The importance of design for your business

 We've all heard someone say (or think very strongly) that design doesn't matter. Without wanting to offend this type of person, and at the risk of shocking them, I must nevertheless answer them… that they are wrong!

Design is important, and not just a little! This impact goes well beyond that of the first appearance: there are even figures to prove it!

Why is design essential for your business?

A study carried out among managers of SMEs and start-ups allowed 81% of them to affirm that design was important to the success of their company. More than a third of these entrepreneurs have already announced that they plan to increase their spending in this area in the years to follow.

It might be interesting to survey these people again to see whether or not they followed their own advice. In any case, these figures already made it possible to understand the importance of design for these business leaders.

However, everyone can be wrong... There is no reason to say that consumers share their opinion on the issue, is there?

The design seen by customers

The design has two aspects.

The positive aspect of design

According to an Adobe study, companies that invest in design multiply their market share by 1.5, because they seek to better understand the people they are addressing.

The negative aspect of design

Internet users largely judge the reliability of a site… based on its appearance. An unsuitable design would scare away up to 90% of them.

If the content of a document or an internet page remains crucial, you have to make people want to read it. And, to get to this stage, everything depends on presentation. It works a bit like a conversion tunnel: first we look, then we read.

Only brands that already rely on a well-established reputation could afford to invest less in their design: they are known, they no longer need to convince anyone. And yet, as with advertising investment, they are often the ones who do the most research in this area.

Mistakes not to make

Design is all about appearance. And a study made it possible to identify a few elements which can quickly become prohibitive on a website:

• An unnecessarily busy layout;
• Fonts that are too small and difficult to read;
• Colors too bright, too sharp on top of each other;
• Poorly ergonomic navigation;
• Pop-ups that appear unexpectedly.

It should therefore not be too difficult to avoid falling into these pitfalls... even if design remains very subjective.

What the design should be

We must not forget that design is not just the appearance of an object or a poster. It is also the use that is made of it. A prospectus that is not clear to consumers would be ineffective, even if it is visually successful.

Graphics must serve the purpose. Which does not prevent, on the contrary, from putting the imagination to work!

Yes, design is important. Because it is an excellent medium for getting a message across, for convincing. And because design knows how to be useful. Design is a tool. And every good professional must work with good tools.

Conclusion

The design of your products and your site represents the showcase of your brand. It is therefore essential to work on it, especially if you want to prosper.