Microfranchise: Future Needs

By David Stoker, Guest Author What is the next step for MicroFranchising? First there is an enormous need for innovation in Design. There are a number examples of current projects designing specifically for the bottom of the pyramid: the $100 Laptop, Tata’s proposed $2000 car, AIDG products, or innovations out of the D-Lab at MIT,

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Turn Logic into Magic (3)

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author Brand has become so crucial in the 21st century because our purchasing choices have expanded and we do not have the time or energy to compare every product or service. Furthermore, our buying decisions have become increasingly confusing: everybody copies everybody, everybody claims superiority and best value. Increasingly we base

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Turn Logic into Magic (2)

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author A brand is a person’s perception about a company, a product and/or a service (support, training, customer service, straight service). It is emotional and personal: each of us decides to recognize a brand positively, negatively or not at all. A brand is what people say it is, not what a

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Design to Move

I wrote a very popular piece 2 years back called Hey CEO: Do you know how to dress? In the interim 2 years, Design has become a critical and celebrated element of business success. Business leaders have started paying attention. Nerds have started getting intrigued by right-brained creativity, even though they don’t quite understand the

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Design Can Carry A Brand

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author A brand is the emotional vibration between a company and its customers. That vibration is about establishing trust that customers should expect a consistent experience with the products and services of a company. An example of that emotional vibration is Jaguar, at least in the 1950s and 1960s.

Airline Experience: End-to-End Design

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author When I think of a service, I think of it in the same way as a product, with a set of features/functions that are clear. It is about creatively visualizing a customer experience in all its aspects, end-to-end. A service can be broken down into pieces, into a process, with

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Apple: End-to-End Design

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author Apple goes one notch further and designs an end-to-end consumer experience for its products, store and on-line experience, customer service, support, product manuals and packaging. That passion for meaningful details in every aspect carefully crafts the Apple consumer experience to produce the “whaaow” effect.

Crisp Design Enjoys Premium Pricing

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author In kitchen appliances, Alessi and Cuisinart come to mind for their excellent design. They produce objects and kitchen appliances that consumers display on their counters and tables. Cuisinart products are intuitive to learn and use. They are high quality, save time and reduce or eliminate perceived complexity. They are intuitive

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