Any designer worth their salt will tell you that you can’t beat the price you pay for great office design. However, when it comes to writing the check, the team members with the combination to the safe want to know that the investment will pay off.
They are the ones we must persuade that the purpose of good modern office design is more than just an upbeat workplace. They are the ones we need to present with real intel about the Benjamins. In case studies done by the Design Management Institute (providing a unique examination of the role of design as a competitive advantage for today’s businesses), it was found that companies investing in design branding and marketing out-performed those with no investment. In fact, a ten-year investment in these types of companies will outperform the S&P index by 228 percent.
Modern Office Culture
The direct monetary value of modern office culture is difficult to quantify. However, it stands to reason that a great workplace environment means happier people. Happier people mean better more joyful relationships, both internally and externally (customers and vendors). Happier people bring lower turnover rates, lower training costs, and lower advertising and HR efforts. All evidence points to the fact that culture-conscious companies succeed.
Valuing the User Experience
There’s no doubt about it—if something looks good, the precognition is that it is good. It heightens user perception even before the experience itself. Think of any vacation spot that provides great pictures and videos. How alluring are they? In the case of theme parks like Disney, how much does park design project the visual of fun and entertainment, even before the physical experience? It’s all about design. Ask yourself: how effective are they at affecting their customers’ commitment to buy? Delighting users with any form of design impacts their choice to buy as well as their feelings about the experience from the start.
The Connection Between Customer and Brand
Granted, the way people think of your brand is not something you can develop in an hour or two. However, the design element that gets hammered home every time they see or experience anything related to your company will affect the way they think about you. Creating an expectation of quality starts with what they see, and goes through to the experience.
The more buyers seek you out due to all the tidbits of quality they associate with your company, the lower your costs in reaching out to them.
Bottom line: don’t skimp on design. It will come back to haunt you.
Photo by Moose Photos from Pexels
