Tapping into the business value of design

Tapping into the business value of design December 2018 Design, whether it’s of products or experiences, is not only about aesthetics but also about specific actions taken to boost revenues and customer engagement. In this episode of the McKinsey Podcast, Simon London speaks with McKinsey partners Ben Sheppard and Hyo Yeon about new research that demonstrates the dramatic impact that specific design actions have on the revenue growth of companies that are considered top performers in design. Podcast transcript Hello, and welcome to this edition of the McKinsey Podcast, with me, Simon London. Today we’re going to be talking about one of the fuzziest words in the business dictionary: “design.” Perhaps it’s clear to designers, but for the benefit of the rest of us, what actually is design? As an executive, when and how much should you invest in it? And if you do, how should you organize, measure, and manage your design capability? To discuss the issues, I caught up with Benedict Sheppard, a London-based McKinsey partner who has led some recent research into the business value of design. We were joined by Hyo Yeon, a New York–based McKinsey partner and also a practicing designer. Simon London: Hyo and Ben, thanks so much. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for doing this. Hyo Yeon: Thank you. Ben Sheppard: Delighted to be here. Thank you. Simon London: I’m going to start with a very simple question. When we’re talking about design, Hyo, what are we talking about? Hyo Yeon: There are three core elements to design. One, obviously, is the craft, the doing of design, which is closer to artisanal, beautiful, creating artifacts, creating experiences. The next is the end product, a product or a service, or, in my world, a digital experience. All of those things are actually design. The third, which is design thinking, many people are familiar with,