[VBD] On risk – and why people buy design

Welcome to our little mini-course about value-based design! Feel free to reply & introduce yourself. We want to know who’s here and how we can help!

Let's talk about risk.

We'll talk about design, too, but then we’re going to talk about risk again. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll go through some first principles about why we’re all here and what makes our work a little different.

Risk

So what is risk, denotatively? It feels slippery. Risk is usually a thing one feels: “oh, that’s risky.” But in business, risk is quantifiable, and it’s defined as the probability that a business will profit from anything that it invests in.

Every single line item in a business’s balance sheet carries some amount of risk, and all investments come with some amount of uncertainty. But many things are lower-risk than others. For example, my accountant is pretty low-risk, since the dude keeps me out of hot water with the government, and he probably helps me save a lot on my taxes. I’m pretty sure that my book printer is low-risk, because every time I write a new book, I happen to make back the cost of them several times over. My editor is low-risk because I always badly need an editor.

You get the idea.

Design

What does risk have to do with design? Well, design is bought. And it’s bought by businesses. There’s someone buying work from you, and they are absolutely doing risk calculations every time they hire you.

This makes the creation of economic value absolutely vital for design to continue existing.

We have historically not stepped into our authority on this. Lots of us get out of art school and we expect to have jobs, to be respected in those jobs, and to get an impact.

At its best, well-supported design is a way of exerting power in an organization. In practice, though, the overlap between design & impact is not a circle. This is because:

• Most people make design decisions in every organization, regardless of role, and regardless of whether they call those decisions “design.”
• Most designers are expert in design, but not in the soft power that’s necessary to make sure that high-quality design ships & is governed well.
• Organizations are complex. Design is frequently unsupported by those who aren’t the buyer or project champion.

We do a great job with design. I’m really unconcerned about designers’ ability to design well. I don’t even remember the last time I wrote a lesson about design qua design. What I am concerned about is the fact that designers don’t know how to make work that is actual, how to get an impact, and how to be respected in their roles.

Risk again

Reducing the perception of business risk is a solid first step. The more we convey to teams that we’re a good return on investment, and the more we consciously back that up with the work we perform, the more likely we are to flourish as a profession.

Designers can have real business impact by:

• Understanding & responding to the felt needs of our customers.
• Experimenting with our work to make sure that we’re not creating any harm, either to the business or our customers.
• Measuring & sharing the ongoing impact of our work.

We’ve put together an approach to design that anyone can practice, regardless of their design know-how or existing role – and right now, we’re offering a workshop that teaches you everything you need to level up your game & get a seat at the table.

In the coming days, we’ll walk you through what you can do to get the authority you deserve. Stay tuned!