“Design IS entering into a new relationship with business, and one worth considering for your own business,” declares IDSA Fellow Lou Lenzi in his latest column for Appliance Design magazine on the eve of IDSA’s International Design Conference: Design IS Business.
Lenzi takes a closer look at the 100-year role of design in business. “Today, well-designed products and end-user experiences are an important foundation for any company interested in building a long-term product and services strategy. From these beginnings in the industrialization era and its attendant focus on aesthetics, design’s relationship to business has evolved significantly, becoming a driver of innovation within an organization.”
Lenzi, an IDSA International Design Excellence Award winner who retired in 2016 after nearly four decades at GE Appliances and now serves as professor of practice at Indiana University, adds, “To quote a former president of the United States, ‘It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.’ In this case, Design IS entering into a new relationship with business, and one worth considering for your own business,” he writes. “And, just as ID has historically helped guide business through prior technological upheavals, it can serve as a valuable partner in the era of disruption driven by augmented intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing and connected objects.” Read why and register for the conference set for Aug. 16 to 19, 2017 in Atlanta.
Find more of Lenzi’s columns in Appliance Design: “Are we There Yet? Mass-Market Adoption of the Smart Home” and “Innovating the Process of Innovation.”