Why Product Design Is a Business Strategy, Not Just a Design Task

Fliteboard has sold its 10,000th board, and more than 40 percent of them came through the online configurator. That wasn't an interface decision. It was a decision about how people actually buy.

That's the difference between product design as styling and product design as strategy. Styling makes a product look finished. Strategy decides what the product needs to do for the business to grow.

When design arrives too late

In many organisations, design is brought in after the big decisions are made. The features are set, the business case is signed, and designers are asked to make it look good and easy to use.

By then the most valuable questions are closed. Who is this really for? How do they decide to buy? What will make them come back? Those are design questions, and they shape revenue far more than colour and layout.

Fliteboard: designing for how the purchase actually happens

Nobody buys a Fliteboard in one go. It's a big-ticket purchase. Riders get excited, then agonise, then build the setup over months.

FLITELab buyers are different again. They buy one component at a time.

So we built the two stores differently. FLITELab is modular, shaped around how a kit actually gets assembled. Fliteboard is a full configurator with rules behind it, so whatever combination you land on still rides well.

Neither of those was an interface decision. Both were about how the purchase really happens.

FLITELab sold out its pre-order limit in days and carried a back order for months. Fliteboard has sold its 10,000th board, and more than 40 percent of those came through the configurator.

Three questions strategic product design answers

How does the decision really happen? Not the funnel in the business plan. The real one, with the doubts, the research, the partner who needs convincing, and the weeks in between.

What does the product need to do to earn the next step? A first purchase, a second session, an invitation to a colleague. Each needs designing on purpose.

What will the business measure? If design can't point to the number it's meant to move, it will be judged on taste. That's a losing argument for everyone.

Design decisions are business decisions

This goes beyond screens. On the Marc Newson x Flite Controller, the interface design decided whether a rider could read speed, gear and battery in one glance while flying over water. That's safety, brand and product quality in one decision. You can read how we designed that interface.

How to bring design in earlier

Invite design into the business case, not just the build. Ask your design partner to research how customers decide before features are locked. And agree up front on the business result the design is responsible for.

If you're choosing a partner for this work, here's what to look for in a digital product design consultancy.

Related: Experience design and the Flite case study.