Design Access3/5/2019

Good design isn’t just for big business.
See how we make design accessible for organizations of all structures and sizes.

We all know what good design feels like. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's barely noticeable, and other times it's something you can't quite describe. It's when that box of yogurts opens just the right way to neatly fit in the fridge, when that app knows just where you wanted to go today, when the door to your cabinets slows to a soft close instead of slamming shut.

Not taking advantage of design, good design, is a missed opportunity. It's a factor in our day-to-day confusion. It's wayfinding that goes from helpful hints to a misguided labyrinth. It's time wasted finding just the right webpage that has that lengthy account number you need. It's missing your flight because you weren't notified in a clear and concise way. We've all experienced the failures of design - but most of the time we don't identify these as design problems.

Instead, we direct our disappointments at people. People who often have no idea what went wrong or where the breakdown in communication happened, but are tasked with fixing the problem regardless. What could these people be doing if they weren't constantly faced with solving avoidable problems? Could we all be having a better day, a more efficient experience, and have more time to do the things we enjoy or need to get done?

These are the questions we're asking at Thousand. We see big companies take advantage of good design all the time with an understanding that designing a better experience leads to results that provide myriad advantages. What we don't see a lot of is smaller businesses taking advantage of the tools and methodologies that design brings to the table. Instead, we see the markers of the failures of design: confused workers and customers, wasted time, reduced profitability, and an experience for everyone involved that could have just been better.

Which is why we're working to make design accessible for small and medium sized businesses - design that relies on proven methods, with efficacy that can be measured through metrics and analytics, and refined through ongoing development and thorough research. We're producing resources that businesses can use to evaluate where they can use design to improve their everyday operations while providing the guidance to make design an affordable and sustainable expense. The next time you have an "Aha!" moment but don't know how to bring your idea to reality, think about what design can do, and give us a call or drop us a line.

Let's start a conversation today - we're here to help.