Former Apple Inc Creative Director Timon Harrison has urged all Australian businesses to embrace design to create winning experiences for their customers online at his keynote at Web Directions South yesterday.
Timon Harrison is now Global Creative Director at website design and development firm PreviousNext, however previously while working at Apple Inc worked on initiatives such as apple.com and the launch of iPhone, Harrison detailed to the audience why design — and particularly how designer’s think — is becoming increasingly recognised as a critical component of business strategy.
“Rather than taking a back seat in decision-making, design is now being given authority. The visible success of design-driven companies like Apple is scrambling executives the world over, in attempts to understand and integrate better design into their own organisations.
“My time at Apple has reinforced that a website is by far the most important interface with a company’s customers. Outstanding design and robust technology is vital to an organisation’s potential and Australian businesses will profit from it, if they make it a priority” said Harrison.
Tim’s advice for Australian business is four fold:
- Authorise: The design process needs to be ‘authorised’ by the business as important from the CEO down.
- Subtract: It is vital to cut the superfluous, complicated and confusing.
- Focus: A tight focus on the key ingredients in the business will bring about the best results.
- Cultivate: It is important that a culture of design-led thinking is cultivated as being key to a successful business – influencing everything from the way workers communicate to the hiring process.
