Design is on everyone’s mind—almost a mantra. You see a new product—a car, an iPod, or the latest cutting-edge cell phone—and you may think the design that drives the product was arrived at through a fairly straightforward process. In some cases, this may be true, though often not. As a matter of fact, the process that delivers a good design—the physical embodiment of the product and the way the thing looks and feels to a customer that is so important for success—is often driven more by serendipity than an integrated understanding of the impact that design makes on the broader idea of a product and business. Serendipity is a good thing—counting on it isn’t.

We think most people are prone to define design, particularly good design, more narrowly ...

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