What’s it like to be respected as a designer?
Have you ever been shut out of a strategy meeting? Has anybody cut your research budget? Have you ever been derisively called a “creative”? Have you ever worked on a freelance project, only to have someone withhold payment at the last minute?
We’ve all dealt with this at some point. In business, respect is fundamentally connected to how much we’re valued – no matter our profession.
Despite what we bring to the table, designers are still broadly devalued. It’s our fault – and it’s going to take a long time to fix.
Fortunately, though, we’ve already made inroads. We can fix it, permanently. And we’re going to.
Define your value.
Because of course design has value. Design is the differentiator in the global economy. It provides better experiences, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profit.
You wouldn’t have major national corporations buying up consultancies like they’re at a flash sale at Ikea, or sending designers to research in far-flung corners of the world, if they didn’t believe that design matters. When IDEO’s CEO expressed the concept of “design thinking” for the Fortune 500 set, they listened.
So: what happened? Why do we keep hearing about designers being short-changed? Why do so many businesses still hire a fleet of developers first, and then go through the painful and complex process of bolting design onto prior work?
Because we aren’t fundamentally conversant in business value. Businesses survive by making more money than they spend, period. Designers obviously cost money and time, and when we don’t prove that we’re a solid economic return for the businesses that invest in us, we’re correctly perceived as a drag on resources.
We need to convey, with numbers, that we’re a safe bet. We need to design for outcomes. Because nobody is going to value design if we don’t promote its economic value. And we’re only going to have an impact when design stops celebrating itself, and starts getting to work.
Control the conversation.
It might be easy to articulate what design is, but it’s always been hard for us to prove design’s value.
Why? Because we learned a lot about what design is and why it’s great – but we never bothered learning how design is valued by business.
Fortunately, business value is pretty easy to learn – and once you do, it becomes way easier to frame design in terms of its business impact.
What will happen when you learn how design connects to business value? All sorts of great things:
- You’ll be able to advise on business strategy more confidently – which means you’ll be able to bring design into strategic conversations more effectively.
- You’ll progress in your career more quickly: perhaps you’ll end up in a creative director role, or you’ll be given more high-level responsibilities.
- If you’re independent, your business will beat the feast-or-famine cycle – allowing you to create and iterate on a high-quality, functional design practice.
- You’ll get paid more, because people would be more willing to take a chance on you – and your prior track record would show that you’re a reliable and successful hire.
- And finally, you’ll be a lot more likely to walk out of your job every day proud of what you do.
Give design its purpose.
It’s never too early to take action, no matter your line of work. Introducing Value-Based Design, a new book for you to think strategically, promote your own value, and get the career – and dignity – that you deserve.
If you believe one of the most respected annual surveys of UX design when it says “UX designers will need to understand more about business,” here’s your opportunity to do so. Stop coloring and take a seat at the big kids’ table.
Value-Based Design
You don’t need another book about how to do typography well. You don’t need to learn handlettering. You don’t even need to write better CSS anymore. What you need is to be truly respected at the highest levels of where you work – and it’s on you to take responsibility for doing so.
With Value-Based Design in hand, you’ll understand why it’s important for designers to prove their value, and exactly how to do it in any organization that ships digital products. You’ll also learn the ways that people have successfully promoted value in their own design practices over the past decade.
And with our accompanying workbook, Applied Value-Based Design, you’ll get the exact tools and tactics necessary to understand the economic ramifications of any design decision.
Finally, if you’re new to our weekly series of lessons on value-based design, you can sign up for a one-month trial, a $30 value, for free.
The definitive answer to the value question.
If you’re a designer, after reading Value-Based Design you’ll know what to do next in your job. If you ever hire designers or work with them in any capacity, you’ll know what to look for in a good designer – and how to value their work.
It takes around two hours to read Value-Based Design. If you charge market rate and make over $250 after following the steps laid out in this book, then it just paid for itself.
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- and Draft Evidence, our comprehensive collection of essays about design, business, and life.
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The author.
I’m Nick Disabato, a designer and writer from Chicago, home of this. My work has generated over $6 million in additional revenue for awesome businesses like The Wirecutter, ConvertKit, Smart Marketer, and New Music USA. I look like that drawing to the right, there.
I’m probably most well-known for writing Cadence & Slang, a small book about interaction design that’s repeatedly been called the most essential resource for building usable & humane technology. It’s sold over 3,500 copies and counting.
For the past 9 years, I’ve run an independent consultancy called Draft. I’ve been fighting the good fight for 16 years of client-facing experience now, and I’ve seen every dumb anti-design argument that you can possibly imagine.
People seem to like it.
IDEO software designer Ben Syverson:
With Value-Based Design, Nick gives designers a powerful method to connect the dots between Human-Centered Design and business outcomes. His approach helps close the loop on qualitative insights with quantitative data – not just as validation, but as fuel to inspire further iterations. With his signature clear-headed style, Nick weaves together the “why” and the “how,” with practical advice from years of experience. I can’t wait to share Value-Based Design with colleagues, and put more of these techniques into play with clients.
Kurt Elster, CEO of Ethercycle:
After working in web design for a decade, I still found myself having “ah-ha” moments while reading Nick’s book. Reading and internalizing Value-Based Design could very well be the difference between being a good designer and a great designer.
Nick’s book did two things for me: it showed me how to prove my worth (so I can charge more & win more), and it helped squash the imposter syndrome monster that lingers in the back of all professionals’ minds. An hour on the couch with Value-Based Design will pay dividends for years to come. It’s quick, accessible, practical, and fun.
Test Triggers’ Josh Frank:
When you’re responsible for an ecommerce business’s success, it can be easy to slip into executing tactics and “growth hacks” looking for the next big thing. The practical and systematic approach outlined in Value-Based Design is the antidote we all need. Nick’s experience and no-fluff writing style make this an oft-visited resource for me. This book should come packaged with a bulk pack of highlighters.
Chris Wilkinson, director of product design at Devbridge:
At its core, design is sifting through inputs, understanding intent, and creating an intentional solution addressing a specific purpose. Value-Based Design gets at the heart of the matter, focusing on techniques that will allow you to draw clear lines from the intentional solution to the outcomes you create. It won’t make you a better designer: it will make you a better design professional.
Get Value‑Based Design for $50 + shipping Get All 3 of Our Books for $100 + shipping
Got any questions? I don’t blame you! Get in touch; I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day.
PS: For those who want a PDF-only option, or might consider holding out for one in the future: I would unfortunately not hold your breath. Print will be the only way to read Value-Based Design for the foreseeable future.
PPS: This was long; thank you for reading it. Here is the Samoyed barbershop quartet that I definitely promised you.