Why good design fails inside most companies

Most companies consider themselves to understand their customers through extensive research, behavior tracking, and feedback collection. However, products often fail to reflect the actual way people live, leading to a disconnect between the original insight and the final design. This disconnect occurs because research is gathered, interpreted, and handed off to different teams, each simplifying the original understanding to make it easier to communicate.

The end result is usually directionally correct but less precise, with specificity stripped away. This is particularly evident in how products are described versus how they are designed. A brand may start with a genuine insight, such as designing furniture that works with the body throughout a full life, rather than just looking good in a showroom.

However, if the company is not structured to protect these insights from concept through launch, they tend to get lost during the product development cycle. Part of the issue is a translation problem, where the original insight is often specific, but organizations reward clarity and alignment, leading to generalized language and simplified language.

This results in the design being described as "stylish and functional," which could apply to almost anything. Sequencing also plays a role, as when accessibility is the focus, the design is categorized for a specific group, and the broader case is never made. The people who inspired the work are positioned as the audience for it.

A more effective approach is to make the design the story and let the breadth of who it serves be the reveal. For instance, describe how a product works and the reasons behind it, rather than relying solely on research as the selling point. This approach earns attention and builds trust. Organizations that protect the original insight longest tend to involve designers through every stage of product development.

Design should be involved when defining the problem, not just brought in to refine something already decided. Design also needs to stay involved during engineering and manufacturing to prevent small cost-cutting decisions from eroding the original idea. For example, on the Everson vanity developed with Pottery Barn, the design included a storage shelf under the basin and a grab bar in the frame, both of which had to survive a process that looked for reasons to drop them.

Keeping these details required figuring out how to stay ADA compliant and fighting for them during tradeoff discussions. The specific details that remove points of friction and create moments of delight are the first things to disappear when the connection to the original insight breaks. Products that earn loyalty over time are those that stayed closest to something real throughout the development process.