The Evidence Points to Distribution

In my previous blog post, I wrote about my interest in understanding the methods I feel we need to evolve as designers to remain relevant; and to be able to design with real and measurable purpose. It is no longer sufficient to focus our efforts on creating a new skin, we must work at a deeper level. Design is more than ever a game of creative commercial chess and our jobs as designers is to synthesize the data into an answer that is relevant to customers on an emotional and practical level.

When I was an undergraduate studying product design at Newcastle Polytechnic in the U.K., my desk always contained a stack of books on the process of design. I poured over the rules and processes outlined, I practiced my perspective drawings endlessly, the pursuit of the process was almost a religion.  The culmination of which was a visit to San Francisco, to see the home of IDEO, and to head to the William Stout Architectural bookstore, the only store that sold the IDEO Method Cards. I still have the well-thumbed-through cards; the deck is a blueprint for how to think, problem solve and inspire throughout the design process.

Recently this thirst for the “why” and “how” has been reignited in me by the rapid changes being undertaken in the retail industry. “Why” seems more relevant than ever, with the answer seemingly locked up in the massive amounts of data now collected – and  how do we extract it in a usable way as retail designers? Like product design, the healthcare design industry is heavily driven by the “why,” and more recently by a measurable “how.” Here the industry has developed a certifiable process called Evidence Based Design or EBD, a field of study that uses credible evidence to influence design. It has become popular in healthcare to improve patient and staff well-being, stress reduction and safety, and is based on studies of how physical environments can influence well-being. As retail designers we know how influential store design can be on customers’ buying habits and in creating a connection with the brand.

When you read some of the steps in the EBD process, they appear surprisingly simple and straightforward, no magic revelations, and I would guess most of us are already implementing some of them: Start with Problems; use an integrated multidisciplinary approach with consistent senior involvement, et cetera.

The latter steps explain how to capture data, publish it and recycle it into learning for the next project or too be shared amongst your peers. And there, in my opinion, is the magic — the rigorous collection and analyses of the results, and then spreading the knowledge.

Can you imagine if as a retail designer you were able tap into results and data from across the retail design community? If you were able to reach for a paper that explained the measurable effects of using self-guided kiosks in a home improvement store? In retail design we are often isolated in our process, basing our decisions on experience.  And this isolation is not just happening in design firms, it’s also happening with the in-house design departments; often information from merchants and business analysts is not being published, or analyzed to influence and affect the design of future stores. Each store that is opened is a huge Petri dish of data. The magic of EBD is the aggregation and sharing of the data (one store will not provide enough data) or testing to prove a theory.

I am not the only one discussing the importance of sharing data and results: Developer Westfield Corp. recently made a call to arms for its tenants to share data across its malls. They reasoned that being able to understand the data and cross buying habits (where people like to eat after buying a handbag from Louis Vuitton, for example), would provide them and their tenants a collective advantage. It makes sense, but it’s bold and retailers need to be brave enough to share their data.

For me, this feels like it’s coming full circle. My professors encouraged testing and analysis, and we spent as much time out in the field doing studies, or in the workshop building prototypes, as we did behind the drawing board. And there are a lot of similarities between EBD and what was contained in the IDEO Method Cards, but we are now in an age where our technology allows us to collect and share the results in a much more streamlined, quick method. As an industry can we pick up the baton? If we do not, we may be pushed aside as a new generation of thought-led agencies evolve. They are not one dimensional and their methods aren’t static.

For my upcoming blog, I’m researching what I believe is the single most important thing now affecting design, distribution. Think of distribution as not just the movement of goods, but every point of transaction with the consumer. The upstream/downstream effects are enormous.

I’ll leave you with a statement from the recent N.Y. Fashion Show by Tom Ford: “Our customers today want a collection that is immediately available … Showing a collection as it arrives in the stores will remedy this.”

As a new creative director for retail at dash design, Peter Burgoyne has built a reputation for elevating retail design by combining disparate elements into a cohesive, strategic vision. His passion for technology and drive to make the retail experience powerful, memorable and results-driven has allowed him to work with clients such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Tumi, Kenneth Cole, Lord & Taylor, Duane Reade, Printemps, Shinsegae and Holt Renfrew, to name a few. Peter’s background in industrial design also allows him to take a holistic approach to design and view opportunities through “different lenses.” It also keeps him laser-focused in his journey to answer the question: “Is there a better way of doing this?” Burgoyne is a member of VMSD’s Editorial Advisory Board.