who commit themselves to quality of design as an extension
of quality of life, this issue is of great importance. Every day,
business renders decisions that in order to be exercised responsibly,
require knowledge of basic concepts of design. The reality is that
the vast majority of executives are not equipped to make those decisions.
For the most part, they hold undergraduate and graduate degrees
that are devoid of any design management requirements. As a result,
our society is burdened with goods and services that fail to meet
its material, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs.
During design development, qualities alone are evident. The “figures”
will not be known until after the fact. If a businessperson’s
skills are limited to working with quantities, then how can they
capably supervise design in progress? The result of their academic
and social backgrounds is that businesspeople have no means to recognize,
analyze and assess the qualities of design‹and communicate
them coherently to the design organization. This condition causes
great anxiety for both business and design. Until business educates
itself so that it can be an equal partner in design initiatives,
it will forever undermine those initiatives to varying degrees,
and perpetuate the all-too-typically dysfunctional relationship
between business and design. It is unrealistic, impractical and
misguided to believe that, “Design must educate business...”
Education is the issue. But just how that will be achieved is another
question.
Stephen Megargee lives in Philadelphia and
was most recently a creative director for Qwest Communications.
He has done graphic and web design for diverse clients, including
Swatch Watch, David Bowie, CDnow, Brylane, the Internal Revenue
Service and GlaxoSmithKline.
This article appeared in the November
2003 eBulletin.
Feedback on DMI Viewpoints and article proposals
are always welcome! Please email jtobin@dmi.org.
All articles reflect the opinion of the author and not the Design
Management Institute.
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