The importance of good design in uncertain financial times.

When we are little, and even when we are bigger, we are often told not to judge a book by its cover. As a designer, I think that is a bunch of baloney. While we would like to appease our ego with the thought of being above our subconscious prejudices, we are all wired to make snap judgements.  In the book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell, the author introduces the concept of the “adaptive unconscious.”  The adaptive unconscious is a sort of supercomputer that “quickly and quietly processes a lot of the data we need in order to keep functioning as human beings.”  It is the mechanism behind the snap judgements we continuously make while going about our daily business.  Without such a mechanism, we as conscious thinkers would be so tied down in pondering the effects of every little decision that we would be unable to accomplish the tasks necessary to our survival.

Even as you began reading this article, you made a snap decision. You either saw the eye-catching picture of a woman screaming atop a teetering Jenga tower, surrounded by images of financial turmoil or you glanced the title “2 Seconds to Save Your Business” and something within you said pay attention. Something clicked.  How long did it take to make that decision? How long did you decide that you were going to devote the next few minutes of your very busy life to reading this particular blog article?

If you guessed about 2 seconds you obviously have been paying attention. In “Blink,” Gladwell explains a study conducted by psychologist Nalini Ambady, wherein students were shown 3 different 10 second video clips of university professors lecturing. The sound of each tape was removed, and students were asked to rate the teaching abilities of each professor.  Ambady found that students had no troubles with rating the professors’ teaching skills. So they continued the study with shorter and shorter clips. Eventually, the study reached the point where students were able to make snap judgements to the professor’s teaching ability in only two seconds.  When compared to the ratings by students who had spent an entire semester in the professor’s class the ratings were incredibly close.

Herein, lies the power of snap judgments and the adaptive unconscious. We are capable of making important decisions rapidly and without our conscious being aware of such efforts.  We make these decisions every time we are introduced to a new person, product, service or concept. Additionally, the opinion formed by these snap decisions is usually the same decision we reach after careful examination. 

So if we are constantly forming opinions on every new item we come in contact with, what are the influencing factors? The answer, our previous experiences and what we already know. This is the connection to design. I’m going to repeat that, because its important, our snap judgements are based off of previous experiences and knowledge. So we quickly and silently compare new products, people and ideas to products, people and ideas we have known before.  

Our opinions of value and quality in new products, services, and ideas are based upon what we have seen and heard in the past.  So, it is no wonder that we judge books by their covers.  Our adaptive unconscious is quietly deciding that the particular item we are looking at seems to be like other items we have enjoyed before. This is why when times get tough and pennies need pinching it is often small businesses who are first to feel the squeeze.  With the family budget on the line, thrifty spenders will grow weary of any brand that is unknown or unfamiliar to them. Furthermore, the very same spenders will do all they can to maximize the value of every purchase they make.  Regardless of a product or service’s actual quality, judgements about perceived quality and value are made in the blink of an eye.

Thrifty spenders will avoid products that are perceived to be of lower value and quality, and that is why design is so important in tough financial times.  People rely on the subconscious clues of good design to help guide their decisions.  Ugly design is often unnoticed because it is so prevalent. If someone were to put up a sign in a window that looks like this, what would you think?

Probably, that this message is supposedly important. Also that this sign was most likely made by one of the store’s employees and perhaps doesn’t mean much. So in all likelihood we would ignore a sign like this.  Why do we think this? Well, its because we have seen it many times before. It could be the greatest sale that store has ever had, but what makes it any different than the store across the street with the same shaped sign?  In the consumer’s mind, nothing.

Bad design won’t kill your business, odds are you will continue existing in a state of financial purgatory not really gaining any new business. But great design, great design builds companies. Great design and even just good design, does something to us as consumers. We can’t describe what good or even great design is, but we know it when we see it. Our adaptive unconscious has told us that for whatever reason, this is valuable to us, this is important and we should devote some time to it.  The power of great design is this ability to break through all the other clutter in our lives. To make it through the adaptive unconscious filter and stand out as something unique and special.

So what happens in the 2 seconds it takes to save your business? Good or even great design needs to tell customer’s that you are worth their time.  In tough financial times when people are weary of spending and taking risks, it is paramount that you take the time to invest in good design.  Whether you are very small or very big, invest in your image, because you image will rapidly communicate your value to everyone who sees it, whether they know it or not.