This blog seeks to inform business, engineering and design leaders about strategies for success in a market where design is emerging as THE critical battleground. Perhaps more than ever before, a product’s design determines its market success, regardless of how fast it got to market, how much it cost, how sexy it looked, or its technical merits. When managed and structured correctly, design is the most crucial strategic weapon a company can wield to drive success. There is no more important sales tool, or business strategy, than a well designed product people use everyday. This blog intends to explore, and unify, the needs of designers, product managers, engineers, managers, and executives in order to identify successful strategies for the new design-focused marketplace.

I have been working in the field since the mid 1980’s and have been a successful designer, manager and director at many top firms including Apple, Cisco, IBM, HP, and various start-ups. Having delivered successful products in four different decades at a variety of companies, I have a broad and detailed perspective of the issues confronting companies trying to effectively leverage design as part of an overall business strategy. In my career I have observed companies consistently struggling to create the right design vision and then navigate the complex landscape of business needs, technical constraints, and organizational psychology to insure the correct experiences actually ship in their final products. As a 30 year veteran of those struggles, I have earned the mantle of a “Design War Horse”. In this blog I will share the best insights I’ve found in hopes that together we can continue to both improve product design practices and find new avenues to business success.

Welcome to Design War Horse.

Your readership and constructive participation is greatly appreciated.