I can’t remember where I first heard of Do You Matter?, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the greatest design/business books I’ve had the opportunity to read.
From the title, one might guess the book is going to hold a lot of design propaganda. Even though I myself am a designer, admittedly this was a cautionary concern going into the book. However, Robert Brunner (who hired Apple’s Jonathan Ive and shaped their industrial design language) and Stewart Emery (Success Built to Last) do an amazing job of delivering solid business advice that manages to avoid sounding one-sided. Sure they’re both pushing design, but they also explain how every other side of business helps reinforce how your clients think of you. Going beyond the actual design of a product, they explain the extra steps needed to help make your customers not only buy from you, but love you (and there should be a big difference, even in your mind).
The title alone is thought provoking. Financial success isn’t equated to relevance in the business world, it’s how people think about your company (see: your brand). While that may sound simple to you, Do You Matter? has no shortage of examples of big-time industry leaders making poor design decisions, directly leading to business failure.
How did Samsung go from being regarded as the low-end maker of cheap electronics to highest rated in their industry? How did the RAZR bring Motorola success and then nose-dive off the charts? More importantly, how does your company go from just another business to one that truly matters? Do You Matter? provides great answers to these questions and also some deeper design theology that will re-shape how you think about design.
Although the authors back up what they say with great examples from the likes of Starbucks, Dell and Jones Soda, I would have liked to see how design has made smaller companies go from good to great. Even if those may be harder to come by, more variety among the bigger corporations used would have been useful too. Don’t get me wrong, there are dozens of design success stories to be had from Apple, but it almost felt like Do You Matter? relied too heavily on their success through design when I know there are other companies they could have drawn from to support their claims.
Why it’s worth the read: If you’ve never thought of design being the catalyst driving your company’s relevance, Do You Matter? will open your eyes. If you already have, you’ll reinforce and even grow your understanding of design with solid reminders that you’ll want to go back and refresh yourself with again and again.
Recommended For: Anyone
Price: $16.49 from Amazon
